
July 26, 2018 · 0 Comments
By Mike Pickford
Put on your bobby-socks and greaser jacket, or move ahead a decade and get out that tie-dye T-shirt you’ve been dying to wear but couldn’t quite find the right occasion to dress like a rainbow.
You’ll fit in just fine during the Classic Chrome Car Show, which will take over Broadway and Mill Street on Aug. 11. The inaugural will be something of a first for the community as the downtown core has never been shut down to accommodate a car specific event before. The show will welcome all vintage vehicles, with a special focus put on rides from the 1950s and 1960s.
“This is going to be a great event for our community,” said Mayor Jeremy Williams who, along with local residents Kelly Zammit and David Murphy, is taking the lead in organizing Classic Chrome. “This is for families, this is for kids, this is for the adults who can appreciate a beautiful car. And it’s completely free.”
Cars will arrive on Broadway and will take up positions all along the main drag from First Street to Wellington Street. The car show will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Orangeville Farmer’s Market will be in full swing at the same time, so you can peruse the vehicles and find your fresh vegetables for the week at the same time.
The Orangeville Music Theatre will be on hand to showcase some of their talented performers, with two bands – Rawls Royce and The Vocalist – set to play on rotation at Mill Street and Broadway. A kids model car show will start at 11 a.m., with a mini-soapbox derby to be held in front of town hall at 1 p.m.
There will be multiple vendors on site joining in the fun. Mayor Williams said you can expect to see a lot of theme related products, such as automotive parts and services.
The day will not end, however, when the cars leave. A special drive-in movie night has been planned and will take place in the parking lot at Westside Secondary School. Cars will be allowed in from 7 p.m. with a tentative start time at 8 p.m. The organizing team was trying hard to secure the rights to screen Grease but, with two weeks to go until the big event, the feature film has not been confirmed.
Building on the past successes of the Blue’s Cruise and the Cruise on First car shows, Mayor Williams says he hopes to see Classic Chrome become an annual event in Orangeville, in the future potentially spanning multiple days. He is tentatively hoping to draw around 2,000 people to the downtown core for the event, with early indications suggesting there will be at least 250 classic cars on site.
“We’re really hoping this will be a big success. People love car shows and if we can bring another annual event to the downtown core, it would be a win-win for everyone,” Mayor Williams concluded.
– With files from Brian Lockhart