Trunks, Treats and the King

The forecast on Saturday proved to be correct for a change.  As promised, it turned into a two car show day.

TRUNK OR TREAT

I started the day at the Hilliard Presbyterian Church on Leap Road in Hilliard, Ohio for the Empty Pockets Cruisers Trunk or Treat Car Show.  The show has quickly become the number one Halloween themed car show in Central Ohio. With afternoon temperatures in the 70's and plenty of sunshine, the show set a new record with 168 registered vehicles.

The Zombie Disposal Unit arrived early to protect everyone from ghouls, ghosts, goblins, and of course, zombies.

 

The "Skeletal" family brought their cars to Trunk or Treat. They're a relaxed, casual group.

A number of car owners got into the Halloween spirit.

The great weather brought out several original owner and unrestored vehicles.

Bud Norris is the original owner of this unrestored 1965 Ford Mustang.  Bud purchased the car for just over $2500 in 1965 from Beasley Ford, which later became Graham Ford.

Although not the original owner, Dan Varner brought another of his ALL original, unrestored cars.  This time it was his 1968 Camaro SS

You know a show has become "special" when vendors want to participate.
Saturday's Trunk or Treat had vendor displays from Bath Fitter, Haggerty Insurance, and Cruisin Classics. 

FOOD, PRIZES AND RAFFLES

As we all know, food, door prizes, and raffles can make or break a show.  Food was provided by members of Hilliard Presbyterian congregation.  You could get a hot dog, brat or hamburger along with baked beans, chips, dessert and a drink all for $5. Can't say it was the best hamburger I've had this season, but it was still a lot of food for the money.

On the flip side, the show gave out some great door prizes.  A couple of examples were a $25 gift card to Beer Barrel Pizza & Grill that I won, and the bucket full of Jax Wax detailing products my friend won.

Just like the Hilliard Historical Village show back in June, the Empty Pocket Cruisers held a participation raffle in addition to the 50/50 raffle.  One dollar was set a side from each registration for the participation raffle.  One lucky participant went home Saturday afternoon $168 dollars richer.

THE AWARDS

The Empty Pocket Cruisers presented plaques for the Top 40 cars, Best Chevy, Best MOPAR, Best Ford, DJ's Choice, Pastor's Choice, Kid's Choice, Club Choice, and Best of Show. Plaques were also presented for the best decorated cars, and best costumes.

DJ's Choice - Terry Bosserman and his 2010 Dodge Viper

Pastor's Choice - Bud Norris with his one owner and unrestored 1965 Mustang.

Kid's Choice - Jim Neff with a 2015 Dodge Challenger.

Club's Choice - Tim Manbevers and his 1968 Plymouth Barracuda.

Best Chevy  - Ross Nelson with a 1970 Camaro Z/28 original

Best GM - Frank Seerlaw with a 1970 Pontiac GT37

Best Truck - Gary Stapleton with a 1948 Chevy Pickup

Best Mopar - Joe Moreno with a 1971 Plymouth Barracuda

Best Import - C. Wright with a 1966 Austin Healey

Best Ford - George Wallace with a 1970 Torino 429

Best of Show - Keith Young and his Bonnie & Clyde 1936 Ford 3-window Coupe

The Empty Pocket Cruisers should be congratulated for putting on another successful car show. The great weather and record turn out made this year's Trunk or Treat the best one yet.

FINAL CRUISIN' WITH THE KING

I made a quick trip home after the Trunk or Treat show to let out the dog.  Then it was off to the Burger King in Marysville, Ohio for the final Cruisin' with the King in 2017. 

The final show of the season registered 75 cars. A few more cars showed up that did not register.
The final show also marked the first show with the newly completed car wash next to Burger King in full operation. During the past two weeks, the car wash has been offering free washes as a promotion.  Needless to say, the business has seen a steady stream of customers.

The Mid Ohio Cruisers need to be commended for pulling off a season of cruise-ins around the construction of the car wash.  A big chunk of parking space was eliminated by the car wash.  Getting permission from the city of Marysville to close the road behind Burger King during the cruise-ins has helped off-set some of the lost parking area.

This month the cruise-in had a Halloween costume contest for the kids.

Jim Clements won the 50/50 raffle and went home with $110, and a lot of new-found friends.

The final 10 trophy winners for the year included

• Tracy Avery - 1997 Ford Thunderbird (also only adult to wear a costume)
• Phil Miller - 1940 Plymouth
• Jim Moore - 1952 Ford F150
• Mike Gibson - 1947 Buick Super convertible
• Cory Roberts - 1970 Dodge Dart
• Bob Church - 1960 Chevy Impala
• Larry and Chris Reese - 1965 AMC Rambler
• Kevin Bissell  - 1957 Chevy pickup
• Ron Rieser - 1952 Henry J
• Jason Anderson - 1970 Chevelle SS

The next cruise-in hosted by Mid Ohio Cruisers will be their Snow Ball Cruise slated for January 20, 2018 from 2-4 PM at the same location.

UPDATE

The only show in the area I was able to find for Sunday (10/22) was at the Advanced Auto store on south High Street in Columbus, Ohio.  I did not attend the show, however, my good friends Jeff and Pam Shankle drove over from Marysville to participate.  Jeff said there were more than 60 registered cars.  Sounds like the beautiful weather contributed to a very good turnout. Jeff and Pam were kind enough to send me some photos.  Both received a Top 30 trophy for their '65 and '66 Impalas.

This covers what turned out to be a great weekend of weather and car shows in Central Ohio.

Let me leave you with a little video that captures some of the sights and sounds from this weekend. No zombies were hurt in the production of this video...