Rigby’s Hot Classic Nights is more than just your regular car show
RIGBY, Idaho (KIFI) - Saturday, July 9 will bring new sounds to the heart of the city as the Annual Hot Classic Nights will fill Rigby City Park with cars, boats, trucks and other vehicles from the past for all to see. The show will also have a large role in helping the Rigby Senior Center continue to serve meals to seniors in need.
Every year for the past 18 years ,the car show has donated all of the proceeds of the event plus any other donations throughout the day to the Rigby Senior Center and their Meals on Wheels program. Todd Stowell, the shows chairman, says the 18 year tradition for the city got it's start after they saw an opportunity to help.
"What happened is these guys came to us and says, hey, can we cook hamburgers at your car dealership? We go, Sure. You know, so they set up their little gig and cooked some hamburgers."
Stowell adds that day the senior center was able to raise some money but he saw a chance to do more.
"They worked really hard for the 200 bucks. So then that's when I decided, all right, we're going to jump into this thing and go all the way. And then that's when we brought in the car show. So the following year we started the car show."
The car show is able to generate large amounts of donations through not just the registration of the different hot rods but also through other means as well. "
We have an awesome raffle table that just tons and tons of businesses in our in our area have donated just fantastic raffle items and that brings in quite a bit of revenue. But really it's just donations throughout the day as we have an awesome time and just the event itself, everybody comes in and is willing to chip in and pitch in money," said Adam Hall, the co-chairman of the show.
Visitors to the show will be able to see a bit more than just your usual hot rod collection.
"This town is alive with hot rods, people food, drink, shade, cars on doing drag races on a street. The City of Rigby is awesome. They let us close the street down and we literally do drag races," Stowell said.
He also adds there will be a lot of other events as a motorcycle rodeo will take place and a monster truck collection will be seen at the show as well.
Rigby Senior Center Director Liz Pennell says the donations from the show allows them to really help seniors in need.
"If it wasn't for the car show and the amount of money that these two guys help help us earn and all these guys help us burn, I don't know if we'd be able to keep the Meals on Wheels program. It's growing and growing and growing every day. We lose people. We gain people. It's a fluctuating thing, but without it would be lost."
Pennell was also able to relay a story of why this cause and program from the senior center helped save a life as well.
"Our van driver pulled up to deliver the meal and the house was on fire and the guy was trapped. Yeah, and if it hadn't been for her, shoot, he would have died. But because of her quick action and got the 911 people there and she went in and tried to save him and she couldn't because he was too big for her to help and if it hadn't been for that, we'd lost him."
The car show it self is from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. with a parade of all to cars taking place in the last hour as the cars drive around town.
Last year, the show was able to donate of $12,000 to the Senior Center for the Meals On Wheels Program. This year, Stowell and Hall say their goal is to donate $15,000. For more information on the car show you can find it on their Facebook page here.
