MANTI—The 20th Rat Fink Reunion, a gathering of fans of the late hot-rod artist Ed “Big Daddy Roth,” will be held next Thursday through Saturday, June 2-4, in Manti.
Typically, people come from all over the country for the event. But Ilene Roth, widow of Ed Roth and organizer of the reunion, told the Manti City Council she hopes many local residents will also attend.
“We’re a small town, so a lot of people can hear the music when we have our bands, so we (would) just love to invite everybody to actually attend them personally,” she said.
On both Thursday and Friday mornings, June 2 and 3, beginning at 9 a.m., about 70 artists will gather at the Rat Fink Museum, 404 E. 300 North, to paint on objects in the genre originated by Ed Roth, the creator of the Rat Fink cartoon character that appeared for years in Mad Magazine.
This year, students from the University of Colorado at Denver will supply some of the objects the artists will be “pin striping” or decorating. In the past, the objects have ranged from skateboards to guitar cases to toilet seats.
The Colorado students will videotape and interview the artists as they work. The finished works, along with the video documentation, will be taken back to the university for a special exhibit from August to November. At the end of the exhibit, the pieces will be auctioned off, with the proceeds going for scholarships at the Denver campus.
Other events on Thursday include dinner and a concert performed by Kirk James “Bluzman” of Durango, Colo.
On Friday at 10 a.m., Jim Brazell of Albuquerque, N.M. will present a framed T-shirt to the museum. Brazell has hung on to the T-shirt since it was airbrushed by Ed Roth in the 1960s.
Between Brazell’s presentation and noon, an openmic event will be held to enable participants to share their experiences with Ed Roth and the influence he had on their lives.
Following the open mic will be a presentation of the short film, “A Shift of Heart,” describing Roth’s conversion to The Church of Jesus Christ for Latter-Day Saints.
Later that night, a concert will be presented by The Surfaris, a band formed by Bob Berryhill in California in 1962. One of the band’s songs “Wipe Out” rose to the top of the singles charts. Berryhill will perform with his wife and two sons.
There will be a full slate of events on Saturday, starting with a car show at Manti City Park. Last year, the car show attracted 350 vehicles. The Tri Chevys, a band from Utah County, will play their music throughout the day.
At 1 p.m., some of the creations of visiting artists not donated for the Denver exhibit will be auctioned off, with proceeds benefiting Manti City projects.
At 4 p. m . , scores of awards will be handed out for cars entered in the show. Each of the approximately 70 visiting artists will create an award. The Ed Roth Museum and Roth family will give 14 awards. Manti City, KMTI and various companies will sponsor additional awards.
About 5:30 p.m., cars in the show will cruise down Main Street in Manti, typically with horns honking and in a few cases, smoke billowing out of exhaust pipes.
On Saturday evening, a Rat Fink birthday dinner will be held at 6:30 p.m. at the Roth residence, which is next door to the museum, followed by music played by The Rhythm Combo, a hillbilly and country blues group from Salt Lake City.
At the end at each of the three nights, banana splits will be served to the attendees.
Mayor Alfred Bigelow said during the council meeting that the event was an awesome thing for both the city and the community.
“It really has turned into something that puts Manti on the map, and I think it’s good for our community” Bigelow said.
