HURRICANE – For the 31st year in a row, the Hurricane Rotary Club will host its annual Easter Car Show at the Hurricane Community Center on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Rotary Club Member, Southern Utah State Bank Hurricane branch manager and Hurricane City Councilman Darin Larson said the event is one of the earliest car shows of the year in Utah, which he believes is a reason the show draws so many repeat attendees, some of whom even plan vacations around it. Larson said 80 percent of the car show’s entrants have been in the show before.
Hurricane Rotary Club past president John West, who operates the Hurricane office of American National Insurance office as well as The Car Barn, said the Hurricane Rotary Easter Car Show is known for giving away the most trophies — 150 last year.
“Every year it gets a little bit bigger and better,” West said.
In addition to cars on display, the event includes food and vendor booths, bounce houses, giveaways from local businesses throughout the event and a “Miracle Minute,” when rotary members run through the crowd with buckets in hand collecting cash from attendees for a worthy cause. This year donations will go to an orphanage in Peru, West said.
There are 56 different classifications of cars and trucks entering the show, including stock and custom for every decade starting with the 1920s. Corvettes, Mustangs, Thunderbirds, Camaros and muscle cars have their own classifications. Approximately 300 cars from Utah, California, Nevada, Arizona, Wyoming, Idaho, Colorado and New Mexico will be on display during the show, which is estimated to attract approximately 10,000 attendees.
West said putting on the show is a big commitment for the local Rotarians, a club with only about 20 members.
Larson said that none of the members are real car enthusiasts but that they “know how to put on a good show.”
The car show, the second largest annual event in Hurricane, formerly took place at the Hurricane High School football field, and West said the club was a little nervous about moving it to the Community Center. However, he said that it is a great facility with more visibility and easy access to electricity and water, amenities that have been set up to accommodate Peach Days, the community’s biggest annual event. West said that Hurricane Recreation Director Bryce King and his staff have done a great job assisting in the event.
The majority of the money raised from the car show, which is the Hurricane Rotary Club’s primary fundraiser, goes back to the community. West said that last year, the club donated a few thousand dollars for a little league scoreboard, and a few years ago, a portion of the proceeds went toward improvements at Grandpa’s Pond.
Additionally, every year, the Hurricane Rotary Club sends Hurricane High School sophomores to the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards leadership conference and sponsors the high school’s Interact Club, the largest one of its kind in the state of Utah. The Rotary Club also donates to the school each year for college scholarships.
On a younger level, the Rotary Club gives dictionaries to every 3rd grader in the county every year, West said. The club also sponsors a nondenominational Boy Scout group and donates to local causes such as Future Farmers of America and Habitat for Humanity.
The Rotary Club also undertakes service internationally. Last year, three families from Hurricane’s Rotary Club went to Mexico, helping build 30 homes and donating $3,000 to an orphanage in Puerto Panasco.
Larson’s family was one of these who went to Puerto Panasco, and he said it was a great experience for his children, giving them a sense of how good they have it.
Rotary International’s latest project has been to eradicate polio worldwide, and next it will turn to bringing potable drinking water to less-developed countries.
Event details
- What: Hurricane Rotary Club Easter Car Show
- When: Saturday, March 26, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. | All cars on display will rev their engines in unison at 10 a.m. | Awards ceremony at 4 p.m.
- Where: Hurricane Community Center,100 West 100 South, Hurricane
- Cost: $5 for admission; children under $6 get in free
- For more information, go to the Hurricane Rotary Club car show website
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