On The Rocks Bar and Grill in Dublin, Ohio held its annual fall car show on Sunday.
In past years, the fall show has been held on the second Sunday in September. However, this year the date was changed to the first Sunday of the month.
I found out about the date change through a regular visitor to this website who sent me a message on Wednesday that the show was scheduled for Labor Day weekend. I couldn't find any announcement on oldride.com, the bar's website or it's Facebook page. Matt Herman was kind enough to send me a link to the show's flyer. I'm still waiting to hear where Matt found it.
Unfortunately, the combination of the date change and lack of promotion lead to less than 80 registered vehicles. Normally the spring and fall shows attract well over 100 vehicles.
There were still some very nice vehicles on display despite the lower than usual turn out. And as always, the money raised from the show goes to support the Mid-Ohio Food Bank.
Besides the cars, the traditional sampling of an adult beverage is always a highlight of any On the Rocks car show.
THE AWARDS
On the Rocks presented 65 "Favorite" trophies and four "Special" awards.
Here's a sampling of "Favorite" winners:
1978 Cadillac Seville - Owner: Darryl Austin 
2017 "Jakester" Corvette Grand Sport - Owner: Jim McGruder 
1962 "409" Chevy Bel Air - Owner: Pete Lieb 
1966 Ford Mustang - Annette Lieb 
1947 Buick Super Convertible - Owner: Mike Gibson 
1957 Ford Thunderbird - Owner: Jay Benedict 
1964 Plymouth Belvedre - Owner: Mike Herman 
2016 Chevy Camaro 2SS Convertible - Owner: Tim Foreman 
1968 Chevy Chevelle SS - Owner: Lou Charobee 
1967 Mercury Cougar - Owner: Ron Keister 
1971 Buick GSX - Owner: Jeff Fortner 
1981 Chevy Malibu - Owner: Mark Whitmer 
2016 Chevy Camaro 2SS - Owner: Bill Barton 
2017 Corvette Grand Sport - Owner: Tony Holland 
1971 Oldsmobile 442 Convertible - Owner: Rick Levine 
1968 Volkswagon Karmann Ghia - Owner: Tom Perry
SPECIAL AWARDS
The "Special" awards included Best Corvette, Best Muscle Car, Manager's Choice, and Best in Show.
Best Corvette
1958 Corvette Roadster - Owners: Jane & Dave Winkle
Best Muscle Car
1964 Pontiac GTO - Owner: Dean & Luann Maisenbacher
Manager's Choice
1937 Ford Wild Rod Convertible - Owner: Dave Bratton
Best in Show
1970 Ford Torino Super Cobra Jet - Owner: Chris Kraner
Final Thoughts
I've been participating in On the Rocks car shows since 2012. I've probably missed maybe four shows during that time. They've consistently been one of my favorite shows each year. It's one of the few shows that try to judge each car as thorough and as fair as possible.
Sunday's event was pretty low key. It lacked the excitement and rowdiness of past shows. Even the volume of spectators was down this year, no doubt because of it being a Holiday weekend and lack of promotion. Here's hoping management realizes this and returns the show back to the second Sunday in September for next year. That date just seems a better fit, in my opinion.
OTHER SHOWS
I only have two other events to report on for this week.
Der Dutchman once again had a strong showing on Thursday. The cruise-in registered 135 vehicles, 25 of which were first time participants.
Mechanicsburg First Responder Car Show
I received an excellent report regarding the Mechanicsburg First Responder Car Show that was held in downtown Mechanicsburg, Ohio on Saturday.
From what I'm told, the show was very well organized for a first-time event. Over 130 cars participated in the show. All proceeds went to support the first responders from Mechanicsburg.
The show also received high marks for door prizes, music, and judging. Opening ceremonies included the playing of the National Anthem. Can't beat that.
The only downside was the torrential downpour that came through the area around 2 PM.
Here are a few of the cars that turned out for the show.
That concludes this week's report. As an Ohio State season ticket holder (worked there almost 40 years), my participation is Saturday shows will be limited from here on out. Look for the big reports to come from those events held on Sunday.
I agree. Moving the date was a big mistake. Competing with Canal Winchester is a tough task. I live half a mile from Rocks and wasn't aware of the new date.
Moving the date was certainly an issue, but I think a bigger issue than the date move was the lack of promotion. The only reason I knew about show was a reader contacted me through this website. He had driven by the bar last week and saw a banner for the show hanging outside the bar.
I check roughly 15 websites and Facebook pages each week looking for events in the Central Ohio area. Not a one of them had a mention of the show. It was on Rube's Cruisin' News, so it was listed somewhere.
I disagree seems like they have poor turnout because they love chevy's and do not follow their own rules to how to show a car. Close to me and I'll drive 50 miles rather than go to their show
I've heard the show criticized for favoring Corvettes, but this is the first criticism that it favors Chevys.
