This week, Tattletale's Auto Smarts Radio Cruise and Ride, Big Dawg and the C-Town Cruisers, and the corporate-sponsored Columbus Cars and Coffee kick off their 2023 season.
For the most comprehensive list of future events in Central Ohio, check out the "Save the Dates for 2023" page. There's also a quick link in the menu at the top of the page.
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NEWS AND NOTES
Not much to report this week. It sounds like the weather in Ohio was more winter-like than spring-like this past weekend. I even heard there might have been a snow flurry or two.
You may notice that I'm posting earlier than usual. My wife is having back surgery on Monday. Putting this out today means one less thing to do tomorrow. Any information I receive regarding the Sunday events, I'll include with next week's report.
I did a minor re-organization of the Recurring events on the "Save the Dates for 2023". I've grouped the events as weekly, monthly, twice a month, and promotor/DJ schedules. I hope this makes it easier to find all those recurring events and schedules. There seems to be a bunch of them this year.
I want to close this week by thanking all those that have sent me flyers. You can't imagine how much that helps me keep up with events. Please keep them coming.
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NEWS AND NOTES
Der Dutchman Thursday Cruise-In
The Der Dutchman Cruise-In in Plain City, Ohio had another good evening of attendance this week with 302 cars.
September seems to be the best month for attendance. The weather starts to cool a bit and everyone suddenly realizes the cruise-in will be over in a few weeks. If the weather is nice, look for attendance to start pushing the 400 mark.
Thanks to an accident on Rt 33 and the traffic light at Rt 42 and Industrial Parkway, it took over an hour to get to Marysville, Ohio Friday evening for the Marysville muscle/Marysville Honda Motorsports monthly meet-up. I was counting on the food truck for my dinner but it was a no-show.
On the bright side, Jeff and Pam Shankle debuted their latest acquisition -- a 1967 Dodge Coronet Convertible.
A little more than 30 cars and bikes attended this month's meet-up. The final meet-up of the season will be September 30th.
Hidden Lakes Sizzlin Summer Season Series
Crossroads Events held its third show of the season at the Hidden lakes Winery in Canal Winchester, Ohio on Friday evening. The show registered about 50 cars.
Dan Fancelli's 1997 Chevy Camaro received its first-ever award. Congratulations Dan!
Best in Show Bike went to Mitch Salisbury with a 1996 Harley Davidson Heritage
Best in Show Truck was the 2008 Ford F450 4x4 8-door stretch of Andy & Kim Matyac. This is the same truck featured at Der Dutchman several weeks ago.
The Best in Show Car award went to Mark Lester's 1967 Chevy Camaro.
To see more photos from the Hidden Lakes show, CLICK HERE.
Whitehall American Legion 490 Car and Bike Show
Zenith Kustoms hosted a car and bike show at The American Legion Post 490 in Whitehall, Ohio on Saturday. The show registered 45 cars and 15 bikes. There were awards for the Top 20, Best Bike, Best Truck, Best Rod, and Best Muscle Car.
John Ressler's 1989 Chevy C1500 Pickup received the Best Truck award.
14th Annual Gospel Car & Motorcycle Show
Saturday afternoon more than 100 cars attended the 14th Annual Gospel & Motorcycle Show at the Columbus Christian Center in Columbus, Ohio.
The show saw Kenneth Kerr and William Hubbard return to the Central Ohio car show scene. Great to see those two back out.
Kevin Foust and his 1941 Dodge Wc40 captured Best of Show honors.
Members of the Rusty Lug Nuts Facebook group also captured some hardware at the show.
Dave Argyle Memorial Car Show
Dave Bratton attended the 17th Annual Dave Argyle Memorial Car Show at the Amvets Post 1985 in Lancaster, Ohio on Saturday.
The show registered 91 vehicles. From what I understand there was only one judge so it took longer than expected for the awards presentation. Some people left before the end of the show.
Dave was kind enough to send PHOTOS from the show.
Springdale Baptist Church Hot Rods & Hot Food
Every now and then you come across a little gem of a car show or cruise-in. That's how I would describe the Springdale Baptist Church Hot Rods & Hot Food Cruise-in Saturday evening. There were 21 cars in attendance. The Church served hot dogs, chips, and water for a donation. There was a raffle for a door prize basket. It turned out to be a nice relaxing few hours on a Saturday evening with friends and other car enthusiasts. Plus the drive to and from the church was pretty nice too.
