About
About Modelville Hobby
After being a long-time customer of Modelville Hobby and being very involved in the race programs, I bought the raceway from Dick Cafarelli in 1990. I loved the race classes that were being run and I wrote the rules. When Dick said he was going to sell the business, I thought we would lose the place we loved. It was not just for the racers that I was afraid of losing Modelville Hobby, but the kids and their parents that would stop by and run slot cars for a little while. It was good, clean fun!
I bought the raceway in 1990 and I am still at it today! I still enjoy the racing and seeing those big kids playing with little toy cars. But watching the families race the cars at parties or just as a thing to do on a weekend afternoon brings a smile to my and my wife’s face. We run weekly races to help the racer become more competitive at the regional events. We are trying to Preserve The Past with our old tracks and equipment. We are here so you can Enjoy The Present with us. And we hope to stay around for a long time to Protect The Future.
Richard R. Cafarelli
78 of Port Charlotte, FL died Tuesday, October 20, 2009. He was born in Framingham, MA on July 27, 1931 to Roberto and Maria (Annesi) (Aneisie) (Aunt Winny) Cafarelli. He owned a retail shop. (In talking to Dick in 2008 he had multiple Melanomas and was getting radiation treatment and it was not getting worse).
These are some of the replies to a short note I sent about the passing of Dick Cafarelli in April, 2010.
“Thanks for the info on Dick. When he first opened Ray (Lee) called me and we went up to race. That was the only time I met him but the impression he made was of a great person with a lot of warmth for people. It is sad how we all lose touch with people that we care about.” – Larry LaBounty
“Very sorry to hear that and thank you for the update. Dick was a nice guy. Maybe a memorial race at Modelville Hobby would be a great way to honor him.” – Nate Bemis
“As a teen, I spent many Friday nights racing group 12’s on the Monarch (1970-71?) at the Framingham Modelville. Kept me out of trouble for a while… A memorial race would be a great way to honor his memory.” – Scott Skinner
“Yes, it would be nice to have a race in his memory.” – Ray Lee
“Hello Rich and everyone. It seems Richard was an amazing man. I hope we can indeed have a race at Modelville Hobby in his honor. Rich are you still working on a new location? It would be amazing to have the first race the Rich Cafarelli Memorial. I’ll be there…” – Rick Raducha, Rapid Raceways LLC
“Sorry to hear about Dick. I have very fond memories of racing at Modelville and of all the racing buddies I met there. And for a few years I worked at Modelville for Dick. I’m glad to see that Modelville is doing fine and I follow the retro racing guys post on Slot Blog. I see Nate is back into it. He’s one of my favorite racing buddies back when Dick was running things in the late 60’s/early 70’s. I’m hoping to get up there maybe this summer and will be glad to see the Modelville folks once again.” – Ken Stevens
Have your next birthday party at Modelville Hobby! Check out our party packages here.