Let me start by expressing my appreciation to those who were concerned about my well-being because there wasn't a post last week. I'm happy to report I'm doing just fine.
There were only two events the previous weekend and three events this past weekend so it made sense to combine both weekends into one report.
Let's start with the weekend of November 5th and 6th.
Miller's Swap Meet & Car Show
The Miller's Swap Meet & Car Show is a twice-a-year event (March and November) at the Ross County Fairgrounds in Chillicothe, Ohio. The March swap meet is generally scheduled for the second Saturday of the month while the November swap meet is generally the first Saturday.
Despite some gusty winds, over 200 cars participated in the car show portion of this year's November swap meet.
Awards were presented to the Top 25, the Top 10 for 1988 and newer, plus 14 "Special Category" awards such as Best GM, Best Ford, Best Truck, Best of Show, etc.
Dale Pearce's 1950 Chevy 3100 pickup received one of the two Sponsor's awards.
The Best Sedan/Wagon award went to Jeff Shankle's 1972 Buick Sport Wagon.
Cadillac Mac's 1965 Ford Galaxie 500 received the Best of Show honors.
Final 2022 Point on Main Car Show
On Sunday, November 6, Shaun "Big Dawg" Sanders and the C-Town Cruisers hosted what turned out to be their final car show of the season.
With temperatures pushing into the 70s, the show registered 101 cars. Awards were presented to the "Favorite" 36, along with a Ladies Choice, MOPO (Most Potential)/Rat Rod), Champions Award, and Best of Show.
Brian Z. who has been friends with Shaun for 8-9 years and always brings him something for his truck received a special appreciation award. You may recognize Brian from his red Ford Falcon. That's Brian's head sticking up above the roof of his car.
Here are the "Special Category" award winners:
The Ladies Choice award went to Dan Varner with a 1963 1/2 Mercury Marauder Fastback.
Shon Knudsen's 1979 Chevrolet Malibu Wagon received the MOPO/Rat Rod Award.
The 1965 Ford Galaxie 500 belonging to Cadillac Mac took the Champions Award.
And finally, Best of Show honors went to Craig Grunkemeyer and his 1967 Chevy Corvette convertible.
To see more from the final 2022 Point on Main Car Show, CLICK HERE.
November 11 and 12
The weather finally started to behave like it was November. The rain from the remnants of hurricane Nicole canceled the C-Town Cruisers Veterans Day car show on Friday.
It stopped raining long enough to keep those attending the final Creative Automotive/Advanced Auto Parts show relatively dry. A new wheelbarrow fire pit was placed into service to take some of the November chill out.
A few folks braved the wet conditions and brought their show cars. Everyone else showed up in their daily driver. Jeff Tolley drove his Biscayne all the way from Pickerington to Marysville.
Rick Jones received the Creative Automotive/Advanced Auto Parts "Cruiser of the Year" award. Rick and his dog attended all nine shows this year.
Tim Inscho was the Runner-up "Cruiser of the Year". Tim made it to all but two shows.
I think everyone in attendance wished the weather would have been a little better but we all agreed hanging out with friends for a few more hours was a nice way to finish the 2022 car show season.
As you can imagine, the turnout for the car show portion of the November Springfield Swap Meet and Car Show was rather small thanks to the snow and cold temperatures.
That's it for News and Notes from the last two weekends. Next week I will post a recap of the entire 2022 season along with my favorite cars, shows, and cruise-ins so stay tuned for that.
A big thanks to Jeff Shankle for sharing his photos for this report.
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1952 Ford F Series 1 Pickup - Owners: Big Dawg & Mary
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NEWS AND NOTES
Der Dutchman Tuesday and Thursday Cruise-Ins
I have two Der Dutchman cruise-ins to report on this week. For the past several years a friend and I have been trying to make it to one of the monthly cruise-ins at the Bellville Der Dutchman. Every time we planned to go it either rained or was windy and cold. This past Tuesday the weather finally cooperated and we made the drive up to Bellville.
The cruise-in had a little over 40 cars in attendance. Every car that participated in the cruise-in received a 10% off coupon towards a restaurant or bakery purchase along with a raffle ticket for door prizes. There was a DJ spinning the tunes and making announcements about upcoming car shows in the area.
The restaurant blocked off the north parking lot which provides the cruise-in with ample parking. There was also a nice pavilion with tables and chairs to sit down and eat your food or get out of the sun on those hot summer days. There was no food served outside. You either ordered carryout or ate in the restaurant. Overall I'd say it was worth the 48 min drive to Bellville. My friend and I are talking about making another road trip to the Bellville Der Dutchman next year.
