DERBY KNIGHTS: CAR CLUB WANTS TO CLEAN UP IMAGE OF CRUISERS

Members of a newly-formed car club, Derby Knights, hope to clean up the image of Broadway cruisers.

The group has been loosely organized for nearly the past decade. Members can be found almost every night "hanging out" at Capaha Park or a Broadway parking lot.

In June, group members decided to establish rules, elect officers and begin community service projects as an official club. On Sunday, they rebuilt and painted the white fence around the Tot Lot in Capaha Park, their first project.

The 35 members of the club, men and women in their late teens and early 20s, can be easily identified by the Derby Knight's bright pink logo with crossed checkered flags displayed on members' cars.

They don't claim to be saints, but say they just enjoy "fast cars and hanging out."

Rules for Derby Knights include no illegal drugs, no drunken driving and no public displays of drunkenness.

Member Shawn Hicks said, "We hope to improve Broadway to make it a better place for teenagers and young adults."

Tom Lichtenegger, also a member, said the club has an uphill battle.

He said: "The teeny boppers come out here and trash parking lots and don't care. When we sit somewhere we pick up the trash before we leave. We even pick up trash in places we weren't sitting."

Bill O'Kelly is one of the original members of Derby Knights, when it was just a bunch of people hanging out on Broadway.

O'Kelly said: "Several of us hung around the old Derby gas station. That's how we came up with the name Derby Knights. We just all sit around and talk."

The Derby Knights plan to have an official meeting the first Sunday of each month at the park.

James Swift Jr. said, "We talk about new people who want to join. New ideas for fundraisers and trouble that's been happening."

For example, a member was stopped by police for excessive speed. Club members chastised the member for jeopardizing the club's reputation.

O'Kelly said rules are enforced by club members. For example, a non-member showed up Sunday while the club was working at the park. He was asked to leave, O'Kelly said, "because he is a trouble maker. He was using really bad language."

Hicks said, "Hopefully, if we can show a good, high profile, people will think better of us."

Garrett Seabaugh said the group hopes to do more community service projects.

"What really got us started was the Tot Lot fence. We got tired of looking at it and decided we could fix it up. We called them (Evening Optimists) and asked if it would be okay. Then we started thinking we ought to do this for other folks."

For example, Hicks said, the group hopes to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon.

"We are planning a car wash and we'd like to collect money from cruisers on Broadway or maybe we'll have a car smash to raise money," he said.

The club also hopes to adopt Broadway for litter control, similar to the state's Adopt-A-Highway plan.

"We have some people looking into what we have to do to adopt the street," said Hicks.

But it's cars that really brings the group together.

"We work on each other's cars," said Swift. For example, he said, "We decided to fix up one of the guy's trucks. It had a bunch of dents. We worked over 48 hours on the body work and fixing it up. Two or three of us knew what we were doing. We explained what to do to the other people."

Hicks said, "We all learn from each other. Everybody knows a little about something body work, stereos, engines."

Lichtenegger said, "We have unique cars. There is nothing like this around. We have the shortest pickup, lowest car and most expensive stereo around."

Debbie Hicks, Shawn Hicks' mother, decided to meet the people with whom her son was spending so much time.

"I've never seen anything wrong with cruising Broadway," she said. "These kids are just looking for some place to belong. I know there are some bad people on Broadway. But just because there is one bad egg, we shouldn't throw out the whole dozen. We as adults tend to categorize these kids as trouble makers. That's not fair."

Michael Limbach said, "People think we're just a bunch of punk kids hanging out on Broadway."

Lichtenegger said, "Not all Broadway cruisers are trouble makers."

And Seabaugh invited anyone with questions about the club, its members or intentions to spend an evening hanging out with them.