Cars Time Forgot gets new home at Lake Lawn Resort
Written by By Todd Mishler, video by Terry Mayer
Thursday, 03 May 2012 10:33
Video: Gary Weckesser took the Mustang for a test drive on the Lake Lawn Airport runway last month to get ready for the show.
DELAVAN — Bigger isn’t always better, although that mantra was true for the Cars Time Forgot celebration.
However, the event’s growing popularity among vintage vehicle enthusiasts of all ages, unfortunately, had made it more dangerous. That’s because increasing numbers of entries and spectators created potential problems along Delavan’s high-traffic downtown streets.
So, this year’s ninth annual show has expanded from a four-hour event on a Sunday to a three-day celebration — July 6 through July 8. And it’s moved to a much bigger venue in Lake Lawn Resort, something that organizers are hoping will make it that much better for everyone involved.
“The event’s been growing every year, with more than 200 vehicles entered last year,” said Jackie Busch, executive director of the Delavan-Delavan Lake Area Chamber of Commerce. “Cars were blocking Second Street completely and quite a few others had to be parked farther away from everything else. It was becoming a little dangerous being on a major highway with so many cars on top of each other, some with doors and hoods open, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to do that safely.”
Pete Krieger knows that some people maybe don’t like the idea of leaving the downtown area, but it was necessary to create a more comfortable environment for the thousands of visitors, and Lake Lawn offers the space to do that.
“After they reopened, we approached them about hosting the event and got a very positive response,” said Krieger, who modifies cylinder heads for nostalgic cars out of his home. “We had some problems downtown, and once you explain it to people, they better understand. It’s all about safety reasons.”
So, when the historic Lake Lawn became a possible destination, committee members jumped at the chance to call the venue home, a relationship they are hoping only will add to the allure of the activities that drew about 3,000 people last year.
“It definitely gives us more room to work with because we were just running out of space downtown,” said Bret Hart, who works at Barker Lumber and is in his first year with the organizing committee. “Being at Lake Lawn has everybody excited. It’s a beautiful venue and offers more possibilities for shade areas, and that’s good in July. But we’ve received an excellent response from car clubs so far.”
Most of the many renovation projects going on at Lake Lawn should be completed in late May or early June, which will be in plenty of time for the custom, drag and stock cars, trucks and motorcycles to roll in to culminate the week of July 4.
Drag racing legend Arnie “The Farmer” Beswick will attend July 8 to sign autographs and meet with fans.
Beswick grew up drag racing in a small farming town in Illinois and went on to extraordinary success in the sport.
He’s arguably the most well known Pontiac drag racer in the world, but his continuous series of Pontiac super stocks, funny cars and nostalgia door slammers, has made him a fan favorite from coast to coast for more than 60 years.
Among the most anticipated vehicles on display will be Gary Weckesser’s Mach IV Mustang, Mike Boisvert’s Blue Max and David Modder’s Dragon’s Fire.
Weckesser took the Mustang for a test drive on the Lake Lawn Airport runway last month to get ready for the show.
General Manager David Sekeres said that Lake Lawn is looking forward to hosting Cars Time Forgot.
“We’re definitely trying to work with all of the local chambers to get involved with some of the larger events around the area,” Sekeres said. “We have the land and the view of the lake. I don’t know a better way to showcase this event and what the city has to offer than to present it on Delavan Lake. We’re hoping to make this bigger and better than ever.”
“Because it’s a three-day deal, visitors should have more time to shop at local stores and maybe do things that they didn’t have time to do when it was just on Sunday,” Busch added. “Hopefully it allows them more time to see our downtown and visit the various shops and restaurants.”
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