Toy Barn Fall Car Show 2022
The Toy Barn Pre-Owned Dealership in Dublin, Ohio hosted its second car show of the season on Sunday morning. If the weather is nice, you can count on a lot of cars and a lot of spectators. I heard someone say the dealership pre-registered 300 cars.
The show typically attracts classic, muscle, and exotic cars. Sunday was no exception.
Per usual, the Lamborghinis made their grand entrance and attracted quite a crowd as they arrived.
DJM Dizzie provided the music. There were several food trucks providing breakfast and coffee.
To see a lot more cars from the Toy Barn Show, CLICK HERE.
Auto Smarts Cruise and Ride at Masseys Pizza
Dan "Boots" Longenette and the Auto Smarts Cruise and Ride crew were at Masseys Pizza at the Indian Mound Mall in Heath, Ohio on Sunday. This show was originally scheduled for July 17 but was postponed because of the weather.
The show had a good turnout with 118 cars in attendance. Tammy Guyer and her 1962 Chevy Impala Wagon went home with the Best of Show Award.
Dale Pearce, Pam, and Jeff Shankle also headed home with several awards.
Rams & Rhinos Charity Car and Bike Show
Ramsey's Parkway Drive Thru, Pizza & Pub in Marysville, Ohio was the site of the first-ever Rams & Rhinos Charity Car and Bike Show Sunday afternoon.
For those curious about the Rhinos, it's a rugby team from Marysville.
Proceeds from the show go to Life Car Alliance and the Central Ohio Diabetes Association.
The event registered 56 cars, trucks, and bikes. There were a total of five awards. First, second, and third place for the cars, Crowd Favorite, and Best Motorcycle. There was also a 50/50 drawing and a raffle for two prize baskets. One basket was car care products and gift cards, the other basket contained some adult spirits.
Members of the Rhino Rugby team did the judging. I have to hand it to them they looked at every car and bike.
Here are the award winners chosen by the team:
Crowd Favorite 1967 Jeep Mike Zedekar3rd Place Award 1968 Chevy Camaro Tim Inscho2nd Place Award 1966 Corvette Buddy Glassburn1st place Award 1950 Ford Pickup Ron GriffithBest Motorcycle 1999 Harley Davidson Springer Steve Barry
CLICK HERE for more photos from the Rams & Rhinos show.
I have sad news to report that we lost two Central Ohio Cruisers these past weeks. Billy Dean Peterson passed away on August 19 and Jerry Davies on August 27. Both will be missed.
Because of the holiday on Monday, next week's list will be posted on Tuesday, September 6th.
A big thank you to Jeff Shankle, Dave Bratton, and Dale Pearce for sharing their photos from this past weekend.
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NEWS AND NOTES
Der Dutchman Thursday Cruise-In
Attendance at the Thursday evening cruise-in in Plain City, Ohio was back up by over 200 this week (229 to be exact).
Of note during the evening was the air-brushed pickup truck honoring our military and police, and the Columbus Soap Box Derby Association with World Champion Eleni Fischer.
The Columbus Soap Derby Association will be hosting a Free test drive on September 10, 2022. You can learn more about the test drive and other races at https://youtu.be/QYbYqepTxtg.
Creative Automotive/Advanced Auto Parts Car Show
With near perfect weather Friday evening, the Creative Automotive/Advanced Auto Parts store in Marysville, Ohio had 39 cars in attendance for its monthly car show.
The show raised more than $200 for the Marysville and Milford Center Food Pantries.
Here are the award picks for this month:
1966 Ford Fairlane Greg Barcus1970 Chevy El Camino SS Tony & Holly1966 Chevy Chevelle Malibu Mark & Jen Farmer1950 Ford F1 Ron Griffith
Charity Car Show
Saturday I drove to Circleville, Ohio for the Charity Car Show. The show took place in the parking lot behind the Defenbaugh-Wise-Schoedinger Funeral Home on Main Street.
Chazziz DJ Service provided the music and Box 65 provided hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, and drinks at a reasonable cost. Registration was free with a donation of school supplies.
