Car Dude

Ronnie Schreiber strives to dress Woodward Dream Cruise
crowd in auto-inspired apparel.

Saturday activities along Woodward,
where vintage cars will parade 9
a.m.-9 p.m. Aug. 16, but he's able to
participate in activities that precede
and follow in every city bordering
the parade.
Beyond the cruising, car enthusi-
asts will be tempted to enjoy music

SUZANNE CHESSLER
Special to the Jewish News

R

onnie Schreiber does not
have to give a lot of
thought to what he'll be
driving and wearing to
events that are part of this year's
Woodward Dream Cruise.
The Oak Parker will get behind
the wheel of a car he drives daily —
a 1984 Jaguar — and will wear a
shirt, with related designs, regularly
donned to promote his custom
embroidery business.
Schreiber, in the WDC crowd, may
be able to spot apparel he has
adorned with car themes, an impor-
tant part of his Autothreads business.
Autothreads (vv-vvw.autothreads.com )
is a division and one specialty of his
Rokem Needle Arts, which handles a
variety of custom embroidery work.
"I've always been a car freak," says
Schreiber, 48, who manages his one-
person operation out of his home.
"Growing up around Detroit, I took
to cars and always enjoyed working
on them.
Schreiber, an observant Jew, will
not be able to take part in the

shows, sock-hop parties, displays of
cars and art and food stations to
recall and celebrate the mood of
weekend Woodward in the 1950s
and 1960s. The years of Elvis and
drive-ins, when young people steered
their cars along this main drag, also
will be brought back with many par-

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aiseikkut
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Ronnie Schreiber: "Put your car on your clothes."

ticipants wearing the styles popular
during that era of poodle skirts and
leather jackets.
"I can remember when people
were actually cruising, and I can
work with anyone to put car designs
on jackets, T-shirts, caps and rugs,
explains Schreiber, who started
Rokem Needle Arts seven years ago
as a sideline focusing on Judaica. "I
can work on any material that can
fit on my embroidery machine."
Schreiber, who had been employed
as a computer specialist, picked up
on the seamstress skills used by his
former wife, Batya Schreiber, as she
pursued her own career interests.
When they were married, he would
come up with designs, and she
would put the actual items together.
Schreiber found specialized com-
puter software to make designs,
imported the images into embroi-
dery templates and created stitch ele-
ments through software applied to
an embroidery machine.
The name "Rokem" is Hebrew for
embroidery and appropriate for a
company with products that include
challah covers, chuppahs, mezuzah
cases and kippot, Schreiber decided.
His early customers were Judaica
shops.
"I made items and continue to
make items that are personalized,"
Schreiber says. "I put family names
on challah covers and clothing. I
also come up with designs that show
the interests of the people who are
looking for something special."
Schreiber says he never cares if cus-
tomers mispronounce "rokem".as

Woodward Dream Cruise pairs up with Michigan State Fair.

lthough the Michigan
State Fair has a much
longer history than the
Woodward Dream Cruise,
the fair has adjusted its schedule
this year to join in on cruise activi-
ties.
The fair, which runs Aug. 15-
Sept. 1, opens the day before the
ninth annual WDC and features a 2
p.m. "Cruise-In" for auto fans who
want to show their classic cars. The

A

Classic Car Show continues on
Saturday but will take a back seat to
a 10 p.m. concert starring Jan and
Dean and the Surf City All Stars,
whose voices were heard blaring out
of car radios played by Woodward
cruisers in the 1960s.
A Demolition Derby runs 3-7
p.m. Sunday, Aug. 17, in the State
Fair Coliseum with $2 discounts on
$4 adult admission fees for those
showing a Woodward Dream Cruise

•

8/15
2003

52

Membership Card.
The Woodward
Dream Cruise, stretch-
Dr. Gary and Kathy Took of West Bloomfield take in
ing along 16 miles
bast year's Woodward Dream Cruise.
through nine commu-
nities as the world's
Elvis to Marilyn Monroe, will be
largest one-day automotive event on
among the crowd filling the streets
Saturday, Aug. 16, will have 30,000
from Ferndale to Pontiac and bring-
classic cars, hot rods and custom
ing back memories of young people
models parading their features 9
cruising Woodward in the 1950s
a.m.-9 p.m,
Vintage celebrity look-alikes, from and 1960s.