In 1957 Chuck & Dennis Billington, Harry James, Maurice Clark, Gene Harder, John Husband, and Bob Selsted first tried to start a club they called the FAROS Fraternity at Modesto High School. That initial effort was squashed by Dean of Boys, Paul Whitmore. He threatened to expel all of them if they started the club. Therefore that first group only lasted about 2 months but they came up with the nam
e FAROS and the FRS crest. They also had the crest artwork done at a local printing company. They spelled FAROS with an F rather than Ph because Maurice Clark's dad had been in a club called the Pharaohs in the '40s & he didn't want them to use the same name. In September of 1960 when a bunch of us were starting MJC, Joe Wylie wanted to start a new club. So, he invited Dennis Billington, Harry James, Larry Baker, Wayne & Chris Ludvickson, and Ron Goncalves to his house to get something started. That meeting was the actual start of the FAROS as we all remember it. They used the name FAROS Fraternity and the crest so they could save $20 by using the existing artwork at the printers. Shortly after that meeting John VanNostrand, Al Schaeffer, Larry Williams, Darrell Bailey, Larry Landis, Jack Steagall, Don Podesto, Hal Bowen & Daryl Weitl were added. The club quickly grew to around 20 members. Joining was always by nomination & unanimous vote. Initiations varied over the years some were more embarrassing than others. The club maintained a limited membership as we evolved from a fraternity to a car club. There was a big turnover because of guys moving on with their lives. Originally we were a social "fraternity" all from Modesto High School. Some of our meetings were joint meetings with two different sororities from Downey High. In 1961 one of the FAROS was stopped by the police and told that the FAROS were getting a bad reputation in Modesto and that we should start doing something to improve our image. So, we helped out in food drives for the hungry and went on the radio to promote it. We also had some cards made up that read "You Have Been Assisted Through The Courtesy Of The FAROS Fraternity Modesto, Calif." We handed these out when we helped people with flat tires, etc. In '63 or '64 the FAROS advertised locations and dates where we would install seat belts in peoples cars for free. The Modesto Bee covered this effort and printed about it referring to them as the Faros Fraternity from MJC. Authorities at MJC read this and let us know that we had to either get formal recognition from the school or quit using MJC along with our name. We were never threatened to be expelled. Also in 1961 we had "FAROS MODESTO" car plaques made and that started our transition from a Fraternity to a Car Club. Although the club was started by guys from Modesto High School, most of us were going to MJC when we were in the FAROS. Garry Second from Downey High School was a close friend of George Lucas. We also had members from Davis and Ceres High Schools. Our current list has over 150 FAROS' names, and we're still adding to it as we locate & confirm other old FAROS. FAROS' Presidents:
Joe Wylie was the 1st President ‘60-'61
Darrell Bailey ‘61-’62
Daryl Weitl '62 - '63
Jerry Jackman '63 - '64
Daryl Weitl '64- '65
Fred Spivey '65 - '66
Johnny Mercer '66 - '67
Rick Mello '67 - '68
Bill Fliflet '68 - '69
Marty Reis '69-'70
Rip VanWinkle '70-'71
Tim Orr '71 - '72
Marvin Reis was the last President in 1972 - '73. The club ended in ‘73 partly due to the fuel shortage. Marty Reis, President '68 - '69 has become the unofficial club historian.
