Over 200 cars packed the Centennial Centre parking lot at the fifth annual Gear Grabbers Show and Shine on Saturday afternoon.
The event featured a variety of old cars and bikes from across the province, food and parts vendors, kids activities and a barbeque.
“I think this is the biggest show in the region, for sure,” said Dennis Germain, who is part of the organizing committee.
“We are in Alberta so we really only have 12 weekends to have a car show. We will always have competitors, but I don't think there is anything else like this in northern Alberta.”
A steady flow of people wandered their way through the parking lot hours before the event officially began. The show was supposed to kick off at 11 a.m. but that didn't stop eager people from taking a look at the cars as they arrived from 8 a.m. on.
The crowd never let up as the event saw a steady flow of people from the early morning hours right up until it shut down at 3:30 p.m.
“We are very happy. It is the result of a lot of hard work and promotion,” said Germain.
“A lot of the guys did a good job getting the word out,” said Steve Wojcik, who is also a part of the organizing committee. “We attended other (car) shows and were spreading the word.”
The hard work and promotion for the event really paid off for the local group as they managed to bring in over 200 cars from across Alberta; a number that smashed their 2014 show, which featured around 120 cars.
“I think it is just gaining a reputation,” said Germain. “This is the fifth year we have put it on. People have had a good experience in the past and are coming back.”
A lot more venders attended the local event, including the specialized auto-parts dealer SO-CAL, a vender Gear Grabbers had been trying to get to come for the past four years. This year no convincing was needed, as SO-CAL called them and asked to attend the event.
“It's kind of a sign that we've arrived,” said Germain.
Along with SO-CAL, the Garage Shot magazine and several other venders were set up in the parking lot and inside the field house.
This year's show was the first time the event decided to display cars inside the Centennial Centre, with 19 cars on display in the field house.
“The plan every year has been to get bigger and better than the year before. That has been the goal since day one,” said Germain.
“We would like to eventually make it a two-day event, but we wanted to get good at the one day event first. I think we're there.”
According to Germain, the Town of Bonnyville, MD of Bonnyville and Centennial Centre were all very supportive of the event and helped it get to the size it was. Next year the group is planning on trying to top this past show and keep improving.
“Who knows, it would be nice to eventually see this show shut down main street one day,” said Wojcik.
