Dreamy day: Cool vehicles draw large crowd to Ashland's annual downtown car show

ASHLAND – December may have seemed a long way off on Saturday, but the 12th annual Ashland Downtown Dream Cruise and Car Show was already making Christmas dreams come true for area children.

All proceeds from the annual event support Shop With a Cop.

Last December, about 200 children benefited from Shop with a Cop, Officer Adam Wolbert said on Saturday, "with the potential for more than 200 this coming year."

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Sandra Tunnell, executive director of Ashland Main Street, said the car show has earned $120,000 for Shop with a Cop over 11 years.

"We are just thrilled with how generous everybody is," she said.

Registration is by donation; this year, 550 vehicles signed up.

Generally, about 1/3 of the participants are from Ashland, 1/3 from around Ashland County and 1/3 from beyond the area, she said. "They just love being downtown."

Ashland car show draws large crowd under blue skies

The show is potentially one of the largest in its history, according to Ashland Mayor Matt Miller.

"For the first time we filled up Main Street, part of Claremont, and for the first time ever all of Second Street," Miller said.

"No other summertime event in the city of Ashland draws more people to our downtown than the car show," he added. "For some reason, God provides blue sky and comfortable temperatures for the annual event."

It was a dream come true for 12-year old Hunter Heffelfinger, who, in his second show, won a plaque — the VFW Post 1067 Sponsor Choice award — for a 2009 Chevy Corvette.

Hunter said he begged his grandfather, Fred Heffelfinger of Loudonville, who died just over a year ago, to put the car in a show.

"Grandpa always had cars like this," said the boy. "Grandma (Sandy Heffelfinger) says I get (the Chevy) when I'm 18."

His uncle, Tim Chandler, who was raising money with a raffle for the 50th anniversary of the Ashland High School Class of 1976, was Hunter's chauffeur for the car show.

Chandler believes his nephew is the youngest participant in the show.

"We were in Loudonville last week," said Chandler, who was also concerned with raising sufficient funds so that no one in Ashland High School's bicentennial class "has to pay a cent" to celebrate their milestone anniversary.

Sharon Berry of Ashland showed off her "Mayberry squad car," a 1962 Ford Galaxie 500 "similar to the one on the (television) show."

It was chestnut brown when she bought it, and early in her ownership of the vehicle someone told her, "That looks like Andy's car."

"Nowhere on it does it say sheriff," she said, noting other than that it is all decked out as a replica.

"We've sure had a lot of fun with it over the years," Berry said, and it has generated "so many smiles."

'I like Pontiacs'

Kerry Rich of Perrysville brought his dad Joe Rich's license plate collection — a pair of Ohio license plates representing every year from a 1906 Cleveland plate through 2022.

"My father collected them, and when he passed away, I put on a display board what he had in a garage."

Rich also showed his car, a 1995 F-250, with 16,000 original miles.

Dale Smithhisler, a collector of pumps and hay equipment, displayed a 1949 GMC Model 250 one-ton truck.

Smithhisler said he has 2,000 pieces of F.E. Myers equipment and held a show related to his collection four years ago at Freer House.

Jack Anderson of Loudonville grew up in Ashland and is part of a car club with 14 members from Hayesville, Loudonville and Perrysville.

Seven of them came downtown Saturday. Anderson drove his 1969 Pontiac GTO.

"I've had Pontiacs all my life," he said. "I like Pontiacs."

He enjoyed seeing the other cars as well.

"I've been around here twice already," Anderson said, having traversed Union Street to his spot on Main Street and all of the side streets. "The county parking lot was full."

Adding to the proceeds for Shop With a Cop was the 50-50 raffle.

"We do it every year," said Tom McGee, calculating he had sold tickets to as many as 200 people by 12:30 p.m.

Beef sticks, beverages and more at Ashland car show

Connie Tucker, owner of Tuckers Kutters and More, purveyor of cookie cutters, candy-making and other baking supplies on Main Street, offered a spot outside her shop for Jaxxon's Lemonade, which was earning money to give to the Ashland County Animal Shelter.

Izzy Bauman, a member of Boy Scouts of America Troop 507, sponsored by the VFW, was selling beef sticks and beverages along Main Street to benefit her club.

Ashland High School students Timora Barnett, Eva Early and Mackenzie Parsons grabbed a quick snack in between Sweet 16 performances.

All three are fairly new recruits to the organization. They were enthusiastic about taking part in a community event and stepping out to entertain the crowd at the top of every hour, they said.

For the Ashland County Historical Society, engaging in community events when not sponsoring them is "part of our mission statement," said Sydney Miller, the organization's event coordinator.

Maintenance Supervisor Tommy Hriesik described the Historical Society's entry as a 1930 Model A.

The organization also owns a 1946 fire truck.

"Word is spreading that we're one of the finest car shows around," Miller said.

And next Christmas, some Ashland-area children will enjoy a festive trip to Walmart, shopping for themselves and others in the company of an officer, said Wolbert.

It's not just Ashland police who assist with the effort, he said, but also personnel from law enforcement agencies throughout the county.

"We all love doing it ... helping out families who need it."

This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Large crowd for annual Ashland Downtown Dream Cruise and Car Show