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Hitting the magical ten year mark with our Beach Blast car show on May 16th, 2004, seems kind of strange. My, how time flies when you’re having fun! Ron Hassel of All-Midwest Sales, a major parts manufacturers representative company, was again the main show sponsor, and Advance Discount Auto Parts returned as not only a co-sponsor but also again as a door prize sponsor. Over the last decade the show has been refined, and with the help of others it has gone as smoothly as we could reasonably expect for many years now....and of course much of the credit goes to the volunteers from the Vintage Vehicles of Florida who help us with the big chore of keeping the parking procedure organized. Without them we would be lost! Thanks has to also go to Shorty Crocker of C&D Golf Carts for lending us a trio of carts to get around quicker and easier at times.
Though we could move the show to another location and draw more vehicles, we have always kept the show at the Holiday Inn Cocoa Beach Resort because of it’s great setting, which includes lush tropical landscaping along the winding brick promenade (where we are able to park some of the show vehicles based on a first come, first served basis) leading back to the Ocean Deck located right on the beach. However, this means limiting the show to 200 vehicles because of space constraints, and we reach that limit through pre-registration every year about a month or so before the show, so if you’re planning to attend next year act early. Though the Beach Blast is officially on Sunday, things once again got underway well before that, as many people make a full weekend (or more) out of it. Saturday afternoon we awarded the promenade vouchers, and then at about 5:00pm there was once again a kick-off party out in the front lot of the hotel, with DJ Butch Johnston playing the oldies and his lovely wife Jennifer selling 50/50 raffle tickets. Additional lighting was brought in (thanks to Bob Arnold), and we started handing out the registration packets which contained a magnetic dash plaque, one free event T-Shirt (featuring the original artwork of Adam Icenogle), a participant voting form, and various other items. There was some line dancing, admiring of vehicles, and just good old hangin’ out well into the evening. The good thing is that except for those that were to go into the promenade the following morning, everyone else could just leave their vehicles in the main lot overnight (with security on premises) and already be in place the following morning. Once again we were blessed with good weather, which is always a relief when we wake up Sunday morning to sunny skies and a good forecast. We began parking the promenade vehicles at 9:00am, and before long everyone was settled in for a day of fun. Everyone was free to take full advantage of the Holiday Inn’s facilities, which included the big pool area complete with a “Pirate Ship” children’s section, shuffleboard, a sandbox area with spring mounted rides for the kids, and of course the direct access to Cocoa Beach. There is something for the whole family, and this is one of the assets participants stress to us year after year, with many telling us it is their favorite family friendly show of the year. As people wandered through all the spectacular show vehicles DJ Butch Johnston provided the background music with his selection of 50’s and 60’s songs, and Jennifer headed up another 50/50 raffle. Food and drinks were available at the pool-side and back on the Ocean Deck, plus there was a girl roving around in a golf cart with beverages. The door prize drawing started at 3:00pm back on the Ocean Deck, with Butch Johnston taking the reins and handing out the items from Advance Discount Auto Parts. Unfortunately, unlike in years past, there wasn’t a P.A. system left their from the live entertainment on the Ocean Deck earlier in the day, so Butch had to just shout out the numbers. Jennifer stood towards the back of the Ocean Deck and repeated the winning numbers, which was pretty funny at times. Next up was the trophy presentation at around 3:30pm, with Mike Kelly up on the stage. Again, there was no P.A. system, but it still went pretty smooth (uh, I could make a joke about him having a big mouth...and I guess I just did...haha!). This year’s trophies again included die-cast cars on wooden bases, with upright plaques featuring the event artwork. The Top 40 featured custom 1:24 scale Mercurys in a pair of different two-tone paint schemes, and we used a variety of 1:18 scale vehicles for the specialty awards. This year the vehicle to get the most participant votes was Tom Brown’s awesome 1936 Packard Super 8 Club Sedan, so it took the Best Of Show honors and will be featured on next year’s event T-Shirt. This was the cover vehicle on our last issue, and those that read the center spread story on it can really appreciate how nice of a car it is....and for those that saw it first-hand, no explanation is necessary. Thanks again to all those who came to this year’s event, and to Ron Hassel of All-Midwest Sales and Advance Discount Auto Parts for making the show possible. Look for the announcement of next year’s show dates and the opening of pre-registration in January, 2005. We look forward to seeing everyone again next year, when we turn the Beach Blast up to 11. CN Top 40 Winners: Specialty Awards: |
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