Staff photo by Connor Cummiskey President Dan Nicewander of the Southwest Metro Mustang Club leans on his 1965 Fastback Ford Mustang at Hermann Heights Park where the club ate lunch Saturday afternoon.

NEW ULM — A herd of Mustangs galloped into New Ulm to explore two landmarks of the community.

Saturday morning the Southwest Metro Mustang Club caravanned to Schell’s Brewery for a tour before eating lunch at Hermann Heights Park.

“We all get in one big chain and we have had up to 35, 36 mustangs all together, which gets a little bit unwieldy when we go through town,” President Dan Nicewander said. “We always pick a fun route so we stay away from interstates; we stay,even away from state highways if we can and just do county roads as much as possible just to have a fun drive. The whole purpose of the Mustang is to have fun while you are driving.”

This time the club had about 30 cars lined up. Local member Don Wendel served as the host to his club for one of nine cruises they take during the summer months.

The club also hosts four shows each summer to raise money for charity, including a Mustangs and ponies show at Canterbury Park.

The club, founded in 2012, exists for two primary reasons, Nicewander said. The first is creating a family of people who all share the same interests in Mustangs.

“The Mustang has always been kind of about family and so we emphasize family, we emphasize couples,” Nicewander said. “It is not a guys-only or gals-only club or anything like that. We want to share our common love of the Mustang.”

Family is such a significant part of the club that each membership includes the immediate family. Enrollment sits at around 140 members, which calculates to probably over 280 individuals in the club.

The second reason is raising money for charity. Each year the club votes on a charity to donate fundraiser results.

This year, in addition to doing a one-off fundraiser for hurricane relief which raised about $1,000, the club changed its charity plan.

Instead of one charity, the club partnered with Prairie Lakes school district to work on encouraging students’ interests in cars and the automotive trade.

“There are a lot of kids that go to college because that is the only thing that they think that there is and the trades are suffering from that,” Nicewander said.

They have three strategies, the first being scholarships for students who enrolled in one or more automotive classes at the school.

The second are what Nicewander called Tech Talks. For a talk the club will find a local automotive professional and have them speak about the profession to students.

The third strategy is, at the end of the year the club plans to take what leftover funds they have and use it to purchase automotive-related supplies for the district.

Nicewander was confident that when the club votes on a charity around October, they will choose to maintain the relationship for a few years.

For more information on the club, or to join as there are no age, geographic or expertise restrictions go to southwestmetromustangclub.com or find its Facebook page.

ccummiskey@nujournal.com