The Living Sky Casino was at full capacity last night for The Big One.
It was the biggest car show of the summer, and may even be the biggest in Swift Current history. Over 300 cars came out for the Taillight Tuesday super feature, filling the parking lot till it was overflowing onto the grass and wrapping around every laneway.
Folks could be seen in their daily drivers, their project cars, resto-mods, hot rods, rebuilds, retros, dragsters, pickups, low riders, lifted, cruisers, sedans, two-doors, station wagons, mudders, and more.
The variety of vehicles was simply stunning, with folks coming from all across the southwest part of Saskatchewan and beyond.
No one was more stunned perhaps than the men who have organized this show every week with the Rogue Cruisers, Dustin Vipond and Cory Schultz.
Dustin Vipond (left) and Cory Schultz (right) leaning up on their own sets of Taillights. (photo by Hayden Michaels)"I would lie if I didn't say I wanted to fill the parking lot," said Schultz. "That's what we wanted to see, and what we saw today is what we wanted to see, and then some. It was crazy. I hope everybody had a good time."
Vipond had been hard at work, setting up the various door prizes that have been sent in by tens of sponsors, from all over Swift Current. Even while they were handing them out to everyone who had registered, more were coming up to the table.
Eventually, the line that was still coming had to be sent away empty handed, with many people laughing it off, blown away by the sheer volume of cars in attendance. (photo by Hayden Michaels)"I'm absolutely blown away," said Vipond. "Never in a million years did I expect anything like that. It definitely makes the work worthwhile."
In the end, they handed out 168 bags with differing kinds of car-themed swag, before they ran out. There were simply that many cars and folks in attendance.
"They were here in droves tonight," said Schultz. "Back in January, [the rest of the Rogue Cruisers] told us what they were looking for, and I guess we kind of put it together. Tonight, The Big One, a Tuesday night in September, to have over 300 and some cars here is phenomenal."
A total of 69 different groups came and donated items to be given away in The Big One. Their contributions to what has been a phenomenal event all summer helped turn this Taillight Tuesday into one of the biggest-ever car shows in Swift Current history.
A list with sponsors who donated door prizes. (photo by Hayden Michaels)Helping out with directing the humongous crowd, fitting them into increasingly creative parking solutions, was Schultz. Joined by a team of other Rogue Cruisers who volunteered to help out, they helped pack everyone into the parking lot as best they could, before things went off-road.
By the time these rides arrived, parking had to take to the grass by the highway. (photo by Hayden Michaels)"We tried to park everybody in as close to the event as possible," said Schultz. "We had lots of help from lots of different people. We couldn't do this by ourselves, that's for sure."
Many of the regulars in attendance were blown away aswell by the huge surge in attendees. Local car enthusiasts like Bob Schafer, who is the president of the Swift Current Drag Racing Association, were stunned that even with everyone coming out, it was still another free show to attend and enter.
Bob Schafer, president of the SCDRA. (photo by Hayden Michaels)"That's the beauty of it," said Schafer. "I think that's why you just get everybody coming out to this. It's no commitments. You just show up and you talk to other car guys and we're all part of this culture. It's great seeing new faces, and it's great seeing old faces. It's just an all-around great event."
With the event being free, it means the younger crowd can more easily join in and show off their cars. Youths like Hayley Vipond and Breanna Dyck may tag along with their families, but they are also able to partake in the show. Hailey can usually be seen every week with her big yellow Desoto, and toting around her puppy dog, also named Desoto.
Hayley Vipond (left) and Breanna Dyck (left) pose with puppies and toddler in front of Viponds Desoto. (photo by Hayden Michaels)"It's just cool to see all the other cars out there," said Hayley. "Having your own cars in there just makes it better."
She was being accompanied by Breanna Dyck, who often comes to the show with her father. She has slowly but surely come around to seeing just how fun this and other car shows can be.
"It's cool," said Dyck. "And the people are really nice too."
It wasn't all cars at the show either. The Swift Current SPCA was on hand, accepting donations and entering people to win an Amazon Fire Tablet in their prize raffle. Joanne Schatkoski, the development manager for the SPCA, was hard at work, trying to keep up with the generous crowd that had surrounded her tent.
A volunteer stands in for Joanne Schatkoski while she deals with a media personality. (photo by Hayden Michaels)"'I've just stood here, watching everybody come in, going 'ohh my goodness'," said Schatkoski. "It was absolutely the craziest thing I've ever seen when it comes to vehicles."
By the end of the night, the SPCA had taken in $1,410 in donations just at its tent.
Across the lane, selling hot dogs to the throngs of people lining up for something to eat, was the Living Sky Casino itself. Normally happy to host the event, the Casino stepped into the show itself with a charity BBQ, where the money generated through the frankfurter sales was also sent to the Swift Current SPCA. A couple hundred hotdogs later, and a non-stop queue of people ordering, the Living Sky Casino sent the SPCA $2,515, bringing the total for the night to $3,925 for the evening.
The hotdog line only got longer as the night continued, stretching half way across the parking lot. (photo by Hayden Michaels)"And they're all happy," pointed out Vipond. "They're all happy. There's nobody complaining it took 10 minutes for a hot dog or nothing. They're just happy to get one and go so they can go wander around looking at cars. The atmosphere here is fantastic."
The show went on for the whole afternoon, stretching into the evening. Folks were able to slowly maneuver their way back out onto the road, wrapping things up.
A few diehards kept going, long into the night. (photo by Hayden Michaels)Sadly, a few individuals decided to leave rudely, squealing tires, blasting train horns, and speeding off. It only takes one person to ruin it for everyone, with noise complaints having the real ability to shut down Taillight Tuesdays for good.
"There is absolutely zero tolerance on burnouts and train horns and stunting and screwing around anywhere within the vicinity of this parking lot or leaving the show," Vipond ruled. "There's been many, many great shows throughout Alberta and Saskatchewan shut down because of that. We've got a really good thing going, so please, let's just try and keep that outside of here."
Folks are asked to please leave without incident, to preserve the fun for years to come.
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