The show only registered 25 cars. Judging was done by points with three judges doing the scoring. Awards included Top Five, People's Choice, Director's Choice, and Best of Show.
These were the People's Choice and Director's Choice winners.
Director's Choice 1928 REO Flying Cloud Brian CarruthersPeople's Choice 1970 Ford Torino Cobra 429 Lundy Ross
Best of Show went to Jim and Vivian Stevens with a 1973 Mercury Comet GT.
To see more cars from the Charity Car Show in Circleville, CLICK HERE.
Blendon Senior Center Car Show
The Blendon Senior Center in Westerville, Ohio held its 18th annual car show on Saturday.
The show registered 61 cars. Best of Show honors went to Ben McGill with a 1966 Corvette restomod.
CLICK HERE for more cars from the Blendon Senior Center show.
Vance Outdoors Classic Car Cruise-In
The 7th Annual Classic Car Cruise-in took place on Saturday at the Vance Outdoors in Obetz, Ohio. Dan "Boots" Longenette and the Auto Smarts Cruise and Ride team were on hand to host the show. All proceeds went to Honor Flight Tri-State as part of the 2022 Fill the Plane Campaign. The event raised $110,000 for Honor Flight.
The show registered just under 180 vehicles. The Best of Show Award went to Ralph Carle's 1959 Chevy El Camino.
Hot Summer Nights Cruise-In
Downtown Bellefontaine, Ohio was the scene of the annual Hot Summer Nights Cruise-In on Saturday evening. This is the show where all cars register at the Fairgrounds and parade up Main Street to the downtown area around 5 o'clock.
This year the event registered 361 cars with close to another 150 in attendance that didn't register.
Sunday Shows
Scattered showers in the area on Sunday postponed one show and kept attendance low in three other shows.
Bid Dawg and the C-Town Cruisers registered 30 cars at The Point on Main Sports Bar & Grill Show.
The 2018 Dodge Charger Daytona 392 of Chad Herrick received the Best of Show honors.
The Whitehall NAZ Annual Car Show just couldn't escape the rain this year. A forecast of rain on the original date of June 26th postponed the show to August 14.
Sunday the show had 25 cars in attendance thanks to the rain. Our good friend, Dale Pearce, and his 1950 Chevy 3100 pickup went home with the Best of Show Award. Tom Obert's Ford Mustang received the People's Choice Award.
I participated in the Wings and Rings Restaurant in Lewis Center, Ohio Car, Truck, & Bike Show hosted by Crossroads Events. This was the first of three shows scheduled at the restaurant this season.
The show registered 29 cars. Most of the show stayed dry until right before the awards ceremony. That's when a small cell of rain decided the parking lot full of show cars could use a litter water to finish out the event.
The Best of Show Award went to the 1947 Ford Special Deluxe belonging to Mike Mathews.
To see the "Special" award winners and other cars from the show, CLICK HERE.
That's it for this week. I want to thank Jeff Shankle, Dale Pearce, and Dave Bratton for their help preparing this week's report.
2018 Camaro ZL1 and 1968 Camaro SS Owner of Both: Anthony Margello
The last weekend of August has turned out to be the biggest weekend of the season when it comes to the number of events. Lots to choose from all over the Central Ohio area.
NEWS AND NOTES:
38th Arthritis Foundation Classic Auto Show and Cruise-in:
I spent a few hours Friday afternoon as a spectator at the 38th Annual Arthritis Foundation Classic Auto Show and Cruise-In in Dublin, Ohio. Friday's registration was somewhere between 330 and 350 cars. The big exhibit this year was 110 years of Chevrolet.
I managed to take more than 100 photos of some excellent rides.
The top 50 cars on Friday received six-foot trophies. Dave Bratton and Lou Koester received a special award for their financial contributions to the Arthritis Foundation.
I didn't make it to the show on Saturday. If you were at Saturday's show as a participant or spectator, please feel free to post a comment about the day's activities.
To see the photos I took of the one hundred plus cars on Friday, click here.
Westerville Cars & Coffee with Jake from State Farm:
Saturday morning I headed over to Westerville, Ohio for Westerville Cars & Coffee with Jake from State Farm. This is the second year State Farm agent, Jake Breakey, has been hosting a Saturday morning cruise-in in the parking lot behind his agency. Anyone that brought a car could enjoy a cup of coffee, donuts, and a chance to spin the wheel for prizes. It turned out to be a great way to spend a Saturday morning. My only disappointment was Jake wasn't wearing khakis. He was wearing shorts.
