Huge vehicle turnout celebrates success of Tail Light Tuesdays in Swift Current
mliebenberg@prairiepost.com
It was called The Big One and car enthusiasts turned up in droves to celebrate the success of the inaugural season of Tail Light Tuesdays in Swift Current.
The weekly car show has been hosted each Tuesday since May by the Rogue Cruisers in the Living Sky Casino parking lot.
An estimated 300 or more vehicles were at The Big One on Sept. 19, as vehicle owners responded to a call from event organizers to make it the largest one yet.
Dustin Vipond, one of the organizers and a founding member of Rogue Cruisers, said the turnout was even better than anticipated.
“It is amazing and beyond my expectations or anybody’s expectations,” he said. “It’s wild. … I’d have never guessed in a million years we could have the biggest car show that Swift Current ever had on a Tuesday night in September.”
They had modest expectations when the event began in early May, but it soon became evident that the format appealed to a variety of vehicle owners.
“We thought, you know what, if we get a dozen cars out, this will be pretty neat,” he recalled. “And boy, we had 40 or 50 cars the first night out and it’s just been growing every night since. Everybody here is just so positive and they’ve had so much fun. It’s really an amazing time down here.”
Most of the weekly participants have been within a 45-minute radius of the city, but some vehicle owners came from further afield.
“I talked to a fellow from Kindersley here tonight,” he noted. “We’ve had Moose Jaw cars and we’ve had people from B.C. that were just passing through that have stopped in even.”
The appeal of the event is related to the whole idea behind the creation of the Rogue Cruisers early in the new year.
“We wanted something that was inclusive to everybody, whether you had a Honda Civic or a lifted Chevy truck or a traditional hot rod or a motorcycle,” he said. “We wanted everybody to feel like they were welcome here and included. And it doesn’t matter if your car is shiny or dull or rusty, just bring it down. If you love it, bring it down and it seemed to be a hit. Everybody seems to really love that idea. So that’s the main premise behind it. Do car stuff with car people and have fun.”
Even though the concept has worked elsewhere, the big question was whether it can also be done in Swift Current and continue to attract people week after week on a Tuesday evening.
“It’s something new for here,” he said. “It’s a pretty proven concept in some of the bigger centres and nobody ever really knew if it would work in Swift Current, but has it worked well. We’ve actually surpassed a lot of larger centres in numbers. So it’s quite incredible.”
He emphasized that Rogue Cruisers is not a formal club and the intention from the start has been to be an informal group.
“We have no membership,” he said. “We have no hierarchy to it. We’re just more of a networking group. … Our Facebook page is where we do most of it and there’s just over 900 people on there. I looked at the demographics on it and I think 95 per cent of those are within an hour of Swift Current.”
They decided to use the weekly gathering as a way to help out local non-profit organizations with their fundraising.
“We thought if we’re down here hanging out, we may as well try and do some good with it,” he said. “So we put it out to a few charities to see if they’d be interested in setting up a table.”
Anyone who donated to a charity at Tail Light Tuesday became eligible to enter a draw for a special prize pack at the end of the month. In this manner the weekly event raised just over $13,000 for several charities. This amount excludes funds raised at the Sept. 19 event.
“It’s all just by donations,” he said. “The generosity of the car community is amazing.”
Organizations that benefitted over the months include the Swift Current SPCA, Silver Wings Access Van Inc. and the Cancer Society. There was also a lemonade stand fundraiser on a Tuesday night in June for six-year-old Rustyn Paul, who is battling cancer.
“Some friends of her actually came down here and they did a lemonade stand,” Vipond said. “They did the lemonade by donation and I think it was $2,200.”
The Rogue Cruisers followed a different concept specific to The Big One on Sept. 19 and obtained a large number of door prizes for that evening. The support of 70 sponsors made it possible to provide 175 door prizes. A charity barbecue by the Living Sky Casino resulted in a donation of $2,515.25 to the Swift Current SPCA.
He appreciates the support from the business community for these door prizes as well as for providing a special prize pack each month. A big part of the success of Tail Light Tuesdays is also due to the support of the Living Sky Casino.
“They have been huge,” he said. “They’ve been our number one supporter from day one. When we first pitched this idea, it was immediate. They were on board.”
The Big One was a real highlight for the inaugural season of Tail Light Tuesdays, but it is not over yet. The weekly show will continue in coming weeks for as long as the weather remains favourable.
“We’re going to keep going as long as the weather holds out,” he said. “We just wanted to get this out of the way while we were still guaranteed some nice evenings and before it got too dark and everybody put their cars away. But as long as it’s nice and there isn’t snow, we’ll be here.”
The Rogue Cruisers will be back for another Tail Light Tuesday next year and in the meantime is also planning something for this winter.
“I just want to thank everybody for coming out and supporting us all year, and absolutely the Living Sky Casino and all our other sponsors,” Vipond said. “It’s been awesome.”