It’s considered the biggest, most popular annual event in Prince George.
It’s the Cruisin’ Classics Show and Shine car show and it’s coming back this Sunday to Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park, and if it’s anything like it was in pre-pandemic years, it will be a magnet for dads and their families looking for something to do on Father’s Day to spend some quality time together.
How popular is Show and Shine?
“On average, there’s about 10,000 (people) - it’s the biggest one-day event for the city for the year,” said Cruisin’ Classics Show and Shine director Larry Cadieux.
For the past two years crowding was discouraged to keep COVID in check and the park was off-limits for the event. Instead, Show and Shine organizers used the CN Centre parking lot as a staging area to line up the hundreds of classic and vintage vehicles for a parade through city streets. People lined the streets along the route and waited for their chance to wave their approval as the procession passed by.
But the lid on crowd sizes has been lifted and that means people will be getting up close and personal checking out what’s under the hood and behind the wheel of some of the nicest, best-preserved motorized masterpieces ever created.
“We’re hoping for a big turnout because people have been basically locked up for the last couple years, staying at home and not able to do anything, so we’re hoping a lot of people show up,” said Cadieux. “Now that we’re coming out of the pandemic, people are happy to do something, but people are also a little leery.
“We usually average around 400 vehicles and we think we might get that and maybe more vehicles just because everyone’s been cooped up and guys want the opportunity to come out and show people what they’ve done to their cars.”
The Show and Shine spectacle starts Friday afternoon with the seniors care home tour. The mini-parade of vehicles starts lining up at noon along Fifth Avenue in the industrial part of downtown. They’ll get moving by 12:30 p.m. and head to Rainbow Lodge and then on to Parkside Lodge at 12:50, stopping for 30 minute pitstop. That gives car owners and resident seniors a chance to meet and swap stories about their own experiences driving classics.
The parade continues to Alward Place (1:30) arriving at Laurier Park at 1:35 for a second 30-minute stop. Another 30-minute visit is planned for Jubilee Lodge next to the hospital at 2:10, followed by another half-hour visit to Simon Fraser Lodge at 2:45. The tour continues to Riverbend Lodge at 3:25 and Gateway Lodge at 3:30, and wraps up with a drive-by visit to Birchview Residences along the John Hart Highway at 4 p.m.
“It’s a fun thing and everybody enjoys doing it,” said Sandra Harvey, whose husband Dwaine organizes the seniors tour.
The 48th annual Show and Shine in the park starts Sunday at 10 a.m. and runs through to 3 p.m. Car owners are expected to arrive by 9:30 a.m. and be prepared to stay to the end of the show. Cadieux said the cost of entering the display is $15, up from $10 in previous years to reflect rising costs of club operations. The event is free for spectators.
“The park is really open and it’s really nice and hopefully the weather holds out,” said Cadieux. ‘It’s been around at various places in the city, it’s been downtown and at PGSS, but Lheidli T’enneh is the place where we’ve had it for the last decade and it’s beautiful. It’s more of a relaxed setting.”
Sponsored by Northland Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram. Chieftain Auto Parts and Western Financial Group, the Show and Shine offers display space at the park for not-for-profit groups to promote what they do in the community.
Food and drink vendors will be at the site. For kids who might get tired of looking at cars, the Little Prince train is expected to be picking up passengers for short tours through the park and the Rotoract water spray park will help keep everybody cool.
According to Environment Canada, the weather gods appear to be willing to co-operate, with a mixture of sun and clouds on Sunday and high of 23 C predicted. Friday might be a little wet, with a 40 per cent chance of rain and a high of 17 C in the forecast.
