When it comes to enjoying the summer, there are very few things that Garrettsville residents enjoy more than taking in the Garrettsville Cruise Night car shows. Although two shows have already been held, there are still three more to look forward to, with the third one taking place on July 20 on Main Street.
“There are some that are really high quality cars,” Mayor Rick Patrick told The Weekly Villager on June 25. “Some are very rare and then there is what we would call a ‘driver’ which are people that have a neat old car that they like to drive in and there is variety. We have trucks and cars and we have had motorcycles in the past.”
Since 1988, the Garrettsville Area Chamber of Commerce has hosted car shows in the summer across the community, with some taking place at the Garfield Plaza, on Main Street, and others at the Sky Plaza. The fourth show, known as the Peach Social, because the Chamber offers peach-flavored snacks and treats including peaches and ice cream, with the peaches coming from Monroe Farm on Pioneer Trail, will be at the Fire Station on Aug. 10. The final show this year will be held at the Nelson Ledges Road Course on Labor Day. Each event showcases approximately 200 cars except for the Fire Station cruise, where space is at a premium–only holding about 100-150 cars.
The Chamber advertises the summer car shows in Cruisin’ Times Magazine, a publication that provides car enthusiasts with information about car shows, event listings and automotive classifieds and more for the State of Ohio, Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
According to Mayor Patrick, the idea was created when McDonald’s arrived in Garfield Plaza and the owner of Dairy Queen at the time, Roger Angel, wanted to do something that would bring more people to the Plaza.
Since then, it has become an annual summer tradition in Garrettsville, with the Chamber hosting five shows, once a month beginning in May and the final one ending in September. The car show has not only attracted car enthusiasts from Portage County but also from neighboring counties such as Geauga, Summit, Cuyahoga and Mahoning.
Mayor Patrick said that car owners park their cars in a designated area and residents and tourists are invited to come and view them. The range of cars that have been in the shows has differed greatly each year.
“There have been some cars that we are thinking ‘Wow! I did not know a person still had that car all of these years, or something rare,” he noted. “There’s a lot of different things that show up for it.”
Each show hosts a 50-50 raffle and provides entertainment such as a DJ or a band. In each show, there are seven trophies awarded for the best model of car including Fords, General Motors, Chryslers and Hot Rods, with one category assigned that includes less popular models that are designated under the same umbrella.
The 50-50 raffle awards door prizes and a cash prize that awards the winner 50% of the proceeds raised from ticket sales, while the rest of the money raised helps pay for each show and whatever is left over is assigned to the Chamber’s special events fund, which allows them to host community festivals and gatherings each year.
“We get a lot of people for them and a lot of people spend money on the raffle and it also benefits the community because, for instance, Main Street, all of the different restaurants and all of the people go to the restaurants eat there and so forth.”
As fascinating as some of the cars that come to the shows are, Mayor Patrick acknowledged that it was also a pleasant social event for the community.
“There are a lot of people that would come for the cars but there are also people that come for the music because we have different entertainment,” he added.
Although the Chamber is planning for the third show, the last two shows were affected by the weather with the first one being hampered by the rain and the last show, which happened on June 22, suffered because of the heat.
“I am excited because what that will do is that the people who were disappointed because the other two that were not the greatest or because of the weather, they will be anxious to come out,” said Mayor Patrick.
