By Mike Douglas
What Is A Car Show with No Cars?
What do you get when you take a rainy Sunday morning, several local car clubs, the Long Beach Fire Department, hearts of gold and a very dire need?? A very successful Toy Drive!
It all began 10 years ago when the “Mercifuls” car club based out of Long Beach had the idea to support a local Toy Drive. The toy drive chosen is the ABC7 “Spark of Love Toy Drive”. Since its inception, the “Mercifuls” have hosted a car show every December. Yesterday was no exception. Plans were set into motion. The venue was to be held at the Long Beach Police Officers Association Park in Long Beach from 9:00 am – Noon. Trophies were hand-crafted by Rockhead Ron Sexton for Best of Show (which also included $250 cash), Club Participation, Best Under-Construction, Best Truck, Best Paint and the pick of Blacktop Magazine. If you have never seen any of Rod’s handiwork, you have surely missed out. He takes old odds and ends car parts adds a few inches of creativity and torques it to the correct specifications and viola, a one of a kind trophy that will occupy a place of honor in anyone’s collection.
A pancake breakfast was to be offered at a small donation benefiting the Long Beach Fire Department. One sure way of getting custom car owners to show up is to offer food. The price of admission was a $10 donation or a new unwrapped toy.
The week preceding the event, the Mercifuls had their eyes and ears glued to the local weather reports hoping for calm seas and smooth sailing. Unfortunately, that was not the case. The decision was made to cancel the car show, but stay open for the toy drive and see what happens. As the setup crew started arriving early Sunday morning, the rain fell very heavily and the winds blew and the temperatures refused to climb.
Then just as in “The Miracle on 34th Street”, a wonderous thing happened… Cars and trucks started to arrive loaded with new unwrapped toys. It was an amazing site to behold. Several of the local car clubs arrived bringing their loads of toys. The Sultans, The Chariots and The C10 Truck Club are just a few.
The weather did not improve until around noon when the clouds parted and the sun stuck her much welcomed face through. The toy collection went on for hours and the picnic tables were filling up. The Long Beach Fire Department arrived at noon with a pickup truck and large trailer. Everyone chipped in and lended a hand loading the trailer with all the toys. By the time the trailer had been loaded there were enough toys to fill ¾ of the trailer and the bed of the pickup truck. The moral of the story is: Custom Car Owners have hearts of gold and will brave the elements to support a worthy cause. It’s also a great place to unveil the latest in Christmas attire. Just ask Tony from Blacktop Magazine in his Kristmas Kitty Koat.