Cruisin' with the King:
The Mid Ohio Cruisers Car Club registered 53 cars Saturday evening at their monthly show at the Burger King in Marysville, Ohio. The club presented awards to their favorite 15 vehicles.
To see some of the "Favorite" winners and other cars from the show, click here.
Meet at the Beach 2:
Sunday afternoon the south end of the Alum Creek Beach parking lot was the scene of the second Meet at the Beach car meet this season. The majority of owners of the estimated 100 plus cars that turned out during the afternoon were definitely under the age of 30.
The Japanese car manufacturers were very well represented. For a little while, my Camaro and a Jeep were the only cars from American manufacturers. A Mclaren, Lamborghini, and a few classics cars cruised through the parking lot but none stayed very long.
Looking through a crystal ball this will likely be the next generation of car show enthusiasts 20-30 years from now. They'll be showing off their restored 2015 Subaru or Toyota instead of a '69 Camaro.
If you have a Facebook account, check out Dale Pearce's video from the Millersport car show on Sunday. The show registered 65 cars.
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BREAKING NEWS: Dan Boots Longenette of Auto Smarts Radio just posted that Colo’s Classic Car Show at the Columbus Zoo has been canceled for this year. No reason was given for the cancellation. If I find out any additional information, I will post it here.
It's one of those rare weeks where you can do a car show or cruise-in every day of the week if you wanted to.
The featured event this week is the London Cobra Show. The show will move between Dublin (host hotel) and London Ohio. I'm told a bunch of Cobras will be making a stop at the Der Dutchman Cruise-In on Thursday. If you're into Cobras, this will be three days of jam-packed fun.
NEWS AND NOTES:
With no rain in the forecast, the Der Dutchman Restaurant in Plain City, Ohio had another big evening of participation. The Cruise-in registered 378 cars on Thursday.
The rain Friday evening and Saturday morning put a damper on a number of events to start the weekend. The good news is the rain cleared out by Saturday afternoon and stayed away on Sunday.
The Mid Ohio Cruisers registered 56 cars Saturday evening at their monthly Cruisin' with the King Show in Marysville, Ohio. The club presented 15 "Club Favorite" awards and a Boyd's Tire & Service Choice Award. The Boyd's Choice Award went to Dustin and Emilee Evans with a 1977 Pontiac Can-Am.
After a three year hiatus, the car show at the bar and grill in Dublin, Ohio formerly known as On the Rocks returned on Sunday. The bar has undergone multiple owners since the last show was held there in the fall of 2018. The bar is now called the Last Call Music Bar and Grill. Mike Mitchell who organized and ran all the On the Rocks shows is still the main force behind the new show.
Despite Sunday being Fathers Day and some very warm temperatures and high humidity, the Last Call Music Bar and Grill Car and Bike Show registered 88 cars, trucks, and motorcycles. Awards were presented to the top 40, a Manager's Choice, and five Best of Show.
Here are the Manager's Choice and "Best of" winners:
Managers Choice 1971 Dodge Challenger RT Owner: Phil Monroe
Best Mopar 2016 Dodge Challenger RT Owner: Bob Kirst
Best Ford 1970 Ford Torino GT Owner: Chris Kraner
Best GM 1971 Buick GSX Owner: Jeff Fortner
Best Corvette 1969 Chevy Corvette Owner: Craig Grunkemeyer
Best of Show Runner-up 1948 Chevy Pickup Owner: Sam Parks
Best of Show 1962 Chevy Bel Air 409 Owner: Pete Lieb
For more photos from Der Dutchman, Cruisin' with the King, and the Last Call Music Bar and Grill Show, Click here.
Dale Pearce and his 1950 Chevy 3100 pickup took Best of Show and People's Choice honors at the Pataskala SDB Church Classic Car Show on Sunday.
For the second week in a row, several cars received double awards. This time it was at the Heart of Ohio USA Days Car Show in Centerburg, Ohio.
The show presented metal signs to the Top 100 cars along with four special awards.
