Schoolhouse Rock Car Show returns to Superior

Superior residents woke up to the sound of growling engines and the smell of premium gasoline Saturday morning as the Ninth Annual Old Schoolhouse Rock Car Show kicked off.

“We’ve always tried to keep this a family event because some of these people have been coming here for the full nine years of the event,” said Gordon Hendrick.

Hendrick said that he and his wife Vicki started the car show with Jeff and Judy Carlson nine years ago and it has been packing out the Old School’s front lawn ever since.

“We had kind of a dream of doing this,” Hendrick said.

Hendrick said that they always wanted the proceeds from the event to go back into the community and they learned the hard way that this is sometimes easier said than done.

The first year they put on the car show it was sponsored by Customs Northwest, a private car club. Hendrick said that after the show, Customs Northwest took all of the proceeds and left nothing in the community.

“We said that’s enough of that crap and we dropped the car club,” Hendrick said.

Since then the car show has been a community run project. The Mineral County Community Foundation ran the event this year and they are responsible for all of the proceeds.

The show began Friday night when drivers took their cars on a fun run up to Quinn’s Hot Springs for dinner. Starting at 8 a.m. Saturday morning, nearly 80 drivers lined their cars up in front of the Old School Building and in the Old Mullan Trail Bank parking lot.

Throughout the day, viewers came through to look at the cars and vote on their favorites.

The top ten winners, starting at first place, were John Anderson from Lolo with a 1928 Ford Roadster pickup, Dale Hand from Stevensville with a 1946 Ford Super Deluxe, Glen Wainwright from Deer Park, Wash., with a 1936 Nash Lafayette, Jerry and Kristie Brenner from Frenchtown with a 1967 Ford Fairlane 500 XL, Mike and Chris Hall from Spokane, Wash., with a 1954 Ford, Kester and Ann Poole from Post Falls, Idaho with a 1962 Chevy Bel-Air, Ron and Sandy Riggs from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho with a 1958 Pink Cadillac, Craig and Jen Lindback from Colville, Wash., with a 1939 International, Jim Rairigh from Oak Harbor , Wash., with a 1922 Ford “T” pickup and Rollie Morrell from Missoula with a 1942 Ford Truck.

The Sherriff’s Pick Award went to John and Ginny Gonser from Coeur d’Alene with a 1964 Ford Mustang. The Mayor’s Choice Award went to Charles Bryant from Superior with a 1967 Chevy Corvette. The People’s Choice Award went to Mark Sickles from Missoula with a 1970 Dodge Challenger. The Promoter’s Choice Award went to Cody Goins from Superior with a 1964 El Camino. The Long Distance Award went to Rairigh who drove 502 miles to get to the show. The Hard Luck Award went to Larry McCray from Auburn Wash., with a 1955 Blue Chevy 210. 

There event also featured a poker walk, in which Ruby Ireland from Superior won with five jacks, Jen Lindback from Colville, Wash., took second with four kings and Bill and Shorty Maxson from Pinehurst Idaho took third with four queens.

The winners were honored at a dinner with a roasted pig cooked by Superior Meats in the Old School gym.

During the day Saturday, Hendrick announced door prize winners. He said that everyone that participated in the car show got a door prize.

Local band Still Kickin’ played during the event Saturday and added some classic songs to match up with the classic cars.

Across the street from the event, at the Superior Masonic Temple, there was a silent auction to raise money for Alija, the daughter of Matt Schemel and Angela Stepan. Alija has suffered from seizures and other complications since birth and her friends and family have put on several events to help raise money for the child.

Hendrick said that next year he would like to see more people from Mineral County participating in the show.

“There are some really cool old cars that people have sitting in their garages and they just don’t’ take them out for some reason,” Hendrick said.

This year did not have quite as big a turnout as last year, when more than 100 cars came to the show. Hendrick said that more than high gas prices, the threat of rainy weather kept many people away.

Sam Johnson, the president of the Hellgate Car Club, brought his 1959 Oldsmobile Super 88 to the show despite the rain, even though many of his car club members backed out of the show.  

“It’s just fun to come down here and just sit and talk with everybody and look at their cars,” Johnson said.

Johnson, who lives in Missoula, said that he has taken his car as far as Alberta, Canada for car shows but he really enjoys the Old Schoolhouse Rock Car Show.

“It’s a fun car show to be at,” Johnson said. “I’ll be back next year.”