I entered the wagon in it's first show today. The turnout was far less than they expected due to the rain we've been waiting to see for weeks. The rain let up about half an hour into the show and it turned out to be a perfect day. It's no surprise that I didn't win (lost out to a Delorean in the 1981 and newer class) but I had a great time. The wagon was really popular and drew loads of people. However poor the vehicle turnout might have been, there were a lot of different cars to check out. The Lions hired an Elvis impersonator and a Johnny Cash impersonator and we had a great crowd through over the course of the afternoon. 1948 Fiat Topolino with a 350 SBC!!
The downtown show hasn't been held for a couple of years for some reason. The Lions are trying to bring it back. Usually it pulls in around 300 cars I'm told. Even with it being smaller and poorly advertised the Lions decided to go ahead with it anyway in the hopes of gaining momentum. They're pretty sure that they operated it at a loss this year as the city charged $4800 to shut down the streets for the day. They can file for a grant in the fall to get that fee waived for next year.
One of the Cities here had a huge show, put on by a car group and a ton of volunteers. Well over 1,000 cars, the businesses were seeing well over 100,000 people in the downtown core which is usually stunningly dead. The City was making it darned hard to get things accomplished and the group after about 10 years threw their hands in the air and said "uncle" and determined not to do it. Well, the City threw a fit, the Mayor and Council were "shocked and dismayed that they would let the City down" or some such thing, and then the real story came out about how the various City Dept's were making it less than fun to get assistance, the local Police were unenthusiastic about it, there was little to no recognition from the local businesses, or support, although they were the significant beneficiaries along with the City. So it missed a year, the City gave it some priority, many of the original volunteers reengaged, and last year it was very good. Back around 1,300 vehicles in the show area and probably half that or more again on side streets and parking lots for people with nice cars who were there to just look, not participate. We had our cars in the first few years (our club), but we found that the people looking at the cars were a mix of cautious and appreciative all the way through to kids and older standing on painted running boards, putting their drink on the hood/fender of a car while they did something, leaning on a car to chat with someone, scratches, etc. So you had to be with your car full time and no chance to see the other cars and there is no fun in that. The other thing that kind of gets to many of us, we supply the cars which we have typically many many thousands of dollars in them, then car shows ask us to pay a fee so the public can come and view the cars for free??????? In the case above why would the businesses not pay the fee given they are the recipients of significant benefit. Same goes for parking lot shows so we don't attend them as displayers, we go park on the side streets, view the cars, visit with friends, then leave when we fell like it rather than having to wait till the show is over. Anyway, your Lion's Club deserves a pat on the back for doing this. You may want to encourage your friends to write to the local newspaper and the Mayor and Council, and the Chamber of Commerce and if there is a Board of Trade, and tell them how much you appreciated and enjoyed the show. Any and all visible support they can get will go a long way toward them doing it again, and getting some relief from the City, the Chamber of Commerce, BoT etc and encourage them to help make this an event that draws people from all over. Appreciate your taking the time to take and post the pictures. I'm kind of not in to taking may pictures at car shows, I should, but I don't, so I can't post pics. So, perhaps you could go to more shows so we can see what is out there?
