PDF Maker - Burning Up The Beaches

17 FOREVER… I keep
getting questions or
assumptions about the name
By: Terry Mason Barfield
17 FOREVER, so let me go
back and explain the name one more time for the new readers. It’s
from the movie American Graffiti, in the first five minutes of the
movie Ron Howard’s character and the Richard Dreyfuss’
character are arguing about going to college. About that time the
star of the movie makes its first appearance, the yellow 32 Ford
Hot Rod. Ron Howard says “don’t be like Johnny… you can’t stay
17 FOREVER!
Oh but you can stay 17 FOREVER. That’s where the name
came from and staying 17 FOREVER is what this column is all
about!
Road trip time! Time for the 2nd Annual Burning Up the
Beaches Car Show in Ft. Walton Beach, FL. I have been looking
forward to this adventure and planning for this show for a couple
of months now. I scheduled vacation
days to get off that Thursday and
Friday for a good long 4 day weekend.
We got the Hot Rod Hotel loaded
up on Wednesday night and Thursday
morning we were ready to hit the road
for an adventure. It rained on us off
and on, on the way down, but nothing
too hard.
We arrived at the Boardwalk in Ft
Walton Beach about 3:30pm and sat up
the Hot Rod Hotel for the weekend.
The car show was in a happening
location at the beach in front of some
very popular night clubs on the
Boardwalk.
The Burning Up the Beaches Car Show is not a large show, but
a quality show. There was lot of value for the money. Registration
was $70.00 for both showing and cruising or $50.00 for just one.
About 100 cars were there. Plus every bit of the profit went to a
local charity, Horizons. Horizons put on the show, they are a local
ARC agency that helps intellectually challenged persons with
Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy and Autism. Last years show
paid for a group home to be completely remodeled.
Now the quality of the show… registration cost VS what you
get! There were only about 100 cars registered so your odds were
good on everything, you got a dash plaque, a nice event T-shirt, a
goody bag and at least (1) $5,000 draw down ticket. You got a
dinner and a show Friday night and a dinner and a show Saturday
night. Saturday night the $5,000.00 drawdown was run by
computer software, which built drama and excitement. Plus many
numbers that were eliminated from the drawdown came with nice
parting gifts. I got a $25 gift certificate from the local mall.
The 50/50 pot from Saturday was $652 dollars; the winner got
$326 dollars. Guess who won the Saturday jackpot, no not me…
my brother. Then in the $5,000.00 drawdown he was still alive
with a ticket with 15 people left. I told him I would kill him if he
won that money also. The Top 10 were in the money. Winner got
$1,500.00, there were also $500.00 winners,
$250.00 winners and $100.00 winners. My
brother got knocked out at number 13, no more
money for him… so I let him live.
The entertainment Friday and Saturday night was awesome.
Friday night at Howling at the Moon we saw the Dueling Pianos
Show. It’s plays there every week, an incredible show that
features good music and a cast of good musicians. Saturday night
it was the Emerald Coast Blues Brothers at the Swamp, another
weekly show. Both dinners and shows were included with your
registration ticket. If you’re ever down in Ft Walton Beach or
Destin, check out those shows, especially the Dueling Pianos.
Friday and Saturday there was cruising. You cruised to various
checkpoints to get your cards stamped, if you hit all the stops, you
received an extra $5,000.00 drawdown ticket. You also earned an
extra drawdown ticket for getting your registration in by the early
bird deadline. So you could earn a possible 3 $5,000.00
drawdown tickets. All in all, the best value for any car show I’ve
ever been to. Just the dinners and shows covered the cost of your
registration.
Friday at the car show, a live DJ provided music. Saturday’s
Show and Shine a good band by the
crazy name of A Flock of Sea
Monkeys performed live.
Plus a
bunch of some of the nicest trophies
I’ve ever seen, they had flames and a
40’s style Hot Rod on top, cool. The
show also provided security for the
show cars Friday and Saturday night if
you wanted to stay in your spot.
Now the featured cars at the show...
I always like to feature at least a
couple of cars from each show and it’s
always tough to pick ‘em out.
The first vehicle caught my
attention with the name on the side…
HIS and HEARSE. A 1938 ¾ ton
Chevrolet Delivery Sedan owned by Roy Kelly from Ft Walton
Beach, FL. You don’t see many of them because the military got
most of them for ambulances and hearse’s. Roy found this one in
Montana; he said it was a hippy truck complete with shag carpet.
But after a frame up restoration, it is one sweet ride!
Roy Kelly of Ft. Walton Beach, FL and his 38 Chevy Delivery Special
The next car featured I owned as a teenager… but not one that
looked like this one, a 1967 Chevrolet Camero R/S S/S with a 454
big block owned by Dale Tropeano of Santa Rosa Beach, FL.
Remember me talking about the steals that went on at the car
auction at the Emerald Coast Cruizin in Panama City Beach, FL
back in November? Well Dale got his dream ride during that
auction and the smile on his face told me he stole it.
Dale Tropeano of Santa Rosa Beach, FL and his 1967 Chevy Camero
Here are some of the photos from Burning Up the Beaches Car
Show in Ft. Walton Beach, FL…
Every thing went pretty well for the 4-day weekend until I
started to load up the T-Bucket. I have wall cabinets on both sides
of the garage part of the Hot Rod Hotel. Clearance has never been
an issue before, because the cabinets were always closed! I was in
a hurry to get loaded up and get on the road for home and I left the
cabinet door open where I keep my tie down straps, (the door
hinges up and down) it caught the cloth top on the bucket and cut
the top in about four places and slightly bent the support rod.
Stupid is as stupid does… thank god Hagerty Collector Car
Insurance has a policy for stupid and after one call, they are taking
care my stupid mistake. I still have to do all the running around for
estimates and the hassle of it all, but isn’t that how we learn our
best lessons?
We got home Sunday night, got everything unloaded and
unpacked. It was about 11pm when I finally sat down and took a
deep breath and got a second to think back over the weekend. That
was one action packed 3 day show, a large part of any show is the
people and that show get’s a 10 on my list!
I’m living the dream and you can too. Get that ole Hot Rod out
of the garage, put on your jeans and t-shirt, crank up the oldies,
head on down the highway and enjoy that 17 FOREVER Hot Rod
state of mind!
Til next month…
Terry
[email protected]
Facebook: Terry Mason Barfield