Thanks to the Delaware County Fair and cold and windy weather, attendance was down a bit this week at the Der Dutchman cruise-in at the Plain City restaurant. The Thursday evening cruise-in still had 272 cars in attendance.
This Thursday (September 30) will be the LAST cruise-in for the year. The banquet will be the following Thursday (October 6) and then that's it until next spring.
Napa Friday Night Cruise-In
I stopped by the Friday night Cruise-In at the Napa parking lot in Hilliard, Ohio. There were about 20 cars in attendance. There was lots of discussion about cars and car shows during the hour or so I was there.
Hidden Lakes Winery Sizzlin Summer Season Series
Crossroads Events and the Hidden Lakes Winery in Canal Winchester, Ohio hosted their fourth show of the season at the winery on Friday evening.
The event registered 47 cars. Thirty-six awards were presented at the end of the evening. The Best of Show went to Mike Simonski and his 1953 Chevy Tin Woody Wagon.
Still Electric Mods, Rods, & Classic Car Show
Still Electric with the help of Big Dawg and the C-Town Cruisers hosted its first-ever car show at the Alum Creek Baptist Church in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday.
The registration fee was $15 and included a ticket for a hot dog and soft drink from the food truck. There were door prizes and a 50/50 raffle.
The show registered 114 cars. A team of three judges evaluated all the vehicles. Custom trophies ranging in size from six feet (Best of Show), four feet (category awards), and two feet (top 30) were presented at the end of the show.
Mark Valentine was presented with the "Biggest Car Show Enthusiast" award.
The Old Goats Car Club just missed receiving the Club Participation award but the members still took home lots of hardware.
Bob Krist and his 1946 Ford Coupe received the Best of Show honors. This year Bob added a big blower to the engine.
To see the other Category winners and there rest of the cars from the Still Electric Show, CLICK HERE.
Shamrock Club Classic Car Show and Cruise-In
The Shamrock Club of Columbus, Ohio hosted its 6th Annual Classic Car Show and Cruise-in on Sunday.
Early morning rain got things off to a slow start but by early afternoon 55 cars had registered for the show. There were door prizes and a 50/50 raffle. Hot dogs and brats could be purchased at the club's outside pavilion. Adult beverages were available in the basement of the club.
At the end of the show, trophies were awarded to the Top 20, Best Bike, Best Mopar, Best GM, Best Ford, Best Truck, Best Import, People's Choice, Board's Choice, and Best of Show.
The Best of Show award went to Don Benedik with a 1932 Ford Coupe.
CLICK HERE for the category winners and rest of the cars from Shamrock Club show.
Farrow's Hot Rods & Handlebars
I received some photos from Farrow's Hot Rods & Handlebars show in Sunbury, Ohio on Saturday evening. Looks like another packed house for this event. The silver bike in the photo belongs to our friend Larry Walters.
James Dean Rebel Run and Ducktail Run
Although these are not Central Ohio Car events, I think they're worth mentioning just for their shear size.
Our very good friends, Jeff and Pam Shankle, along with some other Marysville, Ohio folks made their annual trek to the James Dean and Ducktail Run events in Gas City and Fairmont, Indiana this weekend.
Over the four day period, the Ducktail run registered 2838 cars and the James Dean Rebel Run registered over 2400 cars. Jeff took more than 1800 photos! If you're friends with Jeff on Facebook, you can scan all the photos he took. Let me just say, there were a lot of really nice cars.
I received this request through Facebook:
Melissa D'Costa and her family are Looking for someone with a cool old classic car to provide one last joy ride for the cremains of her father who was a huge car guy. The funeral is Friday, September 30th at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Grove City, Ohio. Arrive at the church at 11:30-11:40am, funeral ends around 11:50. Will transport cremains in a small sealed box, along with a guitar, from the church to St. Joseph’s Cemetery off 23 in Lockbourne, Ohio. About a 10 mile drive. The car will follow the funeral director in an escorted assembly with the rest of the family and friends following. The drive should be complete by 12:30 and then the driver is free to go. The funeral director did warn that the car will have to have a beacon and funeral flag attached to the hood of the car magnetically. They can put a paper plate under them to protect the car, but we wanted to be sure the driver knows that. We will pay for gas and time if someone is interested in helping out the family call (614) 202-2952 or email fun2bapt@hotmail.com.
I have a lot of people to thank for this week's report. A big shout out goes to Jeff Shankle, Dale Pearce, Frank Russell, Larry Walters, and Adam Lester.