If your car presents well and is clean, it's been my experience that you've a good shot of getting a "Favorite" trophy irregardless of make, model and year.
Maybe it just SEEMS like they favor Chevy's -- I would bet the percentage of cars at the show that are Chevys and the percentage of Chevys that win an award are very similar. I believe this to be true for last weekend and past shows also.
The top four awards were 1 chevy, 2 Fords and a Pontiac.
The pictures on this site -- showed 16 cars, 7 were chevys - but I will bet that chevys were also close to 50% of the show.
I will also bet that more Chevys went home without an award than did any other make. I think I saw only two Cadillacs at the show and they both won - so maybe they favor Cadillac!
I also remember the Best of Show for the Spring show wasn't even made in USA --it was a Porsche Speedster!
So maybe it is just that there are usually more Chevys at this show.
I also think the same holds true for Corvettes - the largest single model represented. I do own a Chevy but not a corvette!
I record the award presentations at the shows I attend. I played back Sunday's On the Rocks awards presentation. Here's the breakdown of Favorite winners:
Chevy (excluding Corvette) = 16
Ford = 11
Mopar = 5
Other (Buick, Mercury, Olds, Cadillac, VW, etc) = 10
Corvette = 23
If you combine the Corvettes and Chevys I can see where it might come across that Chevys are favored.
On the Rocks happens to be one of those shows that consistently gets strong participation from the local Corvette Clubs. They come out to support Mike Mitchell who is the primary organizer of the show. Corvettes usually out number all other makes and models by a wide margin. It's just the way the show has evolved. You either accept it or do something else.
Thanks for posting the pic's of my car. Send me your email so I can send you the photo I had taken.
Send pics to hawk02@carshowtalk.com
Mr jwhite is spot on. I attended one of their 2017 shows and vowed never to return. At that show so many Vettes got awards that the crowd was going crazy with boos. They even became verbally loud with negative remarks heard by many. I attended with my 2 time National Gold Winner and got less than 60 seconds of judging by a team of 4 very young twinks. Mr. Mike never looked at my car. The judges were running out of time and it was getting late. I suspect they spent to much time looking at Vettes. I live less than 20 miles from there but drove 40 miles to attend another show this past weekend. Maybe this is another reason why attendance was down. Others didn't return for the same reason I will never go back!
I heard the ad on the radio that they had a new owner and when the show was about the week before. I have been there before and thought they had a corvette show that was seperate from the show itself. If you didnt know that it would get old. I didnt attend this year just because I had other plans that weekend.
I was told the bar is under new management and the new management decided to change the date from the 2nd Sunday in September to the first. Turned out to be a pretty smart move considering the "wash out" that occurred this weekend.
to the comment from Mark about who won best of show. They said engine had to be seen but the winning car did not have engine cover open. So there was a lot of cars there that went by the rules, seems sketchy to me
Are you sure the hood was down all day? The owner has the engine compartment about as original as it can get. This would includes bolts and clamps. He has a notebook with car's paperwork he sets on the radiator cover. When I talked to him earlier in the show, the hood was up. I have photos of the car at Dave Gill, Creekside and Powell car shows with the hood up.
I may be wrong went by twice and engine cover was down maybe I made a mistake sorry if I did
jwhite
Maybe you are thinking of the Spring show. The best of show at that show as a Porsche Speedster. I dont remember that car having the hood (in that case the "boot" up. I got best muscle car at that Spring show coming in just behind the Porsche that won the best of show. In my humble opinion that car was very deserving of the BOS award. Concerning others comments about it being a foreign car - well that is really another issue - the show is not limited to American made cars only that I know of...
If you are talking about the Fall BOS winner- that was my Torino GT Drag Pack car. The hood is always up, I think I closed it right before I left and that was about it. (That is when Kim came over to get a picture and most folks had left). I have a TON of work under the hood that I have done so its always open for shows. While I love the look of the car with the shaker coming through the hood when closed, I always have it open for shows. I am honored sincerly and humbly with any award that I win. There are so many cools cars, stories and types of cars out there. Even the ones you see all the time - its fun to follow and notice improvements and things folks are doing to their cars - they are NEVER DONE/COMPLETED right?
Mike who puts on the show is a fair guy, and it is a big undertaking doing a show and judging, logistics, etc. Not making an excuse but the new management, change in date due to rain out - impacted who was able to be there to work the show (is what I heard). I am sure it will get better.... and I have even offered to help with this show and others in the future.
Enjoy the cars, the stories, the people and the food - that is my goal for all the shows I go to..... winning something is just a bonus. We are all passionate about our cars and I wouldn't take it personally. We each have our cars for various reasons - as I often say "everyone has their flavor". I have won BOS one day and not even won a favorite the next.
Kim,
Thanks for the site and all the work you do to put it out here!
Chris