South County residents enjoyed a day of classic cars, barbecue
and the musical stylings of
”
The Usual Suspects
”
at the third annual
”
Happy Days
”
car show fundraiser in San Martin Saturday.
Gilroy – South County residents enjoyed a day of classic cars, barbecue and the musical stylings of “The Usual Suspects” at the third annual “Happy Days” car show fundraiser in San Martin Saturday.
More than 700 people visited San Martin Country Park Saturday and Sylvia Hamilton, president of the San Martin Neighborhood Alliance, roughly estimated that the effort earned $6,000 for the San Martin incorporation fund.
“Everyone who attended was wonderful,” Hamilton said. “We’ve done this for three years and people always have a good time.”
The event went off without a snag despite a last minute cancellation by one of the food vendors, according to Connie Ludewig, a board member of the SMNA and one of the event’s planners.
Morgan Hill’s LaChoza Taqueria canceled Friday evening, leaving Ludewig without much time to find a replacement.
Ludewig phoned Burt Weatherford, owner of Chilgetti’s Filling Station Bar-B-Q of Morgan Hill, at 9pm Friday and he offered to pick up the slack and cook twice as much food at the show the next day.
“He stepped up to the plate,” Hamilton said. “His wife went to Costco in the morning to get extra food. Had he known ahead of time, he could have had a larger tent and more lines.”
Visitors didn’t mind the wait as they chose from barbecue chicken and tri-tip sandwiches or cups of barbecued ribs at Chilgetti’s, and frozen treats sold from an ice cream truck for dessert.
With food in hand, many visitors watched the band “The Usual Suspects” and waited for raffle winner announcements between sets. SMNA volunteers collected 54 raffle items and one silent auction item, worth more than $10,000.
Raffle winners collected their prizes throughout the day, ranging from golf packages for two at Eagle Ridge in Gilroy to a Hot Wheels race set from Toys ‘R’ Us.
The silent auction prize, Corde Valle golf for four with golf carts, a $1,000 value, went to Barry and Cheryl Bentley, of Morgan Hill, for $325.
Visitors flocked to the park as much for the raffle as for the classic cars, wandering through the more than 80 roadsters parked on the grass.
Tony Pacheco, of Gilroy, and his friends gathered in a shady corner, talking to visitors about their cars. Pacheco, a member of South Valley Street Rods, stood near his cherry red 1963 corvette.
“It’s fun to meet new people and socialize with people who have the same interests,” Pacheco said, who set up his car near Steve and Kathy Pedone, of Sunnyvale, and Joyce Bimbi.
Bimbi showed off her canary yellow Buick Skylark while the Pedones’ showed off an unrestored, original 1948 Chrysler Traveler.
Steve’s father handed the car down to him in such good condition, the Pedones’ are still able to show off the car more than 50 years later.
The brown Traveler is the ultimate Big Wave surf rider car, complete with a luggage rack on top that sported a worn-out surf board Saturday, though there were no waves in sight in San Martin.
Other owners of ’50s classic cars had their beauties accessorized for the drive-in complete with a tray of plastic burgers, fries and shakes.
Ronnie and Mary Zarate, of Hollister, purchased their red and white ’50s throwback two years ago.
“I sold a 2001 truck to fix this up,” Ronnie said of the car the couple calls “Marilyn,” as an ode to classic Hollywood.
They had the bumpers rechromed, the inside reupholstered and the outside restored to the original colors. The Zarates hit all the car shows in the Bay Area as a way to spend time together.
“We like (San Martin),” said Ronnie. “It’s nice to sit under trees in the fresh air and see all the cars. And we like the raffle.”
