Haynes Apperson Festival celebrates Howard County

Jul. 3—Ranging from a 1904 Oldsmobile to modern day luxury sports cars, the stretch of Superior Street that lines Foster Park was filled with a circus of automobiles.

The Haynes Apperson Car Show was a celebration of Kokomo's automotive history. Starting at 9 a.m. Saturday, the final cars were registered around noon. According to Dave White, who organized the car show, there were 128 cars registered in the show. White said the turnout was a record for the venue.

"I see all these smiling faces and it's all worth it," White said, adding that he was pleased with the diverse group of people and cars.

The car show intended to celebrate Kokomo's automotive history and remind people of its lasting effects.

Mike Cannon was among the younger participants, but still represented the vintage car community. He drove a 1952 Ford Customline to the show.

"Me, personally, I like the Lamborghinis," Cannon said. "But I also like the American, sturdy steel cars. They don't make 'em like they used to."

Cannon explained he had always been interested in cars in general. He remembers staring out his window as a child and yelling "bingo" when a notable car drove past.

Now, he said, he has five classic cars. He purchased the Customline roughly four years ago from the car's original owner.

Jim Kesterson sat nearby under the shade of a park tree. Several people stopped to admire his 1974 Corvette Stingray.

He explained it had been his dream car. The 1974 model was the first year Stingrays didn't come with chrome bumpers.

There was one specific part in the Stingray that Kesterson was proud of.

"I built that radio," he said, explaining he had worked at Delco for 46 years, retiring as a supervisor.

The Haynes Apperson Sports Festival also made an appearance near Foster Park on Saturday afternoon.

A variety of pole vaulters competed in the parking lot of St. Andrew's Church, 566 W. Superior St.

Randy Everetts, who has run the pole vaulting competition with Bill Brokholder since its start 11 years ago, said he enjoyed sharing space with the car show. He explained the added pedestrian foot traffic gave competitors extra motivation.

Although Everetts doesn't remember how many people attended the first Haynes Apperson pole vaulting competition, he said it's definitely grown. The low-stress atmosphere, he said, encourages the athletes to beat their personal records.

Competitors ranged from high schoolers to people in their 70s. They came from all over the state, Illinois and even Texas.

"This place just oozes pole vaulting," Everetts said.

Cody Johnston was among the competitors. He had become the state's high school champion three weeks prior. The Haynes Apperson Sports Festival is special for Johnston as it was the first pole vaulting competition he ever competed in.

"It was insane, lots of people were cheering me on," Johnston said of his first pole vaulting competition, which was six years ago. "It's a great atmosphere."

Mike Trine's 1976 Chevy CTN was parked near the pole vaulting competition. He explained he had brought his truck to the competition to make people, especially children, smile.

A plastic skeleton sat in the passenger seat. When curious children asked him about it, he would tell them it was the original owner. A few asked if they could get photos sitting in the driver's seat next to the "original owner."

Trine said he has changed nearly every part of the truck. A repurposed keg replaced the truck's fuel tank and a Jack Daniel's Winter Jack Tennessee Cider bottle served as the truck's overflow set.

"The more I look at it, the more I think, 'hey, it'd look great like that,'" Trine said. "I go to car shows and see the same thing over and over and over. I thought I could do something different."

Awards were distributed shortly before 3 p.m. Gathering around a trailer next to Rhum Academy, various participants picked up door prizes. Thank-you notes were attached to the door prizes and White encouraged each recipient to thank the businesses that helped make the car show special.

There were 26 plaques distributed and the top five contestants received trophies. There were also two special categories, a longevity award that went to a woman who had owned her car longer than anyone else and a veterans award, which was selected at random and celebrated an American veteran's service.

The veteran award was the largest trophy and the last to be awarded.

White distributed the awards and took pride in his ability to condense the award ceremony and door prize giveaway.

"Don't you hate long, drawn out award ceremonies," he asked the crowd of onlookers. They laughed in agreement.

As the car show ended, White said he would organize next year's car show. He considered the first Haynes Apperson car show he organized a success. He said he was especially thankful for all the volunteers and the judges who donated their time to make the show run smoothly.

"If I'm alive I'll be here. We will only get better," White said.

Paul Wyman, the festival chairman, also gave a shout out to festival volunteers.

"I can't thank our volunteers and the board for the festival enough," Wyman said. "They put their heart and soul into making this event happen year in and year out."

In general, he said, this year's festival was a success.

"The parade was just unbelievably huge this year, the car show was off the charts, and boy, the fireworks that closed out the festival was certainly high energy and action packed," Wyman said.

This year's parade Grand Marshals were Michael and Angela Martino.

Parade winners were as follows:

* Individual — Tipton Pork Festival

* Business — Financial Center First Credit Union

* Nonprofit — Howard County Vietnam Vets

* Youth Group — Kokomo Civic Theatre

* Musical/band — Kokomo Marching Wildcats

James Bennett III can be reached at 765-454-8580 or james.bennett@kokomotribune.com.