Like many things, the Barrhead Chariots Car Club annual Show and Shine started out modestly.
Four years ago a small group of Barrhead area men got together to form what is now known as the Barrhead Chariots Car Club. However, little did they know the group would grow and end up putting on one of the town’s largest events of the summer.
On Saturday, Sept. 12, the car club will be hosting its fourth annual Show and Shine in the Barrhead Agrena parking lot.
Charles Clow, Barrhead Chariots Car Club president, said all the group knew when they first got together is that they didn’t want it to be an ordinary car club.
“There were four of us and although we were, and are, car aficionados we are also Christians,” he said, adding the group is always looking for ways to bring Christ into the club. “We just want to let people know that we don’t do all of this by ourselves, God helps us.”
Of course being a car club, the founders decided that they needed to host a show and shine.”
“We didn’t give ourselves a lot of time,” Clow said. “Our first meeting was in May or June and six weeks later we put on our first show and shine.”
That was four years ago. Presently the Barrhead Chariots boast a membership of about 30 people and have also added another car show to their roster.
In addition to the annual September Show and Shine the club also now organizes an antique car rally in May.
Orville Craft, Barrhead Chariots club member and show and shine sponsorship director, said this year the club was asked to organize the annual Antique Car Run from Fort Assiniboine to Barrhead.
“The group at the Barrhead and Fort Assiniboine museums asked us if we would be willing to take over the event because they didn’t have enough volunteers,” he said, adding it was something the car club was happy to do.
For the Antique Car Run in May, the entrees are limited to vehicles that are 25 years or older.
“I think a lot of people think antique means something really old, but for a vehicle it means it just has to be at least 25 years-old,” he said, giving the example of his 1988 Jaguar Vanden Plaus. “It’s really an interesting car. It’s a 12-cylinder car and one of the last models to actually be manufactured in Britain.”
In 1990 the company was taken over by Ford and besides changing some of it’s manufacturing practices, it also moved most of its manufacturing to North America.
“My particular vehicle, they started building in 1972 and kept building in right though 1992 without changing the exterior of the vehicle,” Craft said. “So when you look at my car you can’t tell if it was built in ’72, ’82 or ’92.”
Although most members of the Barrhead Chariots have some sort of antique automobile, the club and the summer Show and Shine isn’t limited to vintage automobiles.
“Everybody has their own favourite cars, that is why we decided early on not to limit the kind of cars in our Show and Shine,” he said, adding during the Show and Shine people can expect a large variety of vehicles from modern to antique and from motorcycles, cars and trucks.
One of the unique things about the event is the souvenir T-shirt. Every year, except the inaugural year, entries into the Show and Shine receive a commemorative T-shirt.
“What’s different about this T-shirt is that we put the picture of the people’s choice award on the front of next year’s shirt,” Craft said, adding that souvenir is a very popular keepsake.
When asked how many entries the car club expects, both Craft and Clow were hesititant.
“I think last year we had something in the high eighties or low nineties, but it would be really great if we were able to top the 100 mark,” Clow said. “If it is a bright and sunny day, we will have a lot of cars, but if it’s cold and rainy, who knows. Car people often don’t like to have their car displayed in the rain.”
Admission to the show and shine is free, however, it costs $20 to enter a vehicle in the show. Included in the registration fee is the Barrhead Chariot Car Club’s famous commemorative T-shirt. Registration and the swap meet start at 9 a.m. and goes to noon. Judging starts shortly after noon and prizes are awarded at 2:30 p.m. The Barrhead Chariots Car Club is always accepting new members. Membership is $20 a year and the club meets on the first Monday of every month. For more information about the club or the Show and Shine contact Charles Clow at 780-284-0808.
