April 30, 2005 in Voices

Car show, barbecue next Saturday offer something for most cravings

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We keep an image in mind for our men of the cloth.

And being a car guy tends to run contrary to that preconceived notion.

That image formed the basis for the short-lived television series “Soul Man” starring Dan Aykroyd – a widowed minister with four children and a friend to Home Improvement’s Tim Taylor.

In real life that image belongs to Craig Hall, pastor of Opportunity Presbyterian Church.

Next Saturday, the church will hold its eighth annual Car-B-Que – a combination car show, barbecue, blood drive and plant sale.

“This has been a really fun event, especially now in the new church,” Karen Snider said. “We have plenty of room in our parking lot for the car show and still have room for the barbecue and other events. ”

Hall annually enters his vintage MG in the competition. When he’s feeling particularly frisky, he enters his Sunbeam Alpine.

“He’s a member of an MG club, so we have several MGs here,” Snider said. “They actually have their own competition within the show and give out five different trophies for MGs.

“We’ll be awarding trophies in 10 different categories: antiques, which would be a Model A or Model T, classics, rod and custom, muscle cars, ‘50s and ‘60s cars, English, imports, motorcycles, farm and commercial.”

In essence, the church turns into Car Guy Heaven.

Whether you crave a “Little Deuce Coupe,” you love that 1960 Corvette Martin Milner that George Maharis tooled down “Route 66” in, or you’ve never gotten over the girl in the T-Bird from “American Graffitti,” there will be something for you in the church parking lot.

“One of the really interesting parts of the show is the vintage farm equipment,” Snider said. “We have quite a few old farmers in the area who collect antique equipment. It’s interesting to see what they used to use.”

There is no cost to enter a car in the show, although there is a suggested donation to help defray the cost of trophies. Entrants should show up about 8:30 a.m. for the show.

The festivities go beyond chrome pipes and leather upholstery.

“We have a wonderful barbecue catered,” Snider said. “The bloodmobile will be there so that people can donate blood. And we’ll have a plant sale. There’s something for everyone.”

And, Snider said, care has been taken so that the different events don’t overlap unnecessarily.

For example, there’s little chance for fingers drenched in barbecue sauce to find their way to that painstakingly repainted Ausin Healy Sprite.

“We’ve got enough room so that the cars will be at one end of the parking lot and the barbecue will be at the other,” Snider said. “We have special events for the kids and there was, for a time, some talk about having them paint. Then we thought, well, no – that would be asking for disaster.”

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