James Dean Festival and Ducktail Run 2007

This past weekend, my father, son and I made our annual trek to the James Dean Festival in Fairmount, Indiana and the Ducktail Run in Gas City, Indiana. This has been a "father-son" traditional since I was a freshman at nearby Taylor University in the fall of 1984. After my oldest son was born in 1991, he started going with us every year...(he actually attended a few years in a stroller!)

We've witnessed a lot of changes over the years! Originally,
everything happened in Fairmount at the James Dean Festival. As the event grew, the sponsoring car clubs split. First an event started up the same weekend in Gas City (The Ducktail Run). Next, a 3rd event moved to Muncie @ the Delaware County Fairgrounds (The Rebel Run). Since that time, the Rebel Run has moved to the weekend before and has crossed the "border" to Lima, Ohio.






Both the James Dean Festival and Ducktail Run have grown four and five fold since we started attending in the mid-80's. It used to be a "well-kept secret" but now the event draws thousands of cars, spectators and food and industry vendors. A swap meet and flea market are also a part of the annual event.

This year, Jonesboro, a neighboring village to Gas City, hosted a bike show and rodeo over the same weekend. With this edition, the crowds were even larger.


There are lots of cars that we see year after year, but there are ALWAYS cars that we have never seen at the events.




The events start on Thursday evening and run through Sunday night. In years past, we have went early on Saturday morning and stayed late to see the flamethrowing competition on Saturday night. This year, we decided to leave before it got dark. We headed back toward Upland, Indiana and stopped at the Car Auction in Gas City. During the weekend of the Ducktail Run, they have a special Classic Car Auction. We spent some time checking out the cars that would be auctioned that evening.


All in all, it was another great weekend. These events are my favorites, and they are always a great ending to summer. I am still hopeful that someday I will be able to bring a car of my own to the events and stay for the entire weekend. However until that day comes, I will continue to enjoy spending time with my father and son (actually my guess is my younger sons may also attend in the future).

Piqua: Aesthetic Finishers Customer Appreciation Day

O.K... Still trying to catch up from a few months without a home computer. Another GREAT cruise-in/show is the Aesthetic Finishers Customer Appreciation Day in Piqua, Ohio.





Aesthetic puts on an EXCELLENT show with plenty of activities for the family, lots of great raffle prizes, and an excellent "goodie" bag that includes a free limited edition tee-shirt with your car registration.





There were hundreds of cars at the show, far more than the owners of the biz anticipated. The day included a free tour of aesthetic. They do all kinds of powdercoating; both production and custom work.





Once again dad's '47 got out of the garage and on the road. The weather was INCREDIBLY hot, but we had a great time chillin' in our lawn chairs under a shade tree near the car.





For more information about Aesthetic Finishers or to check out their cool AFI clothing click on the link below:


http://www.afipowder.com/apparel.htm

Selma, Indiana Car Show

HEY! I'm finally back! Due to a nasty "viral infection", my home computer has been down since late July. Although I've been unable to make any blog posts, it hasn't stopped me from attending car shows and dreamin' about cars!

Late this summer, my father, son, and I attended a nice car show in Selma, Indiana. My dad came to the house and picked up my son in his '47 Chevy. I followed in my van to pick up my bike from the shop. Once I got my bike, I rode it to the show, and parked it near my father's car.

I've included a few photographs of the cars that caught my eye. (Late...having trouble uploading pictures...will try again soon.) PS....James Dean Festival and Ducktail Run this coming weekend!!!!