By Tiffany Williams
Editor
The Ultimate Ponoka Car Show was fun for everyone who attended. The event was put on by the Ponoka and District Chamber of Commerce and had great attendance at all events on July 26 and 27.
Ponoka and District Chamber of Commerce president Marion Raugust enjoyed walking around during the show and shine.
“It’s great. I think it is going lovely. There is a lot of participation along with some great entertainment. I think it’s awesome,” said Raugust.
This is the second year that the chamber has hosted the car show and Raugust thought that it was a benefit for the town.
“Anytime you bring extra people into Ponoka it’s good for our town. It showcases our town and brings in lots of extra business,” she said.
The Show and Shine was run by the ‘66 Cruisers at the Ponoka Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion with the front and side lawns filled with cars and people walking around and enjoying the different cars. The president’s choice at ‘66 Cruisers Show N’ Shine went to Gerry Grubgesic’s ‘58 custom Cadillac.
Luke Bowie from Ponoka brought his family out to look at the cars.
“It’s good for the community. You get to see people that you don’t normally see. It’s been a beautiful day and a great turnout. It’s a lot of fun for the family,” said Bowie.
Kenton Ronnie, 12 years old was very excited to be part of the car show. He was very proud of his 1977 Dodge Warlock, an original that he has worked hard on, which there are only 10 in all of Canada.
“I remember when I was younger I used to go out and sit in the truck when it was parked in my backyard and play in it for hours,” said Ronnie. “I really like the show and people coming up and talking to me about my truck. I love cars and trucks and I have about 50 model cars at home too!”
Ponoka resident Bob Delano was on hand at the Show and Shine with his 1939 International truck that took him six years to restore. It is a D-15, with an HD 213 A six cylinder engine with 78.2. Delano really enjoyed the show and the atmosphere.
“It’s great, one off the best shows I’ve attended,” said Delano. “There’s lots of cars and a lot of different cars.”
He was very proud of his truck and the work that he put into restoring it.
“It started out as a challenge and then I got obsessed with it and it became something I had to do. There’s not many of these in existence.”
Tara Newton, one of the organizers of the show was very pleased with the turnout of the show.
“It was an awesome weekend with great weather. There was excellent participation at all of the events,” said Newton.
On July 27 at Calnash Trucking the Alberta 100 Footers Association held 100 Footer races in front of a packed grandstand with 93 racers participating in the shootout.
“We had a great crowd and the drivers were really happy with the venue. A lot of the drivers stayed through the weather on Sunday afternoon through the storm and raced after the storm it was really good. The only thing we could have changed was the weather, which we couldn’t help.”
The winner of the Calnash Ultimate run was 16 year-old Justin Ronnie of Ponoka driving his Camaro, who beat out Ken Carlson of Ponoka driving his Dodge Dart. The event also had a burn out contest on July 26 and a drive-in movie with over 100 vehicles later that night watching Cart Racer.