HOT NIGHTS & COOL RIDES!!
Aug 15 - 16thst, 2008
Walk along Main Street downtown Aug. 16, and for blocks on both sides of the road, you’ll see cars lined up, gutsy and gleaming, from sassy hot rods to sedate classics. At the Hot Nights & Cool Rides Car Show, the cars are the stars.
The 17th annual show, sponsored by the Forest City Merchants Association, will be noon to 10 p.m. with food and live music by Night Moves from Morganton.
It’s one of the largest car shows in the Southeast, organizers say. About 450 vehicles were involved last year. Cash prizes and trophies are given in dozens of categories.
A new kickoff event will be 5:30-10 p.m. Aug. 15 at Bennett Classics Antique Car Museum at 241 Vance St. The kickoff will feature barbecue and live music by Rocky Yelton and the Hired Hands, and the museum will be open for visitors.
At the car show, which has free admission, a shuttle will take visitors all day to the Rutherford County Farm Museum and Bennett’s car museum, both with free admission that day.
The show, the largest single-day event in Rutherford County, draws about 8,000 people, more than the town’s population of 7,500, says Danielle Withrow, town planner and downtown development director. “When the sun goes down, it is wall-to-wall cars and people,” she says.
Parking lots off Main Street are reserved for car clubs. The Thunderbird club alone uses 40 spaces.
The show’s scale is not surprising for such a car town as Forest City. “We are known and have been known since World War II as Little Detroit,” Withrow says. After the war, some Forest City veterans bought used cars in Detroit, brought them home for detailing then sold them in town, in Detroit and the Northeast, she says. Today, many businesses in town are car-oriented, including shops for repair, restoration and detailing and dealerships for new and used cars.
“We are very proud of that Little Detroit signature,” Withrow says.
Car show registration, which costs $20, can be done on the day of the event and online at www.kossmotorsports.com.
For more information, call (828) 247-4430, or go to www.forestcityevents.com.
Be sure and visit www.carolinaland.com for more local info.
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