Once again, the streets of Vicksburg will become a trip down memory lane as we welcome thousands of visitors and more than a thousand old cars to our Village.
It’s always interesting to hear the stories people tell about memories they have about cars in their lives. Many times they see a car like they took on their honeymoon, or the first car they remember as a kid and even perhaps their first car.
Cars are a part of the American dream and opened up travel to the masses. The Vicksburg Community Association has hosted the festival from the very first year. It came about when people such as Sue Moore, Mike Wunderlin, Dick Masse, Knowles and others came together to help the Village, which was struggling. The goal was to host an event that would bring people to discover us.
Community activities and volunteerism were down and the town needed a reason to give it a little spit and polish. Historic vintage vehicles like the Model T, brass era cars, hot rods and, special-interest cars will once again find their way to Vicksburg. Friday night will host the cruise in a low-key event to just bring car guys together to put their hoods up and talk cars and share stories. Hundreds of cars are expected to show up Friday as a warm up for the car festival on Saturday. We will also bring back two crowd-favorite awards with the people voting for their favorite car. We will have ballots available at the registration tent and a large voting barrel will return. We are also happy to have Darryl Salisbury bringing an Australian Motors Gremlin which is the only one ever produced. Daryl has a collection of one of a kind American Motor promotional cars and we want to thank him for again sharing one of his cars with us. We also are welcoming Bill Cayo with his ‘53 Buick Special Coupe which is a beautifully restored car, and I am sure it will be a crowd favorite at the main four corners. The VFW and the Schippers family is once again bringing back the dragster car with a fresh paint job and they will again allow people to get pictures of them in the drag car for a donation that will go to our local food bank. This was a crowd favorite last year and a rare opportunity to actually sit in a real drag car. Dutchboys Hot Rods will also have a display of some of their recent projects. We are extremely happy to say that Vicksburg is the home of Dutchboys, an award-winning builder known nationally as one of the best! We again want to welcome back this year the Continental Base Ball Club of Kalamazoo. They play baseball according to the 1860 rules, in vintage uniforms with replica vintage hard balls and with no mitts. They will be playing two games, at 10 a.m. and noon, against other vintage baseball clubs on the Old El field at the corner of Kalamazoo and Washington just down the block from the Fire Station. Stop by and see how baseball began!
Our message to the community is that the Old Car Festival is meant to be a very special day of fun in the Village. From the very first year the message has always been to have a place where people interested in cars can gather and celebrate their hobby and share it with our community. The festival is about life in a small town and the beauty of that. The outside activities will be much the same as in years past. The Historic Village will have its buildings and museum open with special displays. The Village will again host the antique tractor, gas and engine show which is always a big hit. Downtown, you can visit the NABA Beer Advertising and Collectible swap meet in the big tent. If you have an interest in owning a piece of this history, it will be a good place to shop. We thank the Mill at Vicksburg for sponsoring this and bringing it back to the festival. Rotary will once again be selling their 50/50 raffle tickets with the proceeds going to support their many community projects. Come visit the Clark Park Arts and Craft Show, the Library Book Sale and don’t forget the Pancake Breakfast at the Fire Station. Please also make a note of our sponsors displayed on the banners. We could not do the show without their support and I would hope that you support these local businesses that go out of their way to help make the car festival happen. If you would like to volunteer to help direct cars for a couple of hours on Saturday morning and watch the show as they drive in or help us set up the show, please call Skip at 269-720-4144.
