Family traditions are always a part of Hog Days and for the Cernovich family, Sunday’s Ray Behnke Model T/Model A Road Rally is where you will find family members rolling out in vintage cars rebuilt and restored by their late-father and grandfather, the late George Cernovich.
George died in 2010, just two weeks before Hog Days, was one of the organizers of what began as a Model T race 55 years ago.
“George was one of the drivers, along with my dad, who ran the practice lap before the first race during Hog Days in 1968,” said Ruth (Behnke) Scott, Ray’s daughter, who, along with her husband Bill, took over the event after Behnke died in 1994. “Afterward they all went out and had a picnic,” she recalled.
George Cernovich grew up around cars and ran a service station in Kewanee for many years, which is where he was undoubtedly bitten by Behnke’s Model T “bug.” That love for and devotion to Henry Ford’s car for the common man, has been passed on to his children and grandchildren.
Driving the 1927 Model T rebuilt by his grandfather from “a frame and several buckets bolts and other parts,” was grandson Adam Cernovich with his three children, Camden, Gavin and Chloe, and brother John’s son, George, on board to experience what it’s like to zip down the road in an open-air piece of history.
John, who usually drives one of his grandfather’s cars, was unable to make the rally this year due to brake problems with the 1925 Model T touring car, but will be back next year. George’s son Randy, drove in for the sendoff with their yellow 1919 Model T Ford roadster, but didn’t take part in the rally.
George’s son and Adam’s father, Dr. Rick Cernovich, said his son inherited his grandfather’s knack for mechanics, an interest he exhibited at an early age. When he was 8, Adam would crawl under the car George was working on and ask questions nonstop. His constant queries irritated Cernovich’s friend, Nick Vujakovich, who was helping him work on the car, and he told the youngster to leave. Cernovich countered the order saying “the kid stays,” knowing he was passing something on to someone who had taken an interest in what he was doing. He could ask all the questions his mind could absorb.
Adam went on to earn degrees in engineering from the Coast Guard Academy and Purdue University, flying and maintaining helicopters and planes during his career in the U.S. Coast Guard.
The road rally heads west on West South Street, from the starting point in front of Menard’s, then north on Burlington Avenue to Page Street. The route then loops through Bishop Hill and Galva, before returning to Kewanee.
The required two laps total 60 miles. Local ham radio operators are stationed along the route for safety and emergencies. The race format was changed to an untimed rally and poker run several years ago.
Sixteen cars took part in this year’s run which concluded with the customary get-together at the Elks’s Club for food and announcement of poker run winners.
