Chapter History:
In 2000 a group of Santa Barbara woodie owners, who regularly gathered at the beach in Santa Barbara, formed the Santa Barbara chapter of the National Woodie Club. Since the beach was the original meeting place the club show became Woodies At The Beach, which continues to this day. The next meeting place was an unheated storage unit owned by charter member Roger Battistone. That same year the club held the inaugural Woodies at the Beach, occupying a portion of the parking lot at Ledbetter Beach.
The aforesaid accommodations were satisfactory initially but when the Garage Majal was completed at the home of charter member Dave Steele the meetings were moved there. Even in the early years members from Ventura and Los Angeles counties found the club and joined. Not everyone knows that there is no active woodie chapter in Los Angeles County. Besides, those on the west edge of that county have an easier drive to Santa Barbara than to central Los Angeles.
The City of Santa Barbara, in its wisdom, decided that the chapter should pay for each individual parking space at Ledbetter Beach, and limit each car to a single asphalt parking spot, despite the club’s offer to rent the entire area needed for an appropriate gathering. Directly across the street and in direct contrast to the City, the outstanding educational institution, Santa Barbara City College, offered its immense and beautiful West lawn as a site for the club’s annual show, the best venue enjoyed by any woodie club anywhere. Participants enjoy a spacious lawn with ample parking space and views of the spectacular Santa Barbara shoreline with plentiful parking and space for visitors. The chapter’s thanks to the college resulted in the Santa Barbara Woodie Club endowing an automotive technology scholarship at the college from the proceeds of Woodies at the Beach. It’s a great relationship - not every community college offers auto technology programs and our chapter helps young people embark on rewarding careers. Some of them even bring their custom or hot rodded creations to our show.
The chapter has about one hundred members, including even a few on the East Coast. Most of the active members today are from Ventura and Los Angeles counties but the O.G. founders remain honored members and haven’t departed their roots.
Santa Barbara Woodie Club actively encourages its members to attend the other California woodie shows and further urges them to attend the more recently created National Woodie Club annual show. The chapter also assisted with the chartering of the Up the Hill and Central Valley chapters. Many of us belong to several chapters while Santa Barbara remains our “home” club.
Lasting and personal friendships are a hallmark of our chapter. The people are friends for life, sharing in its joys and vicissitudes. We all believe: “Woodies are Fun.”