After the finish of every season, I like to take a look back at what I think was good and what I think was not so good about it. The opinions expressed are my own and apply only to the events I attended. If you disagree with me or have an event you thought was particularly good or one not so good, please feel free to post a comment. With that said, lets get on with the review of the 2021 Central Ohio car show season..
From April 17 through November 12, I participated in 77 car shows, cruise-ins, and meet-ups and was a spectator in another nine. I took 5500 photos of classic cars, muscle cars, exotics, trucks, and motorcycles. I drove over 2600 miles round trip to report on local car events. This may all sound very impressive until you find out Jeff Tolley and his friends participated in 180 events this season. That's pretty much one every single day!
The Good:
Let's start with some good. The 2021 car show season pretty much returned to pre-pandemic normals. To my knowledge, not a single public health agency forced the cancellation of a car event this season because of Covid. Even the Governor allowed Goodguys to return to the Fairgrounds despite banning the public from attending the Ohio State Fair.
Shaun "Big Dawg" Saunders' C-Town Cruisers and Dan "Boots" Longenette and Pepsi's Auto Smarts Cruise and Ride had a full slate of events this season compared to last year. The two combined to host more than 50 shows in Central Ohio!
Following a two and three-year absence respectively, the cruise-in at Chesrown Chevrolet, Buick, GMC in Delaware, and the car show formerly known as On the Rocks in Dublin returned in 2021.
Unfortunately, not every event came back. Missing this season was the USA Days Car Show in Centerburg, Cruisin' For a Cause, one of my favorites, at the Discover Church in Dublin, the downtown Lithopolis show on Memorial Day, the Canal Winchester Labor Day car show, and the Spring Fling (it plans to be back in 2022) just to name a few of the missing shows this year.
The biggest shocker of the season came in June when it was announced after 12 years that Colo's Classic Car Show at the Columbus Zoo was canceled. A lot of rumors floated around as to the reason for the cancellation but the Zoo never put out an "official" statement as far as I know.
After hosting no shows in 2020, The Rod Knockers Car Club out of Marion and the Mid Ohio Cruisers Club out of Marysville returned with their monthly car shows. The Mid Ohio Cruisers show had a new home at the Burger King on Route 31. It took a few shows for everyone to get adjusted to the new location. No question, both clubs continue to put on the best no registration fee car shows in Central Ohio.
The weekly Thursday cruise-in at the Der Dutchman Restaurant in Plain City continued its reign as the king of Central Ohio cruise-ins. The cruise-ins started two weeks earlier this year. It was attended by more than 300 cars seven times during the summer. It set an all-time attendance record of 439 cars on the last cruise-in of the year. A whopping 2900 vehicles were registered in 2021.
Looking back over the year, I can't say there were any shows I attended that were truly outstanding. At the same time, I can't say I attended any that were horrible, either.
The Empty Pockets Cruisers hosted four shows this year instead of their usual three. All four shows were well done. Their Trunk or Treat show continues to be one of my favorites. I always say it takes car people to put on a good car show.
Shows that I participated in for the first time included the All Corvette Gathering, Hosanna Lutheran Church Car Show, Mechanicsburg First Responders Car Show, Blackwing Shooting Center Summer Blast, Farrows Hot Rods and Handlebars, and Tolles Career and Technical Center Car and Craft Show. I was a spectator at my first Italian Gathering and Kreiger Ford Mustang and All Ford Show.
Buckeye Cruzin' at Ohio Stadium gets the award for the most expensive registration fee. Although to be fair, the $175 fee went to support the Buckeye Cruise for Cancer. It was a fun event until the engine revving got out of hand and forced me to leave.
The most chaotic event this year was the Jax Wax Street Madness in July. The title gave a pretty good description of the event. Between the steady line of cars trying to get into the parking area and the hundreds of car audio systems blaring, I had a pounding headache by the time I left.
Heels and Wheels at the Vanity Gentlemen's Club was the most "adult" car show I attended. The Mayor had a couple of huge assets that were hard to overlook. Those who attended the show will know what I'm talking about.
Frank Sanborn gets this year's most miles traveled award. Not only did Frank attend shows in Central Ohio, but he also traveled to events in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Bowling Green, Kentucky, Fairmount and Gas City Indiana, and Cincinnati, Ohio.
The Not So Good:
Some not-so-good news this year was the loss of some of our car show community members. Larry Bickers passed away in May. Many of you will remember Larry from his 2003 Mustang "Daily Driver" with more than 190,000 miles.
In September, we lost Jim Matheny. I never met Jim, but I'm told he helped organize and run lots of car shows in the Newark/Heath areas. He held positions with the Super Chevy Car Show Organization and Let's Go Cruising Magazine. For many years, he served as chairman for "Lite the Nite" and operated Jim Matheny Kar Shoz.
