Car and bike show held to benefit Blue Star Mothers
“In March of 2020, we had the COVID restrictions and people were a little stir crazy. Bernie Kenney suggested we should cruise Main Street, like the old days. He felt we could see friends and maintain social distancing. We ended up with 40 plus cars cruising Main, waving and beeping at one another. It was a nice release from the lockdowns,” said Robert Leist, an organizer for the event.
“In June 2021, we were asked if we would do something like that again. We thought we would take it a step further to help a charity and local businesses. We decided to host a car show on the square to bring people downtown. We chose to help the Blue Star Mothers as they had to cancel their quarter auction over COVID, and we wanted to bolster their funds to help active military and veterans.”
This year, the car and bike show was held on July 2. Cars and trucks lined both sides of Main Street from Third to Sixth streets, with motorcycles on Fourth Street. Registration for the vehicles was a $10 donation to Blue Star Mothers. The Jon Ianniello Agency sponsored the event.
Jon Ianniello said that when Leist approached him last year about sponsoring the event, he thought it was a great idea. “We were coming off COVID and I really wanted to help get things started for Downtown Coshocton. I love supporting community events and what a better group to support on July 4th weekend than the Blue Star Mothers. This group is working hard to support our veterans and our military, and I am really glad we can help them with that.”
Sherry Cullison, a Blue Star Mother, said, “It’s an honor they chose us to receive the funds from today. It will all go to help military and veterans here in Coshocton. We want to help them however we can.” The Blue Star Mothers were selling raffle tickets for donated items and 50/50 tickets. Sharon Burns agreed with Cullison. “It really is an honor they chose us, and we really appreciate it.”
The car and bike show also included about 20 vendors, food trucks, and local restaurant specials. My Cars Radio Band and a magic and animal show were sponsored by The Downtown Warehouse.
“We are definitely planning on making this an annual event,” Leist said.
Category: People & Places
