On Saturday, the Capital City Corvette Club once again hosted their Vettes, Rods and Classics Car Show at the Creekside district in downtown Gahanna, Ohio.
This is the third year the club has organized the show. The number of registered cars has steadily grown each year. With weather about as perfect as one could ask for, this year's show set a record with 309 registered vehicles!
Much of Mill Street and the adjacent parking areas were closed to the public starting around 10 AM Saturday until the end of the show. The street and parking areas were reopened at noon for show parking only. Cars arriving before noon were able to park in several designated lots until parking opened for the show. I arrived around 11:40 AM and was parked and off to the registration tent about 30 minutes later. Next year I plan to arrive after show parking is officially open to avoid all the traffic congestion at the beginning. All in all, I have to commend the club for the job they did getting all the cars parked. It didn't look easy.
Beside the usual door prizes and 50/50 raffle, the show also conducted a silent auction with net proceeds going to benefit Nationwide Children's Hospital.
The show has gotten large enough to attract local vendors. Jax Wax, Corvette Care and Dave Gill Chevrolet all had displays.
I imagine many of the show participants and spectators dined among the many restaurants in the Creekside district, however, those looking for a quick bite to eat had Seven Little Sliders and Mrs. Tubo's Cookies as alternatives.
For most of the afternoon music was provided by a DJ. At 5 PM, the band Rendition took over and entertained the crowd. 
THE CARS
I saw a lot of great looking cars and trucks as I walked around the show. Being a Corvette club sponsored event you can imagine there was no shortage of Corvettes.
Here are some of the automobiles that stood out to me.
2010 Ferrari California owned by Doug Wetli of Cincinnati, OH.
Too bad there wasn't an award for best engine compartment. This 2016 Corvette Z06 of Homer Barrett from Westerville, OH would have won it hands down.
Who in Central Ohio doesn't like the "Go Bucks Truck"?
I was absolutely blown away by the 1940 Ford 2 door Sedan Deluxe of Larry and Vicki Tisdale of Johnstown, Ohio. The owners usually trailer it to the larger national shows and only do Goodguys and this show locally.
The members of the Chosen Few Corvette Club all parked together. They do a fantastic job of "customizing" their Corvettes to make them unique and one of a kind. The club also received the "Club Participation" award with 22 cars participating in the show.
Some of the rarer cars that participated in the show were this 1959 Desoto Fireflight Sportsman owned by Jesse and Kaylee Bickel of Etna, OH. The car also received the Lou Griffin sponsor's award.
And this 1971 AMC Javelin belonging to Scott Konkle.
If you're a Volkswagon fan, Mark Richmond's pristine 1967 Karmann Ghia should get you pumped up.
Of course the rarest car of the show was the 1959 BMW Isetta 300 of Jack Dixon from Pickerington, OH. Jack and his Isetta participate in a lot of car shows in the Central Ohio area.
Anyone who grew up in Columbus will remember Rodenfelds Chevrolet at 55 W. Broad Street. When I saw the emblem on the back of Mathew Sailer's 1953 Chevy, it brought back a lot of memories.
THE AWARDS
As in past shows organized by the Capital City Corvette Club, Judging was based on
a points system. The club used software for registration and judging that they introduced earlier in the year at their Cabela's show.
The awards were divided into two categories. One for the rods and classics, and the other for the Corvettes. The rods and classics category presented "Awards of Excellence" (aka "favorites") and a "Best of Show". The Corvette category divided the cars into separate classes based on model year. There were "Awards of Excellence" and a "First Place" award for each class along with a "Best of Show" for the entire category.
The following car owners received the "Sponsor" and "Special" awards:
(If I misspelled anyone's name, please let me know in the comments)
- Mayor's - Skip Lawwell, 1962 Chevy Impala SS
- Dave Gill - Bud Kindler, 1994 Corvette
- Lash Chevrolet - Dana Painter, 1969 Chevy Nova
- Grové Wealth Management Partners - Jeff Fortner, 1971 Buick GSX
- Lou Griffin - Jesse and Kaylee Bickel, 1959 Desoto Fireflight
- Corvette Care - Dan Woods, 1963 Corvette
- Parks and Recreation - Mark Lester, 1967 Chevy Camaro
- Esoteric Fine Auto Detailing - Greg Glen, 2014 Corvette
- Gahanna Police Officers - Jeff and John Larger, 1970 Pontiac GTO
- Special Award - Gary Berkley, 1993 Corvette
- Special Award - Jacob Orkis, 1985 Porsche 930 Turbo
- Special Award - Bruce Paul, 1975 Volkswagen Beetle
- Special Award - Nick Boyd, 1992 Chevy S10 Pickup
- Special Award - Ron and Vicky Gallagher, 1978 Dodge 'Lil Red' Express Truck
- Veteran Award - Shorty Thompson - 2015 Corvette Z06
- Club Participation - The Chosen Few Corvette Club
Combining both categories with the sponsor/special awards, the club presented well over 80 plaques!
BEST OF SHOW
The Rods and Classics "Best of Show" went to Mark Whitmer with his 1981 Chevy Malibu.
Craig Grunkemeyer and his 1967 Corvette won "Best of Show" in the Corvette category. Craig's car received a perfect score!
Congratulation to both Mark and Craig!
THE GRADE
The show gets an over all A minus in my book. The Creekside district is a great venue for a car show. The show attracted tons of spectators. There was abundant choices for food and drink. Vendor support was good, and the live entertainment a big plus. I also liked having the two categories for the awards. And the amount of awards was just about right for a show of this size.
For me, the only negatives was the traffic congestion at the start of the show, and the 50 minute delay starting the awards presentation. Oh, and someone walked away with my folding chair during the awards presentation. First time I've had anything taken at a car show.
If the club decides to host a fourth vettes, rods and classics next year, you can bet I'll make every effort to be there.
The Capital City Corvette Club works hard to put on the best show possible. Thank you for attending and providing your feedback. We agree, the congestion and the delay in the awards were an issue. We are already working to resolve these issues for next year. Each year we attempt to get the message out to the car show participants to not arrive early as there is limited parking until Gahanna complete the street closures. However, year after year people arrive early. I guess this is a good problem to have, but we need to have a better plan.
No question you guys have a tough job parking all the cars. It's been my experience that the early arrivals at most shows start to show up about 2 hrs prior to the start of registration. Maybe closing Mill St and the surrounding parking areas earlier in the morning and then re-open for show parking 2 hours before registration starts might reduce some of the congestion. Of course this would all be predicated on approval from the City of Gahanna which might be a tough sell.
Chosen Few Vette Club is a proud supporter of Capital City Corvette Club's Vettes, Rods and Classics Car Show at Creekside in Gahanna. Great food, good music, seeing old friends, meeting new friends, awesome collection of cars, and a well organized event; what more could you ask for in a car show. We will see everyone at Coughlin of Pataskala "All Free" Car Show - September 2nd.
I want to thank all participants who brought their favorite ride and those that came "Just to Look"!! This is a fantastic show and I appreciate CCCC choosing Gahanna Creekside as that special place to hold the show. If they keep it up they may rival the Arthritis show in a couple years. Participation hit a new high of 309 cars...
Mayor's - Skip Lau, 1962 Chevy Impala SS the last name is Lawwell, Ben "Skip" Lawwell
Thanks. Corrected the last name.