And finally, Terry McReynolds passed away in October. Terry was the Pace Truck Driver at Columbus Motor Speedway for more than 20 years. He was also an integral part of Pepsi's Auto Smarts Cruise and Ride team and a close friend of Dan "Boots" Longenette.
All three will be very much missed as will others who passed away this year.
This was my tenth year attending car shows and the first time experiencing a collision at one. A car leaving the North Hills Church of God Car and Bike Show in September pulled out in front of an oncoming car and caused it to flip around 360 degrees hitting a motorcycle and car participating in the show. This added a bit more excitement to the show than expected.
Another first in 2021 was my banishment from the Ohio Car Shows and Cruise-ins Facebook group in July. The reason for being banished was my disagreement with their decision not to approve the list of Central Ohio car events for the week of July 12-18. They decided not to publicize any events that might compete with their group car show at Knox County Fairgrounds that Saturday. Seriously? The group's stated purpose is to promote car shows and cruise-ins in and around the state of Ohio.
After 12 years of meeting on Saturday mornings, Columbus Cars and Coffee at Lennox Town Center was abruptly canceled in May after some participants leaving the meet displayed some very poor judgment. In November, the group started meeting on Saturdays again at The City Apartments -- formerly the old University City shopping center.
I know some of you may disagree with me -- especially everyone at the Vettes, Rods, and Classics show in August when a monsoon passed through Gahanna during the awards ceremony. But I thought the weather wasn't as big a factor this season as in prior years. Out of the hundreds of events scheduled only 15 were canceled or postponed becasue of weather. And most were postponed to a later date.
Speaking of postponed. Thanks to a forecast that turned out to be totally wrong (big surprise), the Performance Charity Car Show in downtown Delaware, Ohio was postponed from July to October. And boy did that turn out to be a good move. The weather on the October date was about as perfect as one could expect for a car show. The organizers liked the October date such much, they've decided to hold the 2022 show in October.
Top Ten:
At the end of every season, I post my ten favorite vehicles I saw at a show or cruise-in. Here are the ones that made me stop and take a second, third, or sometimes fourth look.
No. 10 - 2016 EZ Go Golf Cart model "Tow Mater" - Owner: Julie Brown
No 5. - 1947 Chevrolet Fleetline Aerosedan - Owner: Clement Thurn
No 4. - Restomod 1967 Chevy Camaro - Owner: Ed Stizza
No. 3. - 1962 Dodge Dart - Owner: Steve Brown
No. 2 - 1948 Chevy Pickup - Owner: Sam Parks
No. 1 - Legends of Rock Custom Built Motorcycle - Owner: Unknown
Favorite Photos:
Take 5500 photos and there's bound to be some favorites. Here are the ones that I think best capture the season.
Click or tap on a photo to enlarge and enter slideshow mode.
Final Thoughts:
2021 turned out to be another great year for car events in Central Ohio. Because of the reduced number of events in 2020, the sheer volume of events this season was staggering. There were a lot of Saturdays with more than 15 events on the schedule.
What I really enjoyed most about this year was the opportunity to get to know many members of the car community a little better. The people you meet and the friends you make are the main reasons car cruises are so special.
2021 also gave me a sneak peek at the future. The next generation of car enthusiasts is alive and well. They may not seek awards like our generation. And their autos may not be Chevys, Fords or Dodges, but they're proud of their rides and they like to hang out and talk cars just like we do. And that's what counts.
I want to take a moment to thank some folks who helped me compile the weekly reports. They reported on shows I didn't or couldn't attend (I still haven't figured out how to be in multiple places at once). Without their help the weekly News and Notes would not have been anywhere near as detailed.
My sincerest thanks goes out to:
Jeff Shankle - I know for a fact he took more car photos than I did
Dale Pearce - If Dale doesn't know about a show, it ain't happening
Dave Bratton - Great resource for show information
Mark & Cathy Krist - Did a great job of reporting in between planting and harvesting vegetables.
Dan Varner - Seems have the scoop before anyone else.
Unless there's some late-breaking news to report, I'm going to take some time off to recharge. I'm leaving for Florida at the end of December. I'll be back just in time for the start of the 2022 car show season. Look for the first installment of "Save the Dates for 2022" sometime in February. The list is already growing.
I hope everyone has a safe and happy Holiday season. I look forward to seeing everyone again next year.
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An old wheelbarrow became a makeshift fire pit Friday evening to keep the 17 car and truck owners that turned out for the final Creative Towing/Advanced Auto Parts car show in Marysville, Ohio from freezing to death.
