MENASHA (NBC 26) — There were nearly 200 cars at the Twisted Pistons Scholarship Cruise-In Thursday, but there was more to the event than just the car show.
Downtown Menasha held the annual car show that raises money for select graduating seniors from high schools in Neenah, Menasha, and Fox Crossing.
Molli Dolan was one of the 15 seniors awarded in 2022.
“I was so honored, so grateful it was one of the coolest moments of my high school career,” said Dolan.
The proceeds from the car show go directly into a scholarship fund for the next year's graduating seniors. Lori J. Bishop, scholarship committee chairperson, told us the recipients are chosen based on one factor.
“Their grades have them on a campus they want to go to… what our scholarship is for and what we look for is what their community service has been for the past four years,” said Bishop, who can barely put into words how much she enjoys awarding the students. "It's hard to explain… it is so much fun."
"We want kids that have helped the community. Basically, we figure we're the community helping kids that helped the community,” said Randy Thomson, Twisted Pistons president.
Aside from the cars, attendees enjoyed live music and food trucks at the free all-day event. According to Thomson, one of the fan-favorites of the event is the handmade trophies.
“What’s our budget for buying trophies? Zero. We have no choice, we have to build our own,” said Thomson. “We just set things together and start welding and hope we have something neat when we’re all done.”
Each year, people look forward to what the one-of-a-kind trophies will look like.
For Molli Dolan, the scholarship isn’t what drove her to give back to her community.
"I get a lot of joy from it, and I love the service aspect and just feeling connected to this community,” said Dolan.
