(Photo by The Ridgetown Independent News)
By Michael Bennett
Local Journalism Initiative
The Ridgetown Independent
The Thamesville Crossroads Car Show keeps getting bigger and bigger in the number of vehicles and spectators.
An estimated 4,000 people strolled the streets of Thamesville on Sept. 14, to view a record 270 vehicles at the fourth annual show.
“It’s the most we’ve ever had; we had 245 last year,” said Susan Smith, co-chair of the show with her husband, Brad. “And we noticed a lot more people; the streets were busy,” Smith added, as vehicles were parked on London Road, Lemuel and Ann Streets.
The car show is hosted by the Thamesville Improvement Association and Thamesville Sertoma Club.
The co-chairs credit getting the word out more to the public for the continued increase in participants and visitors.
The weather also helped attract the large crowd, taking advantage of a beautiful, sunny September day.
For the first time, the Home Built Soap Box Racing Association participated in the car show, which also brought many people to town.
Chris and Jed Collins of Wallaceburg were presented with the Art Kemp Memorial Trophy for the car of the show, their 1968 AMC AMX. The award is in honour of the late Art Kemp, a long-time community supporter and organizer of the Thamesville Car Show & Shine that used to be held at Ferguson Park in conjunction with the Threshing Festival.
This show was the precursor of the Thamesville Crossroads Car Show, as Kemp’s family is still involved.
“We choose the car we think Art would have said was the best in the show,” Smith said of the memorial award in his honour.
Terri Lariviere, of Bothwell, won the early bird entry award for her 1967 Chevrolet Camaro convertible. Judy and Bert Vanderheide of Thamesville Home Hardware donated the trophy.
The car show chairs and organizers thank the local merchants and individuals who donated prizes.
“The response of the community and businesses was very much appreciated; they really jumped in and helped us out,” Smith said.
The organizers also thanked the many volunteers who made the show successful.
