Green Lawn Abbey car show to offer variety of vehicles, food, music
Green Lawn Abbey, the storied, 95year-old mausoleum on Greenlawn Avenue, counts among its residents several of the more notable personages in Columbus history.
Columbus-born magician Howard Thurston (1869-1936) is interred in the abbey; so is former Columbus mayor George J. Karb (1858-1937).
This weekend, a few dozen fourwheeled visitors will take up temporary residence on the mausoleum's expansive front lawn.
On Sept. 12, the second edition of the Green Lawn Abbey Classic & Exotic Car
Show, a fundraiser to help support restoration efforts at the historic building, will invite visitors to scope out about 30 cars, ranging from a 1922 Ford Model T to vehicles of far more recent vintage.
The event, first held in 2019 but cancelled last year because of the pandemic, is an unexpected way to draw attention to an historic site that may not be at the top of most people's list of places to go on a late-summer weekend.
“It's not easy to bring people into a mausoleum — a lot of times, it's even kind of awkward and weird,” said Shawn Kenney, the president of the
Green Lawn Abbey Preservation Association. “This is just a good way of bringing in a completely different crowd.”
Wanting to freshen up the abbey's usual fundraiser, a 1920s-themed party, abbey board member Steven Wink hatched the idea of presenting classic and contemporary cars on the mausoleum's ample lawn space.
“It blossomed into this huge event that ended up being one of the most successful events in the abbey's history,” Wink said. “We decided to make it an annual event.”
Area car owners submit information about their vehicles to abbey officials, who then aim for the right mix of classic wheels.
“I try not to have 40 of the same type of car,” Wink said. “We have a lot of people who want to enter their 1960s Mustang, but I can't have 15 Mustangs because we need to have a variety.”
The mausoleum's roots in the Jazz Age of a century ago is acknowledged in the presence of cars from the period.
“We're hopeful to have a 1929 Franklin, which is a very large touring car that was made in the '20s,” Wink said.
On the other hand, more contemporary vehicles will also be on display.
“We've got a 2021 Corvette C8,” Wink said. “We have a Jaguar F-TYPE.”
As attendees check out the cars, they can sip on beers for sale from Land-grant Brewing Company or snack on food available from the Paddy Wagon food truck. The blues-jazz group Change It Up Charlie will provide live music.
And for those who wish to learn more about what their ticket is supporting, tours of the abbey itself will be available.
“We have 57 windows in the building, and less than a third of them have been restored,” Wink said. “Proceeds from this event are hopefully going to help us get even more of those windows shipped out.
“A lot of car shows are in parking lots,” Wink said. “(What's) special about our show is you get the beautiful scenery and you get the cars.
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