SHINY SHOW

It didn't have the most cars, but it had the most variety since it began, said Bryan Spellman, who volunteered to register the 2019 Local Yokels' Car and Truck Show Saturday at Ripples Ice Cream Parlor and NAPA Auto Parts in Plains.

Twenty-three cars and trucks and one motorcycle registered for the show, which was free to enter and free admission. Tom Peterson, owner of Ripples, started the event four years ago for local people to show their vehicles. For the first show, Peterson was said to have gone door to door of people he knew who had old cars. Eventually, word spread and this year there were cars from St. Regis and Missoula, and Peterson again drove his brother John's 1935 Ford to the show. Tom Peterson has a 1949 Chevy that he's in the process of restoring and hopes to show at a future show.

This year's show had four more vehicles than 2019 and Spellman believes it's going to be bigger next year. Most of the entries were from Plains, but Patty Erchul of Camas Prairie showed her sleek 1966 Mustang and Russ Teeters of St. Regis displayed his bright red 1958 Chevy pickup truck.

Thompson Falls resident Jim Compton for the first time showed his VW Bug, which had a 1967 hood, a 1974 shell and an assortment of non-stock parts on it. "Nothing is stock on it," read the sign Compton put on his vehicle, which he referred to as a rat rod.

"It was definitely unique looking and one-of-a-kind," said Spellman. "To me, it looked like a toy; I wished I would have gotten a closer look at it," said Spellman, who periodically shows his 1948 Frazer at car shows.

The People's Choice winner this year was a 1966 Corvair, owned by Jerry Wade of Plains. This was Wade's first time to show it at the Ripples' show, though in the past he has displayed his 1933 Plymouth. Nearly a third of the People's Choice votes were for the Corvair.

As a reward, the People's Choice winner's vehicle is featured on the cover of the following year's Local Yokels' Car and Truck Show picture book that Spellman puts together each year. Last year's winner was Plains resident Wally Logan's '41 Chevy pickup. This year was the first time that Peterson added a $100 cash prize to the winner. Napa donated around 50 items as door prizes for those who brought vehicles to the show.

"I was pleased with how it went," said Peterson, who plans to have the show again next year around the same time. "I was very impressed with the cars," he said.

Because there was no admission fee, there was no way to keep track of attendance, but Spellman guessed there were more than 100 people coming and going throughout the day. "I think this was better than the ones we've had in the past," said Spellman, a self-proclaimed car show junkie that goes to about 10 shows a year.

Ken Saner of Plains had the most vehicles at the show and the oldest with his 1926 Ford roadster. He also had the only cycle at the show, a 1978 Yamaha chopper.

This was the first time shower for Plains resident Dr. Don Damschen, who had two vehicles there, including the newest at the show, a 1979 Midget MG. He also showed his 1952 Ford F-1 pickup, which he bought for $50 when he was 14 years old, before he even had a driver's license. He blew a rod in Dixon in 1997 and for a while it sat idle. It took him three and a half years to totally rebuild the truck, doing all the work himself, accept a new paint job.