Cruisin’ through a heat wave
STREET MACHINE WEEKEND BASKS IN JULY TEMPERATURES
With more than 700 vehicles sparkling in the park — and thousands of onlookers out to admire them — Street Machine Weekend has travelled a long way from its roots.
One of its founding members, Daryl Herbers remembers the Lethbridge club’s early days.
“We were just a group of young guys with the same interests,” he said Sunday, as throngs converged on the “Show ’n Shine” at Galt Gardens.
They met in one of the members’ basement, and enjoyed an informal cruise along Mayor Magrath Drive and 3 Avenue S.
“We went Dub to Dub,” from the first A&W drive-in on Scenic Drive to one a little ways down Mayor Magrath.
One of the first public events, Herbers recalls, was a “100-foot dash” in the college parking lot. Later, the Sunday car show began near the Japanese Garden.
And Lethbridge auto fans started gathering to watch the still-informal cruise up and down Magrath.
In recent years, as more and more showquality vehicles converged on the city, the club has worked with the Lethbridge Police service and city transportation personnel to present a “controlled cruise” on 3 Avenue S. Drivers pay a $10 registration fee, and spectators line the street to see antique, modified or simply rare cars and trucks parade by.
For some of them, Herbers says, this month’s heat wave was too much of a challenge.
Some stalled, others “would not go any more.”
But not all of the vehicle owners want to take part in the cruise, he adds.
“Some just come here for the day,” arriving as early as 6 a.m. to claim a preferred spot in the park. While the club asked for a nominal $10 fee to take part, Herbers says it doesn’t assign the parking.
If owners create a nostalgic line of 1950s Chevrolets, for example, it’s because some of them have taken the initiative to organize it.
With space for more than 750 vehicles in the park, Herbers says the Sunday show is one of the biggest in the region. They’re brought here from the West Coast, from across Alberta and Saskatchewan and from as far as Las Vegas.
There’s a Nevada couple who drive here every year, he reports.
“And we have a lot of people who’ve come for years — maybe 10 or 20 years,” he says. “There’s no doubt about that.”
In the process, he says, they’re adding an estimated $2-$3 million to the city’s economy.
And at the same time, the show attracts an impressive range of food trucks and other vendors, open for business along 5 Street S.
They’re charged $50 each, Herbers says, and that helps the club support such community projects as Meals on Wheels, Youth One and Toys for Tots. “We do lots of community involvement.” As for the vehicle owners, they’re hoping for a little recognition as well. Trophies are awarded for the judges’ choices in categories like “best interior,” “best engine” and “best paint.”
Acting as judges, he says club members start early in the morning so they have time to shorten their lists and reach final decisions.
There are also trophies for the top five Ford products, Chrysler, General Motors and then “others.” Then there’s the “people’s choice” award and one decided by participants. “We give out a lot of trophies.” Street Machine Weekend could probably award one to the weather forecasters as well, if they could crank down the heat next July.
“A little cooler would not hurt,” though Herbers concedes the July weekend is usually comfortable. “We’ve only had a rain-out one time,” affecting the Saturday events.
But a little cooler could also encourage more vehicle owners and visitors to take part.
Says Herbers, “I don’t know how much more we can grow.”