When I sat down across from Roy Barba and asked the president of the Mid State Cruizers if he grew up in the North County, I never expected his answer.
“I was actually born in New York,” stated Barba at the beginning of our interview. “I was in New York until I was 12 years old. Actually, a little quirky thing; my mom was very interested in theatrical stuff. At 6 months old, she put me in modeling. So I did that all the way until I was 12. I was actually on Broadway.”
After he’d made it to the Broadway stage, Barba’s parents moved the family out to Southern California, expecting his acting and modeling career to flourish even more under the West Coast sun.
“When my parents moved out here, I made friends with kids and played and played,” Barba said. “They [his parents] asked me. They said, ‘You don’t seem to be too interested in doing this anymore.’ No, I wasn’t at all. I’m really glad that that was it. We quit pretty much 13, and then I never did it again.”
Even though they lived in Southern California, Barba’s parents bought land in Creston in 1965 and put in an apple orchard and a walnut orchard.
“We were like absentee farmers,” he stated, about living in both places. “We were still living down there, but we spent pretty much every weekend, if not that, every other weekend [here], and we kind of carried that on. My kids spent more weekends in North County than they did in Southern California.”
So, how did Barba end up going from being a child model and a kid Broadway actor to someone who started working on cars? It was all about the timing.
“After high school, there was a thing called Vietnam going on, and my wife and I were already engaged,” he said. “We got married fairly young; we didn’t have any kids for five or six years, but we did get married young.”
Barba was part of the military’s college deferment program and was attending school for a major in aviation when private colleges were dropped from the program. This meant that he lost his deferment, so he had to go to a state school and couldn’t get into any universities. He ended up at Santa Monica Community College, but they didn’t have aviation there, so he wound up taking automotive classes and getting his AA.
“And then I was fortunate enough to get selected by General Motors. At the time, they had a two-year college in Burbank, and I went there for the two years, and then I worked for General Motors for 42 years,” added Barba. “During that time period, I’m not going to tell you I loved cars, you know. But it was, what do they call it, Busman’s Holiday. It was after I retired, and I didn’t have to do anything, so it was fun.”
Barba and his wife Roberta finally moved up here permanently after he retired. They built a house in 2010 and they’re living in it. It was also after his retirement that his friend and former vice president of the Mid State Cruizers pulled Barba into the fold. Barba was a member for around four years before becoming vice president under Larry Wilson. Then the two men switched roles and Barba has been president for the last five or six years.
“This club that we have; yes it’s a car club, but I call it a car/social club,” he said. “Because we try to do all the activities that are family-oriented, it works out really well. And it’s fun, and at the end of the year, you get to give away a lot of money.”
Every year, the Mid State Cruizers raise money at the Mid State Cruizers Annual Lake Park Car Show and give the money to 10 local charities, which is written into the club’s by-laws prior to Barba joining. It was also a main pull that led him to become involved with the club.
“You don’t even need to have an old car to be in the club. Honestly, we have three members that they just like old cars. They don’t even have an old car,” Barba said about taking on anyone who wants to join the Mid State Cruizers.
On top of being president of the Mid State Cruizers, Barba also volunteers as a member and the treasurer of the Creston Advisory Board (CAB).
“We advise the SLO County District 5 supervisor in particular, the county Board of Supervisors in general, and other county governmental bodies in all matters pertaining to land uses, zoning, public services, circulation, public improvements, and aspects of orderly community growth,” stated Barba. “Ironically, CAB meets the third Wednesday, and the Mid State Cruizers meets the third Thursday of the month. As such, Thursday meetings are usually more light-hearted.”
You can catch Barba at this year’s Cruisin’ Weekend in Atascadero on Aug. 16 and 17. Be sure to give him a wave!
This is the life of Roy Barba. Born in New York, transitioned from a child model and Broadway actor to a General Motors employee for 42 years.
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