Thousands of dollars raised for homeless veterans during car show at American Legion Post 14
Published 12:10 am Sunday, March 20, 2022
Natalie Anderson/Salisbury Post — Car enthusiasts gathered at the Samuel C. Hart American Legion Post 14 for the second annual car, truck and bike show Saturday, March 19, 2022. By the end of the car show and before a performance from Tracen Hollow Band later that night, about $4,000 had been raised for homeless veterans.
Natalie Anderson/Salisbury Post — Car enthusiasts gathered at the Samuel C. Hart American Legion Post 14 for the second annual car, truck and bike show Saturday, March 19, 2022. By the end of the car show and before a performance from Tracen Hollow Band later that night, about $4,000 had been raised for homeless veterans.
Natalie Anderson/Salisbury Post — A 1970 Dodge Challenger won first place in the classic car category during the second annual car, truck and bike show at Samuel C. Hart American Legion Post 14 Saturday. All proceeds from the event will be donated to support homeless veterans.
Natalie Anderson/Salisbury Post — A 1966 Barracuda won second place in the custom car category during the second annual car, truck and bike show at Samuel C. Hart American Legion Post 14 Saturday. All proceeds from the event will be donated to support homeless veterans.
Natalie Anderson/Salisbury Post — Car enthusiasts gathered at the Samuel C. Hart American Legion Post 14 for the second annual car, truck and bike show Saturday, March 19, 2022. By the end of the car show and before a performance from Tracen Hollow Band later that night, about $4,000 had been raised for homeless veterans.
Natalie Anderson/Salisbury Post — Car enthusiasts gathered at the Samuel C. Hart American Legion Post 14 for the second annual car, truck and bike show Saturday, March 19, 2022. By the end of the car show and before a performance from Tracen Hollow Band later that night, about $4,000 had been raised for homeless veterans.
SALISBURY — Car enthusiasts revved their engines Saturday to raise thousands of dollars for homeless veterans during the second annual car, truck and bike show at Samuel C. Hart American Legion Post 14.
Nearly two dozen vintage and custom car, truck and bike owners showcased their rides, with some recognized in several contests. The event included raffles, food and drink vendors, music and a live auction. After announcing winners of each category around 3 p.m., organizers had already received at least $4,000. That’s not including final food, beer and T-shirt sales during a performance from Tracen Hollow, a Southern country rock group, Saturday night.
While organizers say they don’t yet know where the proceeds from Saturday’s event will go, last year’s event raised $5,565. Those funds were donated to the W. G. Bill Hefner Salisbury VA Medical Center for hospice care and the hospital’s general fund. Robert Honeycutt, the event organizer and a son of the American Legion, said all proceeds will help homeless veterans in some way.
“I love doing this,” Honeycutt said. “I don’t do it for recognition. I feel like I deserve to do that for our veterans. I take pride in this.”
Lisa and Ray Bolen said they stopped by around 7:30 a.m. and saw cars already lined up waiting to enter the show. Ray said he appreciated the wide variety of cars and urged others to attend events like this to support causes that help veterans.
“That’s why we can do things like this,” Lisa said. “Because of them.”
Saturday’s windy and sunny 70-degree weather made Chris Mathis’ 85-mile motorcycle drive from Wilkesboro a breezy one. Mathis said checking out the older model cars proves anyone can work on vehicles themselves.
“These old cars, you just need a screwdriver and a pair of pliers to make it run better,” Mathis said.
Ted Rary said he’s been around cars all his life as his father was a mechanic who had old cars and rode a motorcycle. Rary has taken an interest in motorcycles, working part-time at Jaybird’s Custom Cycles in Salisbury. Rary said attending car shows can help spur ideas for his own projects.
“It’s just the way I grew up,” Rary said. “And you meet some of the greatest people out here.”
Rary added that he hopes to see this event continue in future years and “outgrow the parking lot.”
Amanda Honeycutt said there were hardly any costs to throw the event together as many sponsors donated items, including Budweiser, Target, Pepsi, Lowe’s and Honeycutt Lawn Care. Amanda Honeycutt said this year’s event was smaller as last year saw about 76 entries. She believes the chance of rain could be a factor, but Saturday’s event still turned out several dozens of visitors and car owners.
A number of entries were recognized with first, second and third place awards:
• In the classic car category, first place was a 1970 Dodge Challenger; second place was a 1955 Chevy; third place was a 1965 Chevelle.
• In the custom car category, first place was a 1971 Chevelle; second place was a 1966 Barracuda; third place was a 1934 Ford.
• In the classic truck category, first place was a 1953 Chevy; second place was a 1953 International; third place was an “immaculate” Ford tractor, as described by the judges.
• In the custom truck category, first place was a 1955 International; second place was a 2011 Dodge Ram; third place was a 2016 Dodge Ram.
• In the motorcycle category, first place was a 2013 Street Glider; second place was a 2008 Suzuki; third place was a 2010 Dyna Wide Glide.
About Natalie Anderson
Natalie Anderson covers the city of Salisbury, politics and more for the Salisbury Post. She joined the staff in January 2020 after graduating from Louisiana State University, where she was editor of The Reveille newspaper. Email her at natalie.anderson@salisburypost.com or call her at 704-797-4246.
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