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The Overton Park, just off of the downtown district, was jam-packed with colorful people and their amazing automobiles on Saturday. It was a welcome sight that hadnt been seen for quite some time.

The Moapa Valley Car Show has been going on consecutively for 20 years now. It is put on each year by the Moapa Valley Chamber of Commerce with the stated purpose of bringing visitors and business to our sleepy little downtown area. Unfortunately, the past several years have been somewhat bleak on that score. A shortage of volunteer involvement and a lack of adequate marketing have resulted in a trend of diminishing attendance at the event. The people and cars just havent come. By last year, the event seemed to be barely holding on to life with less than 20 cars exhibited. Many folks in town feared that it might be the last we would see of a car show that, in years past had brought as many as 140-some-odd vehicle entries.

But this year the Moapa Valley Car show received a shot of new life! Vanette Christensen, owner of Xtreme Stitch in Overton, was elected President of the Chamber of Commerce with a commitment to do all she could to bring this Car Show back to its former glory. On Saturday, after a year of hard work, she made good on that commitment.

It was no small feat. A successful Car Show isnt just thrown together on a couple weeks notice. It is a unique event aimed at true aficionadoes who deeply appreciate the real thing,but can detect a lackluster half-way effort immediately when they see it. To put on a successful show requires a fellow aficionado who understands the Car Show subculture; what these guys like, where they are and what they expect.

For that, Vanette didnt have to go far. She tapped her husband Gary Christensen to help. Gary started making contacts early in the year. He put out a search for all the movers and shakers in the Car Show crowd throughout the region. Then he spent the past few months going to where these foks gather and speaking to them in their language. Every weekend has found Gary at a different Car Show in the southwestern U.S., handing out flyers, talking to car club leaders and promoting the Overton show everywhere he went. It took countless hours of pounding the pavement. But it paid off.

Vanette also had the help of local couple Lois and Cal Hall, owners of Cals Auto Repair. Lois also serves on the Chamber Board and was fully engaged this year in helping to organize the show.

But to pull off the show and make it a success, the two couples needed help. They found it in a diligent group of Chamber members and others who showed up on event day to help manage all of the details. The sum of all of these efforts yielded a great triumph for the show.

On Saturday, the Car Show achieved most of Vanettes lofty goals. There were about a hundred entries on the grass of the park. And the crowds came from all over to see them. Downtown Overton was bustling and local businesses were busy. It was just like the good ol days.

All of these efforts were successful in bringing the Car Show back to life. And with it came a solid day of commerce for downtown Overton. Customers left their homes and came downtown; including both local folks and visitors from further away. Generating that kind of commerce for local businesses is one of the most important functions of a successful Chamber. And it was gratifying to see that function fulfilled.

Kudos go especially to the Christensens. Their vision, leadership, passion, tenacity and unrelenting legwork have saved the Moapa Valley Car Show for another year from passing into memory.

Of course, the small army of Chamber member volunteers are also worthy of praise. Without their involvement, it would not have been successful. When community events seem to flounder or fail, it is always easy for folks to cluck their tongues, point fingers and assign blame to others for what should have been done better. But there was none of that with these folks. With an eye forward, these volunteers responded to the call to help and were instrumental in turning things around.

Now there is already talk of expanding the Car Show next year. Vanette has a vision of a two-day event that would bring cars for multiple activities highlighting various parts of town. She hopes that someday soon the event might even burst the seams of the Overton Park and move to the Logandale Fairgrounds.

No doubt, she has the momentum, the vision and the drive to see it done. If she can just continue to get the support from the community and its volunteers, amazing things could happen. We look forward to a growing, thriving car show event for years to come. Long live the Moapa Valley Car Show!

Read the original:
EDITORIAL: Vision and involvement revives Car Show - mvprogress

This entry was posted on October 25, 2019 at 3:44 am and is filed under Eye Sight & Vision. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |