Cars, trucks, motorcycles and special-interest vehicles will be on display Saturday at the 16th annual Emporia Flatland Cruisers car show.
The show is planned at Soden’s Grove, with the Flinthills Mall set as the alternate location if weather or continued flooding preclude an open-air show. A decision on location is expected to be made later this afternoon.
Registration will open at 9 a.m. and close at 1 p.m., with the show running from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The entry fee is $10 for each vehicle entered. A total of 13 classes will be judged, with trophies for winners and dash plaques for the first 150 entries.
Among the awards scheduled are Best GM, Best Ford, Best Mopar, Best Paint, Best Interior and Best of Show. An assortment of prizes also will be given to entrants in drawings that will be held during the day. One drawing entry will be made for each vehicle entered by an individual.
The show is open to all cars, trucks, motorcycles and special-interest vehicles.
Proceeds from the show and related activities will be donated to charities that will be determined later. Past shows have resulted in donations to SOS, Big Brothers Big Sisters, the North Lyon County Youth Association, the Cancer Relay for Life, Special Olympics and other local charities. The club also donates a $500 scholarship annually to a student in the Automotive Technologies program at the Flint Hills Technical College.
“Usually we pick a couple of different places to give it,” said Larry Howard, chairman of the show committee. “The year of the Greensburg tornado, we sent the money to Greensburg.”
A motor-blow contest is planned. The car, drained of oil, will be started and participants will buy tickets to guess how long the car’s engine will run.
“The closest, without going over, wins a portion of money from ticket sales,” Howard said.
Prizes for the drawings have been donated by area merchants, and include a garage floor mat from Better Life Technologies of Emporia, $250 in merchandise from Walmart, and car-related products from Hopkins Manufacturing Corp.
Vendors will be at the show selling food and beverages. Music, games and trivia, and National Street Rod Association inspections also will be part of the event. If the show can be held at Soden’s Grove, those who attend also can tour the Emporia Zoo, ride the Sertoma Club’s miniature train and visit the All Veterans Memorial.
Weather permitting, a cruise night will be held after the show from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the mall.
Membership in Flatland Cruisers is open to anyone with an interest in vehicles.
“Our purpose is for preservation and restoration of cars, trucks and motorcycles,” Howard said.
Information about membership in the club may be had by calling Jim Gurney of Americus, club president, at (620) 443-5806.
“You don’t have to have a car,” Howard said, laughing. “’Cause I got a car and it’s sitting in the garage in pieces.”
The cruise night next month will be on June 12 at O’Reilly Auto Parts, 2020 W. Sixth Ave.
booker5m (anonymous) says...
Have they decided where the show wil be yet?
May 13, 2009 at 7:54 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
glarson (anonymous) says...
The show has been moved to Flinthills Mall, according to an e-mail from Larry Howard. There is high water in Soden's, so the cars and their fans will gather at the mall.
Gwen Larson
Managing Editor
May 14, 2009 at 7:23 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )