by Breeanna Jent on 2013-10-10
The morning sun shone brightly off the hordes of classic cars in the lot of the Jerry L. Pettis Memorial VA Medical Center as thousands of visitors walked the grounds.
The annual Veterans Memorial Car Show pulled into town for the 23rd consecutive year last Sunday, Oct. 6, kicking off early that morning through the tree-lined grounds of the hospital.
Just about 1,100 street rods, custom cars and motorcycles were on display at the event, sponsored by K&N Engineering, Value Solar, Inter Mountain Mortgage, the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, Meguiar's Car Care Products, TEAM Rennick, Baker’s Drive-Thru, B&M Racing and Performance, Clark’s Nutrition, Star Auto Parts, KOLA FM, Just Cruizin’ Productions and the AAA.
The day kicked off at 8 a.m. and featured opportunity drawings, live and silent auctions, a pancake breakfast, food and other vendors, a 50/50 trivia quiz, a kid’s coloring contest and a model car contest scavenger hunt, along with the car and bike displays. The Automobile Club of Southern California-sponsored NHRA 2009 Championship Funny Car of Robert Hight from the John Force Racing team was also on display.
Crowds also gathered around a tribute remembering the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. The display weighed over 11,000 pounds and featured pieces of steel salvaged from Ground Zero at the World Trade Center.
For the past couple of years, the event has sold out completely.
Event organizer Betty Volk said that all proceeds benefit the Loma Linda VA hospital, and this year the car show committee, a group of 40 volunteers who work year-round to plan and execute the event, one of the most anticipated in the area each year, hope to donate up to $100,000 to help veterans in need. This year the Veterans Memorial Car Show was able to auction off a 2012 Ford Camaro for $30,000.
Volk is also a member of the Volunteers for Veterans Foundation, which helps provide services to needy veterans and their families on an individual basis.
The proceeds from Sunday’s event will go toward covering a variety of services, including providing wheelchairs, eyeglasses, cable TV, hygiene carts, hospitality carts, and other goods they may need, shared Volk.
“In January, the VA hospital gives us a wish list, and from there we decide where the funds [from the car show] are going,” said Volk.
Each year the event brings out hundreds of volunteers on top of the 40-person event committee, chaired this year by Butch Schultz, and the nine-person Volunteers for Veterans Foundation, chaired by Betty Volk’s husband, Larry.
“People kind of come out of the woodwork to help with this event, and it’s a great feeling to know that many people want to help,” said Betty Volk.
Earl Oakday and his wife Diane are Menifee residents who brought their 1952 Chevrolet 2-door Deluxe to show. Earl Oakday is a member of the Over the Hill Gang Car Club in Temecula, and has been for seven years. He’s owned the car for 22 years, he said, and has been showing it for the past three.
“I enjoy the people,” he said of car shows. “I don’t go for the trophies. I go for fellowship with other hobbyists. I have a great respect for veterans, and had several [veteran] friends who’ve passed away so I want to do something to give back.” With the car club, Oakday has had the opportunity to volunteer at the Loma Linda Veterans Hospital, and enjoys participating in events that benefit the hospital and the veterans it houses, he explained.
Phil Cardozo is an Apple Valley resident who brought his 1953 John Deere Model 40 tractor—the only tractor among the some 1,200 vehicles on display. It’s completely restored, he said, and he built a custom back seat in the vehicle for his eight grandchildren. He enjoyed letting children climb into the tractor at the car show, he added.
“I love letting the kids get in the tractor and try it out. I had at least three dozen kids come and sit in the seat,” he said. Cardozo has had an interest in tractors since his youth; he grew up with farmer and dairyman roots, he said.
“I’ve always had a softness for tractors,” he said. His affinity for tractors shows in his eight-year membership in the High Desert Antique Tractor Club. While not a veteran himself, he said his participation in Sunday’s show was a way for him to give something back.
“Of course, I’d do anything to help people out,” he said.
Clyde Willis is a Vietnam veteran who has been a patient at the VA Hospital in Loma Linda for about three weeks.
“I liked seeing the really old cars,” he said. “It took me back.”
His daughter Keisha, who is visiting him from Illinois, said, “I thought [the event] was awesome, considering it was his first time getting out of bed and going outside,” she said. “It was a beautiful day. What surprised me was my dad knew all the cars before we got [to] them. He pointed out so many [models] he’d had in his lifetime. I never knew that about my dad.”
The car show began 23 years ago when Mike Wilburn began working at the hospital and identified needs in the veteran community, shared Volk. He wanted to put on an event to benefit them in some way and rallied help from members of the Over the Hill Gang Car Club, to which Larry Volk belonged.
“Larry became a helper. Mike has since passed away to cancer, but we wanted to keep the event up and going,” said Volk.
The event has helped raise over $1.5 million since its inception 23 years ago, all going directly to benefit veterans living at the Loma Linda VA Hospital.
“We are very blessed to have so much support,” said Volk. “It doesn’t matter how much work Butch, or I or Larry or the other volunteers are willing to do; if it weren’t for those [who register their cars], it couldn’t happen. We all do a great job, and it’s because of the support we get through the community.”
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Sunday, Oct. 6
8 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Jerry L. Pettis Memorial VA Medical Center
11201 Benton St., in Loma Linda
The 23rd Annual Veterans Memorial Car Show is pulling into town at the Jerry L. Pettis Memorial VA Medical Center this Sunday, Oct. 6.
