The following is a column written by Ashland Main Street’s Executive Director Sandra Tunnell.
ASHLAND — Hello friends, and happy car show week. That’s right, we are celebrating the 10th year of our Ashland Downtown Dream Cruise and Car Show by having it, with all the safety procedures and adjustments we can, so that we can keep everyone healthy to enjoy our beautiful downtown, and a couple (hundreds of) cars.
For those of you who are about to stop reading this missive because you aren’t car people, hold up. (If you are car people, this is good reading- you can stay with us, too.) This show is about way more than cars, although there are some doozies. If you want to experience an event that says “community,” this car show is it. You see, it is much more than a gathering of people who like cars.
For one thing, all of our proceeds, all of them, go to Shop With a Cop, that organization that helps at-risk children have a Christmas for themselves and their families. In the beginning of December, our local law enforcement officers take kids shopping for Christmas, and some of their stories will break your hearts. These are kids who weren’t going to have a Norman Rockwell-esque Christmas, or any Christmas at all, but because of Shop With a Cop, and the donations that come in from our show, they finally will.
Not only that, but the kids use a portion of their money to buy a toy for the Ashland Fire Department’s Red Helmet Christmas Charity, so they get to experience the best part of Christmas (at least in my book) — the giving part.
The work for this show begins way before Saturday, of course. We are so fortunate that we have sponsors who, even in this pandemic, have stepped up and supported us this year.
We have over 100 plaques to give out this year, sponsored by businesses and people all over town, but I want to give a special shout out to Johnson’s Auto Body & Repair, Theil’s, and the Eagles, who have been sponsors since our first show, and who together have donated almost $50,000.
We will have numerous opportunities to thank all of our sponsors, and we hope that you thank them when you see them; they are giving at a time that is difficult for so many, and their generosity is much appreciated.
The giving extends to our numerous car show participants, many of whom, once they learn that their registration is a donation to Shop With a Cop, and they discover what that organization does, move from the $1 and $5 part of their wallets over to the $10 and $20 side when donating at registration.
This happens every year, from people not from here, who don’t know our community or have any interactions with our children. It gives my heart a little pitter patter every time it happens.
Now, if you are not showing a car, that gives you more time to be where the rest of the community is happening, downtown, right here on Main Street. The road is PACKED with people, as are the sidewalks and the stores. The first year we had this show, I cannot tell you how many people came up to us and said they loved the show because with all the streets packed with people.
“This is how downtown use to look when I was growing up,” they tell us.
We hear that less now because downtown has been growing and getting busier since that first show, so it is a bit less dramatic, but still, it is pretty groovy. Come downtown and experience all the energy that a few extra thousand people will bring to a day.
You can take part in our 50/50 raffle, or buy a t-shirt if you want to support the cause or make a straight up donation. Even try doing what I always ask, shop our downtown and support our local businesses. It is such a fun, exciting, happy day. It’s like Christmas in July.
Speaking of perfect segues, “Christmas in July” is our theme this year.
Since we donate our proceeds to a December event that is all about Christmas, and since this is the 10th year of our show, we thought we would make it a biggie.
We have Santa, who has taken time out of his busy schedule to come down and spend a few hours with us. He will be at the county building in his Santa house in his summer uniform. Please visit him and let him know you are being nice, not naughty.
We have a special giveaway to the first 500 cars, to celebrate this big anniversary year. We are encouraging car owners to decorate their cars in a Christmas theme, the best of which will receive a special award from Santa himself.
We are still cruising after the show, we hope to see you lining the streets and celebrating our cars at 4 p.m.
This year we are also remembering Dan Kliner, an original member of our car show committee, a Corvette lover, the man who ran our car show parking for years, and who we lost this past year. It was his idea to push to make our total donations to Shop With a Cop $100,000 last year (because “why should we wait to 10 years — we hit our goal early!”). We have dedicated this year’s show to him.
We will also have a moment of silence to member Lt. Garry Alting, a loyal supporter of our show and an excellent and beloved officer of the Ashland Police Division, who died unexpectedly last week. We hope you can join us to remember these fine men, to help us support more children, and to open up our downtown to visitors, natives, and their cars.
The show starts at noon (registration opens at 8 a.m.) and runs until 4 p.m., when we will cruise Ashland.
We hope to see you downtown, or around town, on Saturday!
