Little Big Show

WILSON CREEK — Sometimes, a car owner just can’t help himself.

“Originally I bought it because I needed a commuter,” said Ricky Gutierrez, who was showing his 2019 Subaru at the Little Big Show in Wilson Creek on Saturday morning. “I work for the county, and I drive everywhere, so I needed something better on gas mileage.”

That didn’t last long, he said.

“I grew up modifying cars, so I was like, I’ll add wheels, and then suspension,” Gutierrez said. “And then I (thought) it wasn’t fast enough, so I made more horsepower out of it, and kind of decided to do it into a show car. Full air ride, suspension, the carbon fiber hood, the trunk, the seats inside, and just the little details that add up a lot.”

He still drives it for his commute, Gutierrez added.

There were 107 entries in this year’s Little Big Show, organizer Nicholas Odorizzi said, not as many as last year but still about average. The closed-off street was lined with cars, and 32 vendors were set up in the town park. ABATE grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, and Steamboat Rock Cafe from Coulee City served tacos.

Dave Shafer of Soap Lake brought what was probably the oldest car, a 1917 Dodge Roadster that still had its original 108-year-old license plate. How much of it was actually from 1917 was a matter of opinion, however. The car had belonged to a firefighter on the west side, he said, who had used a fire helmet for the air intake, fire hydrant wrenches for the headlight stanchions and flames on the sides.

“(The engine) is from a ’64 dodge pickup,” Shafer said. “It’s a 318 wide block. I was doing 70 coming out here this morning.”

The drive was a chilly one, he added, because the car had no top, just a small vertical windshield.

The third annual Wilson Creek Bluegrass Jam was the same weekend, and there were a few people jamming in the corner of the park at about 10:30 a.m.

“Yesterday we had a jam with about 20 people in it,” said guitar player Jack Eldridge, who had come over from East Wenatchee. “It’ll be more in the afternoon. Lots of them are still waking up and having breakfast.”

A block away from the show, Michael Borella had a huge toy car track set up at the building that used to house the Wilson Creek Grange and was giving away toy cars to the children who came by to play with it. Borella bought the building in April and isn’t yet sure what he’s going to do with it, but was thinking of some sort of community use.

“I think it’s just a delightful town,” he said. “I have just been so happy. All I’ve been doing is cleaning, and I smile the whole time I’m cleaning, and that doesn’t happen very often.

    Visitors walk the streets of Wilson Creek Saturday at the Little Big Show, the town’s biggest annual event.
  

    Ricky Gutierrez stands beside his 2019 Subaru at the Little Big Show car show in Wilson Creek.
  

    From left: Darvin Gerdes of Wenatchee, Jack Eldridge of East Wenatchee and George Richardson of Arlington play a little impromptu music at the Wilson Creek Bluegrass Jam Saturday morning.
  

    Michael Borella stands outside the former Wilson Creek Grange building, which he bought in April. He was giving away toy cars to children at the Little Big Show Saturday.