The festivities will kick off at 8 a.m. and will run through 3:30 p.m. Tree-lined grounds, blacktop parking, opportunity drawings, live and silent auctions, a pancake breakfast, food and other vendors, a 50/50 trivia quiz, a kids’ coloring contest and a model car contest scavenger hunt are just a few of the attractions slated to be on site.
Approximately 1,200 street rods, custom cars and motorcycles will be on display. This October’s show is one of the highlights of the year and all funds raised through entries, raffles, live and silent auctions are used to help our veterans and active military in some way.
This show is produced each year through volunteer efforts and the money raised is committed where foundation support will make a significant difference. The Volunteers for Veterans Foundation provides emergency financial assistance to veterans and active military personnel. Volunteers for Veterans helps with rent, utilities, food and gas to those who are in transition to civilian life and are awaiting VA benefits. Many service members find themselves in desperate need for themselves and their families during times of crisis.
On display this year will be a tribute remembering the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. Pieces of steel have traveled throughout the country and have been reused in small- and large-scale tributes. The tribute slated to be on display weighs over 11,000 pounds and was salvaged from the World Trade Center wreckage. The San Bernardino County Firefighters will be displaying the tribute throughout Southern California to commemorate the 9/11 World Trade Towers attacks.
For drag-racing fans, the Automobile Club of Southern California-sponsored NHRA 2009 Championship Funny Car of Robert Hight from the John Force Racing Team will be on display.
Those who wish to show their cars must register them, but there is no charge for spectators. No pets, Go-Peds, scooters, bicycles, skateboards, or roller blades will be allowed.
To learn more about the show and the Foundation, call 909-350-9816, email vetcarshow2002@aol.com, or visit www.veterancarshow.com.
The Loma Linda VA Hospital is located at 11201 Benton St., in Loma Linda.
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Published last year:
Under the shroud of 82 degree weather and bright sun, an estimated 7,000 locals and car enthusiasts came out to the Jerry L. Pettis memorial VA Medical Center in Loma Linda to celebrate the 22nd Annual Veterans Memorial Car Show over the weekend on Sunday, Oct. 7.
Supported by ten major sponsors including K&N Engineering, Star Auto Parts, B&M, Baker’s Drive-Thru, Midnight Impressions, Coldwell Banker, Meguiar’s, KOLA FM, TEAM Rennick and Clark’s Nutrition, over 1,200 classic vehicles were parked on the sprawling blacktop grounds of the hospital and were ready to be ogled.
The brainchild of Mike Wilburn, a member of the Over the Hill Gang Car Club, who 22 years ago was working at the hospital and saw a need for funds for veterans housed in the establishment, the Veterans Memorial Car Show has sold out for the last four years as a result of its charitable cause. Raising over $1.5 million over the previous two decades, the entirety of funds raised as a result of the car show go directly to veterans at the Loma Linda VA Hospital for the purchase of various items anywhere from televisions for each patient to a fully equipped and up-to-date ambulance, which ran at $10,000, said John Coute, an Over the Hill Gang Car Club member for 40 years, who helped to plan the event this year.
“The Volunteer Services Department [at the hospital], if they see a need that they can’t cover, they come to us, and we take care of it. No questions asked, no red tape,” shared Coute. “I’m very proud. We’ve grown from 300 cars to 1,200, and we sell out.”
Lisa Samody, a Riverside resident who owns J & M Speed Center, a hot rod shop in Riverside, entered her 1969 Chevrolet Camero into Sunday’s car show. This was the first time that Samody entered her car into any type of showing, although she had been a visitor to the Veterans Memorial Car Show in past years.
“I just did a full frame-off restoration and built a new motor,” Samody shared.
“I built the car to drive it. I think this is a very important show, and it’s for a great cause. It’s something I want to support. There are a lot of spectators and car enthusiasts. It’s a great day, and it’s very fun,” she said. Samody came to the show that afternoon with her husband Rick Samody and her 10 year old son, Matt, and was even one of 30 awarded with a trophy for her car, picked especially by a local business, in the Vet’s Pick. Awards are also awarded to children in the show’s coloring, candy count, trivia and model car contests. In addition, a golf cart this year was donated by Best Golf Carts and customized by Little Louie.
For the ninth year in a row, a car-- this year a 2013 Chevy Camero-- was given away to one lucky winner, as well as a washer and dryer donated by Harlow’s Kitchen Concepts.
Also at the event last weekend was Don Epstein, along with some of his family members, including three of his granddaughters, who was showing his 1974 Corvette, which he has owned for 25 years. Like Samody, Epstein had visited the car show in the past, and decided to show his car this year for the first time.
Planning for the car show is a year-round process, and requires the help of committee members and 150 volunteers who assist in registration, vendor set up, electrical assistance, parking, to name a few responsibilities. This year, and the event was chaired by Butch Schultz, who has volunteered his time and services, along with his wife Maureen, for 20 years. The Schultz’s shared that they felt honored with the success of last Sunday’s event.
“It’s the greatest thing in the world, to have this many people involved,” shared Schultz. The purpose of starting the car show was “to make sure that veterans had funds” for various necessities not provided by the hospital itself nor by the federal government. “Especially in an economy like this,” shared Mrs. Schultz, “to have people donate shows that they have a big heart. This is a community filled with vets, and we got started because we have two sons, and when they were young, we thought, ‘what can we do to teach them patriotism?’ And you meet the best people.”
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