Every weekend we attend shows - car shows, truck shows, motorcycle shows - shows of all types and all sizes. And every weekend, on the ride home, we analyze the show. How good was the beforehand promotion, did they get the public in and out smoothly, how did the show staff treat the attendees, the participants (and the media!), how was the attendance - all that fun stuff. Well, on Sunday, April 10th, we were analyzed just like we analyze other promoters. On that Sunday, months of preparation and promotion was fulfilled, with the 4th Annual Middletown Lions Club Car Show.

So how did we get involved in this event? That is a question that we kept asking ourselves in the days leading up to that gorgeous Sunday.

Some of you might remember one of our staff members - Shannon “Slim” Bailor - from his minitruckin’ days. Shannon has sold his truck, and moved on to a new project (as so many minitruckers do), his fiancé Samantha, aka Sam. Sam’s family is involved with the Middletown Lions Club, and when the Lions started discussing their annual fundraising event, Sam stepped up to the plate and volunteered to take care of it. But, she needed a few helpers; here enters P&OM Garage!

We worked with Sam on creating posters & flyers, gathering & stuffing goodie bags with giveaways, laying out the parking lot, and giving out our staff assignments. Finally, the big day was upon us!

We rose bright and early, arrived at the Market, and the cars came...and came...and came! We had over 300 cars registered for the show, and were pleasantly horrified. There were a few quirks, but nothing that we couldn’t think fast about to keep the show running smoothly.

There were some really great rides that came out to the show, and while the Lions Club had previously attracted an older generation of cars, we brought a new mix of cars and trucks to the show. It was really great to hear the new generation of builders explain to the classic and hot rod guys what air bags and suspension systems of today are all about!

While the P&OM staff was busy running around registering and judging the vehicles, the Old Man went off on his own, camera in hand, and provided the show’s pictures. He got quite a kick out of the fact that he took nearly 500 photos in one day (a few were doubles and got cut out for this article)!

Another great aspect of the day was the fact that we were able to give out an Editor’s Choice award. The crew got their heads together, and decided upon an Impala SuperSport. When Pudge announced what the winning car was, he didn’t expect much, since we noticed that the car wasn’t in the lot where it had been parked all day - but instead, we got the banshee cry of joy from the mother of the owner of the car. And, you can look for a feature on that Impala in a future issue.

While we had a great time putting on this show, and helping out a deserving charity at the same time, we found out that car shows are not something that we would want to do week in and out! But hopefully, the critiques that we received from attendees on their rides home were positive and “I’m happy I came out today” type of remarks!