The car craze continues in Parksville Qualicum Beach with at least six car shows still to come this summer.
This Saturday Harris Oceanside GM in Parksville hosts their annual Heels and Wheels event complete with food vendors, live entertainment, prizes, a big in-store sale and Fast Time Grand Prix Go Karts on site. Plus of course there will be the GM-powered car show with classics and modern GM vehicles.
The show runs July 12 from 6 to 9 p.m. at their lot at 512 E. Island Highway, free to spectators and $10 per entry for any GM vehicles, with proceeds going to support Jeneece Place.
Two weekends later the Walter P. Chrysler Club, Island region, is hosting a Chrysler Products Meet and Show at the Coombs Rodeo Grounds.
Topping off a whole weekend of club events with members from across B.C. and their sister clubs in Washington and Oregon, all Chrysler products vehicles are invited to the big show.
“We have hosted these events a number of times in the Victoria area over the past 30 years and they have always been successful,” said Island region club president Ian Smale from Victoria.
He said the annual meeting and show rotates through B.C. and the two states, with the last one on the Island at Fort Rodd Hill in Victoria in 2011 attracting about 110 cars.
There are member only events Thursday and Friday before the show on Saturday, July 26, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. open to drop-ins for $15 for owners of all Chrysler related vehicles including Plymouth, DeSoto, Jeep, Imperial and AMC.
Check http://clubs.hemmings.com/viwpc for more information.
The next big show is the Ocean Idlers Blast from the Past, August 2 at the Coombs Fairgrounds, behind the Coombs General Store, not to be confused with the rodeo grounds further up the road.
The 18th annual show starts with breakfast at 8 a.m. and runs throughout the day, complete with a food concession, 50/50 draws and door prizes. It costs $15 to enter a car and spectators can enter by donation.
The next day is the big 25th annual car show on Parksville Beach, under a new name as the Van Isle Shriners Show and Shine, on B.C. Day, Sunday, Aug. 3.
The Parksville/Qualicum and Nanaimo Shrine clubs are taking over the long running event this year but still expect hundreds of vehicles at the spectacular setting on the big grassy field on the beach.
Sticking with tradition, the newly named show will still open with the Saturday night cruise starting at A&W.
The grounds open at 7 a.m., with a pancake breakfast from 7:30 to 11:30, and awards wrapping up around 3 p.m.
Visit http://vanisleshrinersshowandshine.com/ for more information.
Two weeks later, on Sunday, August 17 there are two car related events with A&W restaurants across the country hosting their all-day, annual MS Cruisin’ for a Cause Charity Day with classic cars and in-store deals and fun events.
The same day will see the first of what organizers hope will be a big new entry on the annual car show calendar with the Nanoose Show and Shine and Family Day.
Put on by the Mid Island Hot Rod Association (MIHRA) at the giant Arbutus Meadows arena and grounds, the event will be a fundraiser for the Nanoose Community Services and Food Bank, complete with vendors, an artisan market, swap meet, Parksville Lions’ beer garden and live music.
The family event will include pony rides, a Mount Arrowsmith Vaulters demonstration, a kid zone with inflatable attractions, a wide assortment of food trucks and of course hundreds of collector vehicles, mostly pre-1988 classics, with some big rigs and others.
The day kicks off with a Shriners pancake breakfast at 7 a.m., the gates open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Visit http://mihra.ca/ for more information.
Finally on Saturday, August 30 the Ocean Idlers will host their annual Cops for Cancer fundraiser and car show at Thalassa Restaurant at the Qualicum Beach Memorial Golf Course.
Watch for more on these and other great car-related events in The NEWS.