Rain or shine, Rust and Shine Car Show is looking for enthusiasts
Come snow or sun, rust or shine, the planning for the 2022 Schuler Car Show is already well underway.
Everything is proceeding smoothly so far, said organizer Wayne Haag, for the 5th year of the Rust and Shine Car Show.
“We’ve got a lot of stuff in place and the committee is great. Each committee member has a specific duty and, and they’re sure working away at that. So we’ve got all our food sponsors for the event,” said Haag. “So we have two companies, the Medicine Hat co-op is sponsoring burgers and hotdogs and pop and stuff for the main main function where people can buy their burgers and stuff like that, and Nutrien Ag Solutions out of Medicine Hat as sponsoring the breakfast.”
Sponsors have in the past also sent out employees to assist in manning the barbeques for such events, said Haag, something that he adds is very generous of them.
While the main focus is on the Car show, the heart of the event is to bring members of the community together and to be able to host something to hopefully entice people to come see what Schuler has to offer.
“The idea for the car show in it originally was that the money we’d raise would go to, or we’re sponsoring HALO air ambulances,” said Haag. The last show was a record year, with $4000 dollars raised to help the beloved medical helicopter program with their operating costs.
“We started out as a car show, plus a tradeshow in our local arena. And that is what is continuing. Even though the trade show sometimes, we don’t have as many vendors sometimes from one year to the next, and it is now developed into more,” said Haag. “The main idea we have is to make it for families and make it affordable for families to come bring the family and not feel ripped off. So that’s why the breakfast is free. And our burgers and stuff are probably three bucks. And so you know, it’s easy to feed the family without a lot of money.”
Over the years, they’ve added additional events to the show, such as pedal tractors coming out from Dunmore, and a bicycle parade which this year is being headed by a member of the Redcliff RCMP detachment.
“Then, of course, the cars. The cars are the main thing for the guys and the first two years we did this we actually had snow and it was brutally cold,” said Haag. “The last two years we’ve had really good weather. Last year, I think we had like 60, some 60 some cars here. So our little park in town here is completely filled with vehicles.”
The Rust and Shine doesn’t accept any preregistration, but Haag encourages car enthusiasts to mark their calendars for September 24th, as the show is on the radar of many after 4 years of operation and Schuler is easy to access without risking chipping your vehicle on a gravel road.
“It’s a fun event for people. And in the committee, we have a really big committee that does a good job,” said Haag. “And with a lot of volunteers, we can ask people for help. And they always are very generous with their help. It’s something small communities kind of do to keep our communities alive.”