FRIDAY SHOW – If Balloons-n-Varooms organizer Gary Woods can make it work, the bike path in Hartwell Park will be lined with classic and unique cars on the first evening event. The sixth annual Balloons-n-Varooms is scheduled for May 8-10. (Photo by Gus Jarvis)
Woods told council last week that he would like to add a car show at Hartwell Park to coincide with the barbecue, live music and balloon glow already planned for Friday evening. He said he hopes the added car show will bring more people into the Ridgway business district.
“In the past, we have had a reception with live music in the park and people come out for the free concert,” Woods said. “Weather permitting, we do a balloon glow. What I wanted to do this year to attract more people into it is to do a car show on Friday evening from four o’clock to nine o’clock.”
He added that with the balloon glow, the location for a car show is “a tremendous show place for something like this…they need a special place to show them off.”
Woods initially asked council to consider using the entire grassed field next to the community center for the car show, which he says will attract anywhere from 25 to 50 cars. It became the consensus of the council that with the rolling contours of the field and its lower situation than other portions of the field, it would too risky to hold cars.
“I am not in favor of this,” Mayor Pro Tem John Clark said. “I have to say I have always felt that it is a slope onto that lower section and maneuvering that is going to be tricky. I don’t think that field is an appropriate place to put cars and I don’t think it ever will be.”
“I think you are hearing a concern from council that they don’t want to see it all down in the bottom part of the field,” Mayor Pat Willits said. “If you wanted a decision tonight, council is not going to allow it at the bottom of the field.”
It was then suggested that the car show may work if the cars were parked diagonally along the bike path. In that case, the cars would drive down the path and then park on the grass with minimal turning maneuvers on the grass. Town council agreed that this would be the best solution as long as the grass wasn’t wet from previous rain, and Woods would be required to fix any damages that occur from the cars.
“If that is what we can be counting on,” Woods told council, “I will go and see if [the bike path] will work.”
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