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Physician assistant degrees earned at King’s College

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Martial arts instructor builds confidence and teaches skills

<p>Earl Weidner is a car guy. He has been since he was a young man working at a used car dealership where he bought his first large-engined car (a 1966 Pontiac Bonneville), but Weidner&#8217;s collection of vehicles is far from ordinary. His garage holds several examples of American muscle, but rather than resembling most restored or well-kept classics, Weidner&#8217;s cars look like a production set for a &#8220;Dukes of Hazzard&#8221; film.</p><p>Weidner and his wife, Cheryl, have been fans of the 1980&#8217;s comedy/action series since it originally aired, and when they met, they found mutual interests in both the show and their enthusiasm for cars.</p><p>The crown jewel of their collection is a 1969 Dodge Charger that is painted orange and bears the racing number 01, a replica of the Duke brothers&#8217; General Lee. In addition, they have a 1976 Dodge Coronet painted and accessorized to match Sheriff Rosco Coltrane&#8217;s cruiser, a 1976 Ford Mustang GT Fastback that looks exactly like the only car to have allegedly beaten the General Lee in a race. A 1974 Ford Gran Torino that is more famously known as Starsky&#8217;s ride in &#8220;Starsky and Hutch,&#8221; but as Weidner points out, made an appearance in the first episode of Dukes, rounds out the collection.</p><p>Weidner said the inspiration for the collection came from Cheryl. She taped all of the episodes when she was younger, and on one family vacation, she read an entire book about the show.</p><p>When the Charger was purchased in the winter of 2007, it needed body work, a paint job, new interior and a new engine. Weidner admits he leaves the aesthetic work to professionals, but he put the 440 Dodge engine into the vehicle himself. He does most of the mechanical work on the cars along with his father-in-law, Ed Gunn.</p><p>After the car was finished, the couple began taking it to car shows, Dukes conventions and even family getaways with their four children: Kasie, 13, Earl, 11, Emily, 9 and Charlie. 8.</p><p>&#8220;Everything we do is for driving purposes,&#8221; Weidner said. &#8220;None of it&#8217;s to take to shows. It&#8217;s to have fun.&#8221;</p><p>Early on Weidner decided he wouldn&#8217;t get bent out of shape if the seats saw an occasional spilled soda or ice cream cone, he said.</p><p>Although the work is for personal gratification, Weidner takes pleasure in seeing the joy that people get out of it. &#8220;Your always putting smiles on peoples&#8217; faces,&#8221; he said.</p><p>He added that he&#8217;s met people at conventions with whom he&#8217;s remained friends, and he&#8217;s even gotten the trunk interior of the Charger and the Mustang signed by the living Dukes cast members.</p><p>Weidner remembers going to a Dukes convention, before he had his first replica finished, and meeting a man with a nice General Lee who let children sit in the car and take pictures, and it motivated him to be as gracious.</p><p>&#8220;I said to myself, &#8216;When I have that car, I&#8217;m going to do the same thing,&#8221; he said. And he has, taking the vehicle to birthday parties and community events, letting children get inside, and only cringing when someone gets a little too comfortable with handling it.</p><p>Those good vibrations, along with seeing a few impressive collections at shows and conventions, led to expansions in Weidner&#8217;s personal fleet.</p><p>The police car was the first addition to the collection. The Coronet, which mimics the Hazzard County sheriff&#8217;s vehicle, was complete with lights, sirens and CB radio when Weidner bought it.</p><p>After that, came the 74&#8217; Torino, which had the signature red and white paint job already in tact, only needing a tune up and a new interior. It is owned by Weidner&#8217;s mother-in-law, Judy Gunn, a big fan of Starsky and Hutch, but it fits in with the collection because of its cameo in the first Dukes season.</p><p>The most recently restored car, the 68&#8217; Mustang, is described by Weidner as &#8220;part of the family.&#8221; He explained that his wife bought the car for $600 when she was 15 years old. It was redone for the first time 25 years ago, but this second restoration gave it the deep blue body with orange and yellow flames and the double zero racing number of the Mustang in 1997&#8217;s &#8220;Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion.&#8221; The Weidners even went over the top on a new engine, dropping a 428 Cobra Jet into the car.</p><p>Weidner said people often ask him where he gets the money for such a hobby and his answer is always the same. &#8220;I don&#8217;t drink. I don&#8217;t smoke. I don&#8217;t play golf or softball. This is what I do.&#8221;</p><p>With recent rulings that the Confederate flag be taken down from capital buildings in South Carolina and Alabama, anything associated with the image has come under harsh criticism.</p><p>The General Lee has a confederate flag painted on its roof. Reruns of the show have been canceled by television stations, and the stigma associated with it has caused Weidner to not take his replica as many places as he used to. Although he is not ashamed of his work, he said he is never one to incite trouble, and he is aware that it&#8217;s a sensitive issue but hopes the stigma will pass.</p><p>The context for Weidner is one that brings him and many others joy, and he called negativity toward the show unfortunate. &#8220;I myself have never experienced any negativity from people of all walks of life,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Everybody knows what the show was about. It was about good family values, and it made people laugh.&#8221;</p><p>Recently, Weidner was asked by a colleague at Luzerne County Community College, where he teaches web development and computer programming, if he thought the flag in the paint job was politically incorrect.</p><p>His reply, &#8220;It&#8217;s not political at all. It&#8217;s about a TV show.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Earl Weidner, of Lake Twp, poses with four of the cars he&#8217;s purchased or restored, 3 replicas of cars from the TV series &#8220;Dukes of Hazzard&#8221; and one from &#8220;Starsky &amp; Hutch.&#8221; </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_TTL082215generallee1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Earl Weidner, of Lake Twp, poses with four of the cars he&#8217;s purchased or restored, 3 replicas of cars from the TV series &#8220;Dukes of Hazzard&#8221; and one from &#8220;Starsky &amp; Hutch.&#8221; </caption0><photoCredit0>Clark Van Orden | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_TTL082215generallee2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Replica car of the General Lee, restored and owned by Earl Weidner of Lake Twp. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_TTL082215generallee2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Replica car of the General Lee, restored and owned by Earl Weidner of Lake Twp. </caption1><photoCredit1>Clark Van Orden | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_TTL082215generallee3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The truck lid of the 1968 Ford Mustang is signed by several &#8220;Dukes of Hazzard&#8221; cast members. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_TTL082215generallee3.jpg</photo2><caption2>The truck lid of the 1968 Ford Mustang is signed by several &#8220;Dukes of Hazzard&#8221; cast members. </caption2><photoCredit2>Clark Van Orden | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Lake Twp. resident restores classic cars to look like vehicles from 80&#8217;s television series.</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Matt Mattei</p><p>mmattei@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p>Weidner also has a mid 70&#8217;s Pymouth Satellite that he might restore to resemble Daisy Dukes Roadrunner from early seasons of the show. He also would like to have a facsimile of the van from &#8220;The A-Team,&#8221; and his son, Earl wants a copy of KITT, the 1982 Pontiac Trans Am from &#8220;Knight Rider.&#8221;</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Matt Mattei at 570-991-6651 or <a href="mailto:mmattei@www.timesleader.com">mmattei@www.timesleader.com</a></p></shirttailMeta></div>

Earl Weidner, of Lake Twp, brings joy to people who see his Dukes of Hazzard replicas.