2025 Frank n Vette - Owner: Boots Longenette - Auto Smart Radio
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NEWS AND NOTES
Der Dutchman Cruise-In:
Despite zero rain, attendance dipped slightly at Thursday evening’s cruise-in, with 170 cars in attendance. Mid-summer vacations and a touch of car show fatigue are starting to show—something that typically happens around this time of year.
Arthritis Foundation Charity Auto Show:
The Arthritis Foundation hosted its 42nd Annual Charity Auto Show this past weekend at the Metro Center in Dublin, Ohio.
Festivities began Thursday with a scenic tour, as 45 participants took the back roads through the Ohio countryside to Indian Lake. There, the group visited what is believed to be the largest private collection of classic wooden boats in the country.
The drive continued around the lake to the Tilton Hilton, a rustic spot famous for its quirky interior and hearty half-pound burgers. The day wrapped up with high-speed fun at K1 Speed in Hilliard, where 40 attendees hit the kart track, followed by evening drinks at the Roosevelt Room in Dublin.
Big thanks to Dave Bratton for providing the great photos and detailed description of the tour. His contribution helped capture the spirit of the drive and the unique stops along the way.
Arthritis Foundation Charity Auto Show Friday Cruise-In:
Intermittent light showers throughout the day dampened Friday’s Cruise-in at the Arthritis Foundation Charity Auto Show. Fortunately, the rain cleared by 5 PM—just in time for the opening set from The British Invasion band.
Friday’s Cruise-in drew approximately 250 cars. This video slideshow, featuring photos taken by Jeff Shankle and me, highlights some of the beautiful rides that were on display.
They started handing out the 100 six-foot trophies around 7:30 PM. Here are some local winners I was able to catch on camera.
Dale Pearce found out just how handy a convertible can be when it came time to haul home his six-foot trophy.
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NEWS AND NOTES
Starting with the August events, the Crossroads car, truck & bike shows will add a new category to the awards. The category will be called "Spotlight Car of the Week".
Here are the shows and the cars that will be in the "Spotlight":
8/5 Vineyard Columbus East - Firebird/Trans Am.
8/6 Eldorados Bar - Ford Mustang.
8/13 Lewis Center Wings & Rings - Chevy Camaro.
8/19 Texas Roadhouse Newark - Chevy Trucks.
8/20 Polaris Quaker Steak & Lube - Dodge Viper
9/3 Eldorados Bar - Dodge Challenger
9/9 Deer Creek State Park - Jeep
9/10 Lewis Center Wings & Rings - Pontiac
9/16 Millersport Lions - Plymouth
9/23 Chubby Hawaiian in Baltimore - Chevy Corvette
Der Dutchman Cruise-In:
The threat of severe weather once again kept attendance down at the weekly cruise-in in Plain City, Ohio. The turnout was only 119 cars. Lowest so far this season.
Despite the threat of severe weather, some really cool and unusual vehicles showed up on Thursday. The milk truck from Natural Choice Dairly garnered most of the attention.
River Pop-Up Meet:
More than 50 cars turned out for the River Pop-up Meet at Griggs Reservoir in Upper Arlington, Ohio on Friday evening.
Definitely a younger crowd. There were, however, a few "old geezers" like myself that stopped by.
Most of the cars were 2000 and newer. Mopars, Mustangs, and Corvettes made up the majority with a Tesla Plaid and McLaren mixed in. There were also some Hondas and Subarus that joined the meet-up.
It was a relaxed scene with everyone enjoying talking cars and taking in the nice weather on Friday evening.
Columbus Cars and Coffee Arena District Meet:
Once a year the corporate-sponsored Columbus Cars and Coffee holds one of its meets in the Arena District. It's a unique venue and one event I look forward to each year.
With the Arthritis show taking place at the same time, there weren't as many cars this year as last year. Still, the quality of the cars and the venue did not disappoint.
Here's a little slideshow from Saturday's Arena District meet.
With the help of the Big Dawg and the C-Town Cruisers, the Moose Lodge 2321 and the Rippling Stream Campground in Baltimore, Ohio held their first car, truck, and bike show on Saturday.
The show registered 104 cars. Awards were presented to the "Top 30" plus a Best of Show.
Jason and Deb Blankenship and their 1959 Chevy Apache pickup received the Best of Show Award.
River Valley Athletics Boosters Car Show:
The River Valley Athletics Boosters held its annual car show at the High School just outside Caledonia, Ohio on Sunday.
The show had a greater-than-expected turnout with 265 registered cars. The event raised $10,000 for the athletic teams at the high school.
Seventy sponsor-chosen awards were presented along with three memorial awards.
Our good friend, Dan Varner, received one of the sponsor awards for his unrestored 1968 Pontiac GTO.
There were two awards in memory of Ron Riser who passed away in October of 2022. One for a motorcycle and the other for a car.
The motorcycle award went to DJ Carter with a 2007 Harley Davidson Street Glide.
The car award went to the 1966 Chevy Corvette belonging to Buddy Glassburn.
The third memorial award was in honor of Doug Martin. The 1937 Wild Rod belonging to our good friends, Dave Bratton and Lou, took home the award. A photo of the Wild Rod will be on the front of the t-shirt for next year's show.
Auto Smarts Radio Cruise and Ride at Massey's Pizza:
Dan "Boots" Longenette and the Auto Smarts Radio team hosted its annual show at Massey's Pizza in the Indian Mound Mall in Heath, Ohio on Sunday.
The show set a record with 182 registered cars.
Our good friend, Dale Pearce, took home the Best Truck Award with his 1950 Chevy 3100 pickup.
The Best of Show award went to Sean Guyer and his 1960 Chevy Impala.
Arthritis Foundation Classic Car Show & Cruise-In:
The big event this week was the Arthritis Foundation 40th Annual Classic Car Show & Cruise-In at the Metro Center in Dublin, Ohio.
The Foundation couldn't have picked better weather for its event on Friday and Saturday.
I stopped by for a few hours on Saturday afternoon as a spectator. From the reports I received attendance was somewhere between 350 and 400 cars for Friday's Cruise-In and around 400 cars on Saturday. If anyone has exact numbers on attendance, please share them in the comments.
I'm going to finish this week's News and Notes with a little slideshow from the Arthritis Show. The slideshow is a combination of photos taken by Dave Bratton, Jeff Shankle, and myself on Friday and Saturday.
Here are the folks who helped put together this week's News and Notes:
Jeff Shankle
Dave Bratton
Dale Pearce
I hope everyone has a good week! I'll see you again next week with a new report.
