Locals are asked to avoid parking on Main Street this Sunday to make room for the 26th Annual Street Dreams Car Club’s Autumn Daze Car Show. This year, for the first time ever, the show will feature both cars and motorcycles.
The theme for this year’s show is “A Taste of Peppermint” inspired by the peppermint twist dance craze of the early 1960s.
“I get these crazy ideas when I am sitting around trying to think of what next year’s theme will be and I was inspired by the ‘Peppermint Twist’ dance and song by Joey Dee and the Starliters,” said Gary Hoy, of the club.
Inspired by the song, the peppermint twist dance craze was originally started in a New York City nightclub called the Peppermint Room, Hoy explained.
“That is where the peppermint twisters would meet and dance,” he said.
The event will feature young ladies dressed up as candy stripers. They will hand out more than 800 peppermint sticks.
“Hospitals used to have volunteers called candy stripers who would wear red and white striped uniforms,” Hoy said.
“My wife was inspired by that and she found some neat outfits online for the girls to wear.”
With good weather, Hoy hopes more than 200 cars will enter the contest this year.
“Our record high was 341 but that was before covid and on a day when we had nice weather,” Hoy said.
There will be a $12 entry fee for the event. Proceeds will benefit the Bradford City Firefighters Local 655.
“We are glad to be able to help out such a good cause,” Hoy said.
The show gets going with registration open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Throughout the afternoon, the public will be entertained by a live performance from The Cruisers. This family-friendly rock’n’roll band will play hits from the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s.
“They are a four-piece band with saxophone, two guitars and drums and they are pretty good,” Hoy said.
Awards will be handed out at 4 p.m. There are more than 74 trophies available this year in a wide variety of categories, including street rods, classics, antiques and special interest. In addition to a panel of judges, vehicles will be assessed by referees.
“We will have a few of our referee girls wandering around this year in their striped outfits,” said Hoy. “They will take a look at all the cars and bikes and then let their choices be made known to the judges.”
The dreams of yesteryear will continue to materialize when the winner of this year’s Miss Nostalgia contest is chosen. This is the second year for the Miss Nostalgia Contest, which is sponsored by Togi’s Family Restaurant.
“Ladies will be dressed up in attire from the ’40s, ’50s or ’60s and our judges will decide on a winner,” Hoy said.
There will also be a Little Miss Nostalgia contest this year for girls 4 to 9 years old. This contest will be sponsored by Papa Scoop’s Ice Cream Shop.
“After the success of last year’s contest for adults, we decided it would be kind of cute to have a junior version,” said Hoy.
Both contests will be assessed by the same panel of judges. There are first, second and third prizes available.
“Overall this should be a pretty exciting event for the town that will bring folks from all over the region,” Hoy said.
