The show goes on – almost to the finish
Rumbling of thunder mixed with the roar of car engines Sunday afternoon as Peachland’s World of Wheels got wet this year, causing the show to shut down two hours earlier than planned.
Early morning rain subsided in time for the show’s 11 a.m. start and thousands of people strolled Peachland’s Beach Avenue which had been closed to traffic.
Now in its 24th year, World of Wheels has evolved into a giant street party with live music, beer garden, food trucks, vendors and bouncy castles for kids.
Pam Cunningham, one of the organizers of the car show, said rainy weather meant only about half of the more than 550 anticipated cars came to the show as many collectors don’t want to get their classic cars wet.
Besides Canada Day, World of Wheels is Peachland’s largest event, she said.
The show can bring up to 10,000 people to Peachland for the day and makes a huge impact on the town’s economy, including local restaurants whose business is slower during fall and winter.
Before the rain, Beach Avenue was filled with people and the restaurant patios were packed with customers.
“We can’t control the weather, but we make the best of it,” said Cunningham.
When Kelowna’s Jim Dickson saw Sunday’s early morning downpour, he wasn’t going to bring his 1970 Mercury to the show. But at 9 a.m., the weather was looking better, so he came.
Dickson, who has always worked on cars and boats, enjoys the Peachland car show because it attracts a crowd, there’s entertainment and there are the wooden classic boats.
Dickson had been admiring Steve Leslie’s 1942 Chris Craft 17-foot special runabout docked at the Peachland wharf.
Leslie had brought the gleaming mahogany boat from Vancouver for the show. Describing himself as a car guy who loves woodworking, Leslie took over two and a half years to restore the boat.
For Michael Pacholuk, who was showing his 1951 Mercury, car shows are all about sharing stories about cars with other people. He found his 1951 Mercury on Craigslist in Saskatchewan about 12 years ago. He has rebuilt the motor and the transmission. “I can fly by everybody on the highway,” he said. “It’s a fun car to drive.” This weekend was the Canadian debut for John Foxley’s 1952 Chevy, as the Pitt Meadows man brought the car to the Summerland car show Saturday and World of Wheels Sunday. Foxley bought the car from a friend as a dilapidated project.
“It was a big lump of potential, but that was about it,” he said. “I basically took the car, took all the ugly off it and brought out all the hidden beauty.”
Cherry Chris from Kamloops won the popular vote as one of the six contestants in the World of Wheels’ inaugural pin-up girl contest.
She was sporting a 1950s retro crinoline-lined teal blue dress with a pink flamingo pattern accessorized with a large pearl necklace.
The steady rain in the afternoon saw some exhibitors and visitors leaving early, but Grant Mitchell who brings his family to the car show from Coldstream every year wasn’t bothered by the weather.
“There are some sweet rides here,” he said. “The work that’s been put into them, everything lines up perfect and perfect paint jobs, nice motors and interiors well done.”