Ephrata Eagles Car Show small but star-studded
Joel Martin/Columbia Basin Herald This 1943 Ford Jeep, owned by Fred Lindsay of Moses Lake, is mostly original right down to the shovel bolted below the driver’s side door.
Joel Martin/Columbia Basin Herald Attendees check out the cars at the Ephrata Eagles Car Show Saturday.
Joel Martin/Columbia Basin Herald Teddy goes for a ride in the rumble seat of Buzz and Deb Crawford’s 1928 Ford Sport Coupe.
EPHRATA — It wasn’t the biggest car show of the season, not by a long shot. But there was no shortage of enthusiasm at the 13th annual Ephrata Eagles car show Saturday.
All in all, 20 cars were entered, according to Deb Crawford, who coordinated the event for the Ephrata Eagles Lodge. Past events have had longer rosters – 40 or more – but several other classic car events this summer drew participants away, Crawford added.
But the cars that were there included some magnificent specimens. Like the 1966 Ford Mustang drop-top that Woody Jacobson entered. Jacobson is either the first or the second owner, he said, depending on how you count it. Originally, he said, it was purchased by a minister who immediately gave it to his son. You can still see a hint of the time, he said, when the young man parked it outside his father’s church and it rolled downhill into a telephone pole. Eventually the realities of family life forced the owner to part with it in 1986, and Jacobson acquired it. “I was supposed to do something with it when I retired,” Jacobson said, but that happened 11 years ago and it’s still a restoration in progress.
Something you don’t see every day is the 1943 Ford jeep (no, “jeep” wasn’t a trademark then) entered by Fred Lindsay of Moses Lake. The World War II-vintage vehicle was mostly original, including a shovel bolted to the side, a jerry can on the back and a folder of lubrication scheduled fastened to the underside of the hood. The car belonged to Lindsay’s father, who died in 1994.
More recent — and with a more poignant story — was the 1998 Harley Davidson painted in shades of pink with memorial ribbons in the design. The bike was the creation of Kurt Devine of Moses Lake and his three daughters, who created the two-wheeled artwork in honor of Devine’s wife Sandy, who passed away from breast cancer. It took about a year, Devine said.
Crawford and her husband Buzz entered their 1928 Ford Sport Coupe, complete with a large stuffed bear named (what else?) Teddy seated happily in the rumble seat. The Crawfords had acquired the car at a museum auction in Arizona and Buzz spent eight to 10 hours a day for five months overhauling it, she said. Deb herself restored the interior and the roof. Teddy merely came along for the ride.
The small turnout meant a lot of prizes to go around, Crawford said. In addition to the trophies and door prizes, she said, there were 38 gift envelopes donated by local businesses. In the end, each entrant received at least two prizes, she said, and some three. In addition, each exhibitor was treated to a free lunch, T-shirt, dash plaque and goody bag. “A lot more than the $20 entry fee,” she said.
A list of winners was not available at press time.