Two of the special award winners also received Top 100 awards. As I've said many times before, giving cars multiple awards is a great way to kill future attendance at your show.
And speaking of attendance, the event on Sunday registered 250 vehicles.
That's down from 387 last year but not bad considering there was a discussion at last year's award presentation that the 2018 show might be the last. I know flyers for this year's show didn't appear until the middle of August, less than a month before the event.
I managed to get two car shows and a football game in over Labor day weekend. I also got a little wet on Sunday.
Zucchinifest Car & Motorcycle Show
I started the weekend off with the Zucchinifest show on Friday evening at Fortress Obetz in Obetz, Ohio.
This was my first trip to the stadium. I failed to read the directions to the complex posted on the Festival's website and instead relied on Apple Maps to get me there. Big mistake! Apple maps insisted I enter the stadium from Williams Road, however, the Williams Road entrance was temporarily closed. The only way into the stadium was from the Alum Creek Drive entrance. Between Friday rush hour and holiday traffic, construction on I-71, and driving up and down Williams Road for 20 minutes, it took almost an hour to get to the stadium when it should have taken a little more than 30 minutes.
Once parked and my blood pressure back down to normal, Fortress Obetz turned out to be a pretty nice venue for a car show. The amusement rides and food vendors for the Zucchini Festival were setup in the parking lot outside the stadium while the car show took place inside around the main bleachers.
Construction of a sea lions habitat at the Columbus Zoo moved the 11th Annual Colo's Classic Car Show from Jungle Jacks Landing to the main parking lot.
This was my third time participating in Colo's Classic. The first two were inside the zoo. I must say that I preferred the parking lot over Jungle Jacks Landing.
In my review of last year's show, I complained that it took more than 30 minutes to get inside the zoo, and that cars were packed in like sardines in a can. And in the process of parking my car, I inadvertently ran over someone's cooler.
There was none of that this year. I waited less than 10 minutes to enter the show area. The parking lot allowed plenty of space between cars so no one had to worry about door dings or running over something. It also afforded plenty of room for canopies. You could even save a spot for a buddy if needed.
Cars waiting to enter the show at 8 AM
Now some will argue that there were no shade trees and that the black top was hot. I'll grant them those complaints. But I'll argue that it's rare for temperatures to be in the upper 80's the first week of October. The easy access and ample parking far out weighed the lack of shade, in my opinion.
I was unable to attend any events this past week. My wife had shoulder replacement surgery on Tuesday which thrust me into the role of primary caregiver as well as nurse for the week. Her recovery is going well so I hope to get back out and attend a few shows this weekend.
Thanks to the Shankle's for once again sending me photos and info from the shows they attended.
I noticed that attendance seemed a bit down this week. It could be that a lot of classic car owners were a little "burned out" from the two big shows the week before and felt the need to take a break. This is also the peak time for summer vacations which may have been another contributing factor. Whatever the reason, the shows this weekend didn't seem to have big attendance numbers.
For the second week in a row, the weather forecast played havoc with car shows scheduled for the weekend.
After two consecutive months of record-breaking attendance, The Creative Towing/Advanced Auto Parts show on Friday evening in Marysville, Ohio got hit by area rain showers. Only nine cars managed to dodge the rains drops and make it to this month's show.
A line of storms north of Marion, Ohio on Saturday morning put a damper on the two shows scheduled in Bucyrus, Ohio.
Sunday wasn't any better. The On the Rocks show in Dublin, Ohio and the Whitehall VFW Post 8794 show were postponed and cancelled because of the threat of storms in the afternoon. (As I write this at 2:14 pm on Sunday not a single rain drop has fallen).
It's just a fact of life that outdoor events scheduled during the spring months in Central Ohio run the risk of bad weather spoiling the fun.
INSIDE I-270 ON SATURDAY SAVES THE WEEKEND
Fortunately, the weekend wasn't a total bust. Two shows held at locations inside the I-270 outer belt around Columbus, Ohio were able to avoid any bad weather.
I was unable to attend any events this past week. My wife had shoulder replacement surgery on Tuesday which thrust me into the role of primary caregiver as well as nurse for the week. Her recovery is going well so I hope to get back out and attend a few shows this weekend.
For the second week in a row, the weather forecast played havoc with car shows scheduled for the weekend.