We like old things, but this COVID 19 thing is getting a little ridiculous. It's numbered with "19", because 2019 is when it started. Originally, everyone thought that it would be short lived and the events that were planned as late as May should be safe because our car show is usually scheduled five months into the year. The virus has wiped out seemingly every big car event including The Vintiques, Hot August Nights, SEMA and NASCAR. Events such as our Fair, Major League Baseball and NFL which bring in millions of dollars were not safe either.
The registration process for our show started just before we received information of the Virus. We are applying (as best we can) registration information and paid dollars to next years show. Some of you have chose to contribute or donate your fee to help out the club. To those of you, I say "Thank you very much". Moxee has applied our park rental fee to next year. Thank You Moxee, one of the greatest little cities I have known.
You can't keep an enthusiastic car person down. Plenty of cruise nights have taken place regardless of any ol' virus. Every Friday night from May to September we had a "Fruitvale Cruise" which was to include all participating restaurants on that street. The stopping point mostly ended up being "Stop and Go" drive in, who welcomed us with open arms. At first, it was a eat in your car or provide your own chair situation but as the months passed, picnic tables were again provided.
There were to be four cruise nights provided by the city of Yakima for the use of Yakima Avenue, but as the virus hit, that seemed to be the excuse Yakima needed to postpone cruises. This is when the city of Selah stepped up and said we could cruise their city on any Saturday. This prompted other events in Selah as well. Some favorable and others not so much. I think that the "Black Lives Matter" thing got out of hand everywhere. Thank you, Selah. Oh, and we cruised Yakima anyway. Even though there were no public car shows to go to, we managed to have some fun anyway. Eventually the younger generation with what they think are hot cars or jacked up pickups speeding and doing burnouts will ruin and cause the shutdown of the event for everyone. We oldsters just like to show off our classics and restorods. It's a moving car show, not a race.
The year 2020 has been a bad year in more than one aspect. Several of our beloved car people have died this year. We lost Bill Trefry, who was one of our favorite club members. Maybe you recognize him as the person who made our wonderful metal trophies. We lost Brian Anderson recently. He was not in our club, but a local car collector. Known mostly for bringing a Rolls Royce to the shows, he also had a Bentley, two Corvettes, A red Ford street Rod, a Custom 40's Cadillac, a Mercedes Unimog, a 12 cylinder Lincoln and more. Finally, just the other day, we lost Sam Rose. Also not in our club, but a car guy, just the same and the owner of the Nob Hill Wrecking Yard. Always there to help out a fellow rodder.
We look to the year 2021 with a new set of eyes. Maybe we can put this pandemic behind us and plan our show for somewhere around the third weekend in May. The date will be announced soon, so stay tuned. We look for a better than ever attendance since everyone has been quarantined for so long, they should be itching to get their cars out. You guys deserve some pictures...So here is a couple of my 1948 F-1 Ford Pickup, Before and After. Did most of the work myself.
