The Ocean Idlers’ Blast from the Past is gearing up for this Saturday at the Coombs Fairgrounds.
The oldest car club in the region, marking 26 years this year, used to host the biggest car show on Parksville Beach, peaking at 1,000 vehicles before volunteer fatigue set in, explained the club’s Jack Biickert.
That show was cancelled and re-mounted by other organizers while the Idlers moved to a smaller, gentler version in Coombs.
“We keep it small on purpose, 150 to 160 cars and we do it out in the country on the grass,” he said, touting it as a more relaxed, simpler version of some of the region’s big shows.
“The beauty is there’s shopping right next door at Goats on the Roof for the wives that are just there humouring their husbands,” he said, but added that, unlike most car clubs, half their members are women.
With hundreds of car shows across the province every year Biickert admits they are just part of a long list of things to do in the region in the summer but said they are a perfect compliment for people who want to visit on the long weekend and maybe also surf, swim, play golf or hang out in Cathedral Grove.
Come out and enjoy the stock and modified vehicles from the 1920s right up to the 1990s.
The show on the fairgrounds, behind the Coombs General Store, starts with a pancake breakfast at 8 a.m. and runs through the day, complete with a food concession, music, 50/50 draws and door prizes.
It costs $15 to enter a car and spectators can enter by donation with proceeds shared by the the club, Arrowsmith Community Recreation Association and the Coombs Hilliers Volunteer Fire Department.
For more information contact Clay Thompson at 250-752-9615 or lorrclay@shaw.ca.