Car show to benefit Gravette children

The Highlands Church car show drew a huge crowd, well beyond projections, on Saturday, Sept. 19.

Steve Terry organized the event, hosted at Highlands Church on Glasgow Road, and said the event brought 154 vehicles — not counting some of the other displays, like vintage engines. Church volunteers fed approximately 500 people.

“We had a huge attendance,” he said.

Terry previously stated he expected around 100 vehicles to show up.

In addition to providing a venue for people to show off and check out vehicles, the show is a fundraiser for three charities the church works with to help Gravette kids, including a snack pack program, Samaritan’s Feet — a program that provides shoes to kids in need — and Bright Futures, a program that provides supplies and help to families who need it.

Terry said the numbers are not yet finalized, but the car show raised an estimated $17,000, with approximately $1,500 in expenses, including food and advertising.

In addition to raising money, the show proved to be a good time, he said.

By opening the show to anyone who feels his or her vehicle is interesting, he explained, the church parking lot ended up with a wide array of vehicles and other displays, including cars, trucks, motorbikes and other machinery from the United States, Europe and Asia, spanning over a century.

“It was a really good, fun time,” he said.

Terry added that he really appreciates the Village Baptist Church across the street for lending its parking lot for guest parking.

Keith Bryant/The Weekly Vista A massive crowd of cars, bikes, machinery and onlookers filled the Highlands Church parking lot Sept. 19 during its third annual car show. Steve Terry, who helped coordinate the event, said there were 154 vehicles in attendance and the church fed approximately 500 people.

Keith Bryant/The Weekly Vista Little Flock resident Dale Crawford with the Tired Iron of the Ozarks club brought this wagon saw equipped with an eight-horse headless Witte engine, made in 1919, for the show. The 1,400-pound machine could run on gasoline or kerosene, he explained, and a currently unhooked leather belt provided power to the attached saw. “It’s 101 years old and still running,” he said.

Keith Bryant/The Weekly Vista A line of cars can be seen through a window in Bella Vista resident Eric Gibby’s 1937 Chevrolet pickup’s engine bay, accented with a homemade spiderweb pattern. Gibby said he’s been driving the truck for about eight years after he spent five years building it.