Old, new and everything in between will be on shiny display at Saturday’s 21st annual Rotary Wheels Car Show at Rotary Park.
Hundreds of proud vehicle owners from B.C., Alberta and Washington State will showing off their babies from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with plenty of entertainment thrown in for good measure.
Vehicles are expected to start arriving at the park about 7 a.m.
This year’s show is dedicated to the man who was driving force behind Rotary’s involvement in the show in the first place.
An avid car buff himself, Penticton dentist Dr. Eric Ruby, 64, died in March after being struck by a car while cycling in Mexico and organizers felt it would be fitting to honour him in this way.
“He was a great person, really high energy, big huge infectious smile and laugh. You could always tell when Eric was at the meeting because you could hear his laugh reverberating throughout the room,” said club member and car show chairperson Colleen Lister. “This will be a celebration of his life, we had that memorial meeting before just for him where we all spoke about what he meant to us. So this is just another way of recognizing all he did for the club and it’s our way of saying thank you.”
Lister, like many others who knew Ruby, remembered him as a generous, unselfish individual.
“He was the first to put his hand in his pocket personally, besides what the club would do when someone would come and ask for something,” she said. “He was just that type of very nice, thoughtful person.
As well, there will be a new memorial trophy given out this year in his honour, the winner chosen by his wife Linda who will be exhibiting her husband’s car.
Linda will also be choosing one of the winning vehicle entries whose owner will receive the first ever Dr. Eric Ruby Memorial trophy. (Read more on Eric Ruby here)
Awards will also go to the best in eight of the designated vehicle classes as selected by the car owners.
There will also be a Peoples’ Choice award voted on by the public. Last year’s winner was Glenn Scott’s 1946 Chrysler Town & Country of Kelowna.
Another special award is the Ken Paton Memorial trophy for the most deserving vehicle. This is in memory of the late Ken Paton, a very good friend of the show — in whose honour a special bench was constructed and is now located in Rotary Park.
The trophies handed out are actually framed photo scenes from days past prepared by Brian Wilson of Okanagan Archive.
Featured entertainment includes well-known local musicians Cliff Brownlee and Brian Russell performing from noon until 1 p.m., Kyle Anderson from 1 to 3 p.m. and Penticton’s Gail Riddall will sing a few of her favourite songs as well. DJ, Frank Lyons, will keep the tunes coming throughout the day The car show serves as a fundraiser for the Rotary Club of Penticton-Okanagan’s local projects and its sponsorship of an award for a deserving student in the Okanagan College’s automotive program.