Cool breezes cut through the field behind the junior high school as the sun beat down upon rows of classic and modern cars during the 16th annual Sweet Home Sweet Ride Charity Car Show for Kids on Saturday, June 29.
Hosted by numerous organizations, the purpose of the event is to raise funds for nonprofit organizations such as ABC House, Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, Shop With a Cop and Sunshine Industries.
Car aficionados with interests ranging from motorcycles and dirt bikes to classic cars and vintage camp trailers brought their vehicular toys for display. Enthusiasts walked the fields behind the junior high school to admire the time and money invested into the cars.
Some cars were modified, some were works-in-progress and others were completed works of art. Most of the cars had a shiny, unscathed coat while others, such as Alex Arreguin’s1940 Chevy rat rod, featured an intentional worn-down appearance. He drove up from Windsor, Calif., to attend the show.
Sue and Terry Thompson made a big show of their 1956 Chevy 210 Sedan by including a drive-in restaurant tray hooked onto the passenger side window, a statue of a dog peeing on the wheel, and a child-sized replica of the car with the same window tray and peeing dog.
Brian Oakley showed off his modified ’92 Jeep Wrangler by tilting it on a ramp, and Dan Ames dressed as Transformers’ Bumblebee to match Gary Bennett’s yellow 2012 Chevy Bumblebee Camaro while also fulfilling an entertaining role for kids.
While it’s expected that most car enthusiasts would shoot the breeze and talk about the tires on their cars, Jim Pfeifer was overheard talking about his eight-inch walker wheels, which didn’t traverse very well over the drying tufts of grass. His friend, Larry Schoen, said he spent countless hours fixing up his 1934 Ford two-door sedan, and only a few times did he walk out of the shop “slamming the door” in frustration.
But looking at America’s diverse range of two- and four-wheel automobiles was only one of many entertainment opportunities at the Sweet Home Sweet Ride event. Children entertained themselves by rolling down the steep hill behind the school, and the organization hosted raffle opportunities, a poker walk, food vendors, live music and a burn-out pit.
As Devon Dixon burned rubber in his “Chevota” in exchange for cheers from onlookers, wind blew gusts of thick, foul-smelling smoke into the crowd, much to the chagrin of the younger onlookers. Kourtney Rivers competed against Dixon by burning the rubber off of a 1957 Chevy pickup, just in time for wind direction to change and blow smoke to the other side of the crowd.
