Scattered showers played havoc with this week's car shows. On Friday, the Auto Smarts Cruise and Ride at Tin Pan Alley in Hilliard, Ohio had only 17 cars register for the show. Cruisin' with the King in Marysville, Ohio didn't do much better on Saturday evening with just 16 registered cars.
I had planned to do the Meet to Beat Leukemia car show at Columbus State on Saturday afternoon and Cruisin' with the King Saturday evening, but showers right as I was ready to leave for both shows killed those plans.
Luckily, the weather gave us a break from the showers on Sunday so the whole weekend wasn't a complete wash out (no pun intended).
4TH ANNUAL ARMED FORCES DAY CAR SHOW
The Empty Pockets Cruisers' made a wise decision on Friday to move their Armed Forces Day Car Show at the VFW Post 4931 in Hilliard, Ohio from Saturday to Sunday. As it turned out, Sunday's weather was near perfect for a car show.
A few cars didn't see the date change and unfortunately showed up on Saturday in between showers. For those that did get notification of the change, 72 of them turned out on Sunday to register for the show.
The Armed Forces Day show offered door prizes, a 50/50 raffle, music by Jim McGruder, and food provided by members of VFW 4931. Haggerty Insurance and Cruisin Classics both had vendor booths. All proceeds from the show went to military charities such as the Blue Star Mothers of America.
THE AWARDS
The Empty Pocket Cruisers presented 45 "Favorite" and five "Special" awards.
Here are a few of the 45 "Favorite" vehicles:
1967 Camaro SS - Owner: Mark Lester
1962 Chevy pickup - Owner: Kevin Martin
1962 Chevy Impala SS - Owner: Mark and Patty Enyart
1969 Chevy Corvette - Owner: Quentin Sayer
2013 Dodge Challenger SRT - Owner: Josh and Mary
1935 Ford Coupe - Owner: Sam and Barbara Parks
2005 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup - Owner: Angela Gilliland
2000 Chevy Corvette - Owner: Frank Deering
1990 Lincoln Mark VII - Owner: Mark Seven
1966 Ford Mustang - Owner: Tom Diley
SPECIAL AWARDS
VFW Post 4931 Pick
1942 Pontiac Streamliner - Owner: Clement Thurn
VFW Post 1439 Most Patriotic
Tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen 1965 Dodge Dart - Owner: Ernest Rosser
DJ's Choice
2017 Chevy Camaro ZL1 - Owner: Yours truly
Sponsor's Choice
1970 Cougar Eliminator - Owner: Mike Besecker
Best of Show
1967 Ford Galaxie 500 - Owner: Dion Cunningham
There were several other interesting and unique vehicles at the show that I thought were worth pointing out.
1994 Cadillac Fleetwood - Owner: L J Bragg
1997 Honda - Owner: K'Shawn (car was so low the front bumper started to tear away going through the grass)
Armed Forces tribute motorcycle custom-built by Jim Holstein
Final Thoughts
This is the fifth car show hosted by the Empty Pocket Cruisers I've attended. All have been well-organized and geared to car enthusiasts. You can always count on good music, good door prizes, and a great mix of vehicles at their shows.
The club will be hosting two more shows this season. Next will be their Hilliard Historical Village Car Show slated for June 23, 2018. That will be followed by their annual Halloween show in late October.