Members of a local charitable car club are getting in gear for the Apple Festival’s first Saturday, when they will again host their long-running annual car show.
The Apple Country Auto Club will present the 2021 Apple Classic Car Show at Ronnie Thompson Ford, 130 Coosawattee Drive, Saturday, Oct. 9, from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Vehicle registration will be from 8.am.-noon.
Pretty much any vehicle is welcome at the open show confirmed Ronnie Prater, the car club’s president.
“You can bring anything. You’ve just got to be able to drive it on the lot,” Prater said.
“There’s no room to park a trailer there. If they trailer their car in, they’ll have to find some other place to park the trailer,” he added.
The Apple Classic returns this year following the Apple Festival and all associated events being canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The return to form is important, Prater noted, because the club donates proceeds from the car show and other club events to local nonprofits and charities each year. The car show is usually the biggest yearly fundraising event for the group of automobile enthusiasts formed in 1985.
Past year-end donation recipients have included the Gilmer Community Food Pantry, the Gilmer County DFACS Christmas program, the Kids Ferst childhood literacy program, Gilmer Senior Center, an auto tech scholarship fund at Gilmer High School and North Georgia Community Action.
“The Apple Country Auto Club and its members are members of The Antique Automobile Club Of America (AACA), and the club is the North Georgia region of the AACA. We are not affiliated with any other auto club, local or national. All the funds we raise go to the charities we give to,” Prater said.
The public is invited to stop by the East Ellijay Ford dealership and check out the entered vehicles. Admission is free.
Prater noted the location of Ronnie Thompson Ford provides easy entry and exit to Highway 515 for attendees and entrants of the Apple Classic, which was previously held on South Main Street near River Park. More than 150 vehicles were registered and shown there at the 2019 event, he added.
“I’d say the majority of (our entrants) are out-of-town folks. There are also a lot of local folks and a lot from Blue Ridge and Jasper. We have them come from all over,” Prater said.
Attendees can expect to see a mix of hot rods, classic cars, trucks and other vehicles including motorcycles. Two raffle drawings and a 50/50 cash drawing will be held with proceeds also benefiting the club’s charitable donations.
“We’ll be raffling off a 55-inch smart TV and a Craftsman 3,500-watt generator. When you buy one ticket, you’re buying a chance on both prizes. We’ll also be doing drawings for door prizes every so many minutes,” Prater said.
A total of 65 awards, including plaques for the show’s Top 50 and 15 Best Of trophies, will be presented. Award winners will be announced at 4 p.m.
“All the people that enter their cars in the show get a ballot, and they can go around and pick the top 50. Club members (judge for the) Best Of trophies like Best Ford, Best GM, Best Mopar, Best Truck and Best Bike,” Prater said.
The car club also saw a good response to a recent string of summer cruise-ins that were held at a new location, the park-and-ride lot across from Poole’s BBQ, Prater confirmed. The cruise-ins also helped to raise money the club will donate.
“We had the last one in September. We filled the parking lot with about 50 cars every time,” Prater said.