By Scott D. Johnston
For GH Newspaper Group
The ninth annual Show N’ Shine at the Shores car show will bring more than 200 custom cars and vintage vehicles to the Quinault Beach Resort and Casino this Friday and Saturday.
Event Chairman Tony Halekakis, vice president of the Pushrods of Hoquiam, said the show is one of three produced annually by the local nonprofit car club. He said the group was formed in 1953 and now has over 100 members actively raising money for charities across Grays Harbor County. In 2010, the organization was inducted into the Hotrod Hall of Fame.
He expects 150 to 200 “guest cars” to be registered for a friendly competition for about $2,500 in prizes. As the event host, Pushrods of Hoquiam members are ineligible for those prizes, but Halekakis said many of them will bring their own collector cars to show.
Among those competing is Ed Duncan, owner of HiGrade Asphalt, which has a satellite office in Ocean Shores. That’s where Duncan keeps a collection of custom cars, memorabilia and more. Halekakis refers to the place as “Ed’s playpen.”
A member of the Ocean Shores Beach Boys Car Club, Duncan won Best in Show at the event last year, and said he has his eye on a “sure show winner” this year: a rare 1954 Corvette that — until recently — was owned by longtime Pushrods member Ken Strom of Hoquiam, the owner of Ken’s Body Shop.
As a Pushrods member, Strom couldn’t enter the car in the competition. But Duncan believed it would win, so last Friday he persuaded Strom to sell it to him so he could enter it.
Participants have been registering online at www.pushrods.org, and on-site registration will begin at noon Friday. The fee is $20 per vehicle, and participants receive goodie bags and are eligible for various prizes to be announced every 15 minutes during event hours, from noon to 4 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
A Poker Run will start at 1 p.m. Friday at the casino. It will go down the Ocean Shores peninsula to the Coastal Interpretive Center near Damon Point, make some stops on Pt. Brown Avenue and continue up to the Green Lantern in Copalis Beach before returning to QBRC.
Award presentations will begin at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. The event is free for spectators, and the public is invited.
The event will be emceed again by Lance Lambert, host of “The Vintage Vehicle Show.” Johnny Manson, “Morning Madness” host on KJET-FM 105.7 in Aberdeen, will co-host. Inside will be merchandise, displays and the Hot Rod Cafe, with hot dogs, beer and root beer floats.
Pushrods of Hoquiam also hosts “High Rolling Hot Rods” at QBRC in April, and the “Riverside Run Revival” in Hoquiam in July. Halekakis said the club gives up to 90 percent of the revenue from the three annual events to area charities.
More information is available online at www.pushrods.org and at www.quinaultbeachresort.com/show-n-shine.
