American Restoration Stars Visit Power 96 Studios

Kelly and Rick Dale, owners of Rick's Restoration, and stars of the History Channel show American Restoration were in town for the unveiling of the Tilt-a-Whirl car that was restored on the show and placed on Central Avenue.

They were able to stop into the Power 96 studios, along with with Peggy Keilen and Tami Schulter, who organized the efforts to have the car restored. The restoration of the car took about a month, and was featured on an episode of American Restoration titled "Boy Meets Whirl," which originally aired in August 2014. Rick has been doing restorations for more than 30 years, and the show for five years, but said "When the show came out, I started restoring people's memories, and their feelings." During the on-air interview, he stated that the most unique thing he has ever restored is an AMU, which is a suit an astronaut would wear.

During the short trip to Faribault, Rick and Kelly got a chance to see where the Tilt-a-Whirl was originally manufactured, as well as a few other points of interest. Rick said that the car they restored was in rough shape when it arrived at the shop in Las Vegas, but said this about the process: "When anything gets restored, basically as it gets torn down, you're sort of seeing how they built it, how many times it's been panted, whey they did, the heritage to it ... when you get into that stuff, you feel it. Same with the Tilt-a-Whirl, you're feeling some guy hand-painting the thing, you can see every layer, you're peeling off each layer of life."

It was great having Rick and Kelly, along with Tami and Peggy, in our studios, and we hope that if they come back to Minnesota, they will stop in again! Kelly said they both are from small communities and really liked Faribault, and Rick said, "To come down here, it's like coming back home."

See the full interview here, and the dedication here.