By the end of the show, temperatures had fallen into the mid to low 20's. Thank goodness there wasn't much wind or the evening would have been really brutal.
For this final show of the season, six awards were presented.
Steady rain all day Saturday postponed one area show and washed out two others. Luckily the showers moved out the area in time for the American Legion Canteen Southway Post 144 Trunk or Treat Cruise-in on Sunday.
The event hosted by the C-Town Cruisers was held at the American Legion Canteen Southway Post 144 on South High Street in Columbus, Ohio. Along with the cars, the show featured a kid's Halloween party and hayride.
The food special inside the American Legion Canteen included a pulled pork sandwich, potato salad, macaroni and cheese, green beans and piece of cake all for $8.00.
The Empty Pockets Cruisers hosted their annual Trunk or Treat Car show on Saturday at the Hilliard Presbyterian Church in Hilliard, Ohio.
With temperatures near 80 on Friday, a cold front moved through the area overnight dropping the high on Saturday into the mid-50s. The drastic change in temperature caused the one car club to cancel their event on Saturday.
Despite the chilly temperatures, the Empty Pocket Cruisers went on with the show and managed to register 137 vehicles. In the afternoon, there were plenty of children dressed up in costumes trick or treating their way through the cars.
Once again the Ohio Zombie Guard was there to protect the crowd from zombies, ghosts, ghouls, globlins, and other unnatural phenomena.
The awards presentation at Saturday's Vettes, Rods & Classics show at Creekside in Gahanna, Ohio took a surprising twist when my Camaro was announced as the Best in Class winner for C7 Corvettes 2017 - 2019.
While my car and C7 Corvette Z06 do share the same engine, I doubt many would get the two cars confused.
I suspect my car was accidentally entered into the computer as a Corvette during registration. Someone saw the "Z" on my registration card and thought Corvette Z06 instead of Camaro ZL1.
Anyway, the Capital City Corvette Club handled the error with grace and presented my car with an Award of Excellence plaque. I just feel bad that someone with a very nice 2017-2019 C7 Corvette didn't receive an award.
Aside from the award mix-up, the 5th Annual Vettes, Rods, and Classics show continued to carry on the tradition as one of the best car shows in Central Ohio.
This year the Capital City Corvette Club got the city of Gahanna to agree to close the streets in the Creekside district an hour early - 11 AM instead of 12 Noon. The hour change appears to have made the initial rush of vehicles into the show area a lot smoother than it had been in previous years. I overheard two participants discussing how smooth the parking was this year. I arrived around 11:30 AM and lucked into a "Premo" parking spot at the corner of Mill Street and Ogden Aly.
With the start of May, I predicted that cars shows taking place in 40-degree weather would be over for a while. Boy, did this weekend make a liar out of me!
Rain and cold temperatures both Friday and especially Saturday kept a lot of cars at home. The Vintage Auto Club of Delaware, Ohio First Friday cruise-in had only 20 cars show up this month.
The good news from the evening is that our good friend, Frank Sanborn, won the 50/50 raffle and donated his half back to the club. As a result, $110 will be going to Hospice of Delaware.
I was one of only nine cars that turned out for Coffee and Cars at the Richwood Bank in Delaware, Ohio on Saturday morning. Temperatures fluctuated between 49 and 50 degrees all morning with a pretty stiff wind out of the north.
Cold temperatures and areas of Central Ohio with salt on the roads did not stop 59 cars from participating in the Veterans Day Car Show at the American Legion Southway Post 144 on Sunday.
This was Big Dawg and the C-Town Cruisers last show for 2018.
Big Dawg told me the Cruisers already have 19 events lined up for next year including the Reynoldsburg Tomato Festival. This is a good sign that 2019 will be another big year for car events in Central Ohio.
Another weekend of car shows was dampened by rain and the addition of cold temperatures.
Rain started falling around 6 PM Friday evening at the Creative Towing/Advanced Auto Parts show in Marysville, Ohio. By 7 PM it was coming down hard enough to force an early finish to the show.
With the threat of rain in the forecast and temperatures barely in the 50s, the show only registered 22 cars. Several cars left early once the rain started to fall.
Here are this month's award winners:
1969 Chevy Camaro - Owner: Pete Z. (couldn't make out his last name)
1971 Ford Mustang Mach 1 - Owner: Jim Cooper
1963 Chevy Bel Air - Owner: Kenney Kerr
Despite the bad weather, the show managed to raise $75 for the local food pantry.
There's one more Creative Towing/Advanced Auto Parts show on the schedule for November 9th, weather permitting.
