A Creative Car Show Ballot

I haven’t been to the Taste of Hood Canal Car Show for several years. Since the last time I attended the show, the organizers have expanded the ballot for voting on what used to be a simple people’s choice award (see illustration). It might be the most creative car show ballot around.

The Taste of Hood Canal is Belfair’s summer festival. It’s held on the 2nd Saturday in August and features music, arts and crafts, collector cars, and, of course, delicious local food. Grilled oysters are tasty, but to me the car show is the highlight of the all-day festival. This year there were more than 130 entries, all parked in a large wooded lot just off Clifton Lane. The ample shade provided by the lot’s towering Douglas firs was welcome on the 80+ degree day.

2012 marked the Taste’s 10th anniversary. Attendance at the car show has skyrocketed to where I don’t see how the organizers have time to count the ballots before the award ceremony. Perhaps they are counted in stages instead of waiting until the last one is in. The show also has judging so with five choices on the ballot there had to be a lot of happy car owners at the awards ceremony.

The ballots were handed out as the entrance to the show along with a free pen courtesy of Olympia Federal Savings. I guess the organizers didn’t expect you to remember up to five entry numbers and then return to the booth to vote.

For the record my most favorite car (to use the ballot’s wording) was an elegant black 1938 Chevrolet Master Deluxe business coupe (see photo below). If it wasn’t in original condition, it was one of the best restorations I have seen.

I also voted for the Chevy in the “Belongs in a Museum” category. I don’t really think the car should be confined to a museum, but I wanted it to win something. A car like that needs to be seen outside at summer car shows although I suppose it could do museum duty during the winter.

The rest of my votes:

• Best Love Machine: 1959 Chrysler Imperial (a big car with a huge back seat)
• Belongs at my High School Reunion: red 1965 Chevrolet Malibu convertible (not my year but a gorgeous car)
• Shows Most Promise: a rusty 1940 Pontiac that was being converted into a moonshiner’s truck