Big Mama's Show & Shine car show winners

The Big Mama's Show & Shine has always been fun, but it has also become a wonderful way to kick off the car show season. Starting as a small event in the Douglas County Senior Center parking lot, Big Mama's has swelled to fill the Lampe Park pavilion and soccer field. It has become the senior center's most effective fundraiser, and even in times of economic trouble, our community continues to pull together.

With the economy the way it is, we were worried about reaching last year's record $7,000 profit. However, this year's show and shine was a fantastic success. We had 124 cars participate in the event. The community came out in support of Meals on Wheels and everybody had a good time. We were able to raise over $8,500, which will all go toward funding Meals on Wheels in Douglas County. The program will continue to be able to provide meals, milk, fresh fruits and veggies to the homebound seniors in our community. We currently expect to serve over 29,000 meals this year.

Although everyone who comes out to support this event is a winner, we would like to offer congratulations to this year's show winners. Big Mama's Best of Show was presented to Robert Simmons with his 1950 Oldsmobile and Participant's Choice went to Carole Cavolick with her 1957 Ford T-Bird.

I would like to thank the following groups and individuals who helped make the day such a huge success: to all the local businesses and individuals who donated raffle prizes and provided goody bag stuffers, to all the vendors who came out to the show and shine to promote their products and services, to the Douglas County Parks staff for doing an incredible job of making sure that we had everything we needed, to the Rite of Passage boys who helped with whatever we asked, thank you all for your help. We couldn't have done it without you.

Much of the food for the event was donated, so we would like to thank the following; Sysco Food Services of Sacramento, Elizabeth Neves, Blue Ribbon Meat Company, Farmer Brothers Coffee, Scolari's bakery, and Smith's. Thank you all for your help in making our fundraiser a tasty victory. Without your contributions, food would have been our biggest expense.

Sponsorship was a difficult prospect for many this year, and yet we were fortunate to have the community's support. The list of sponsors includes Golden Nugget Automotive, Bob's Performance Center, Accolades, Minden Taxi, Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course, Rowe & Hales LLP., American International Tooling Inc., United Electrical Services, Pic-N-Save Auto Recyclers, NuSystems Inc., Park Place AM/PM, Merrill Gardens at Gardnerville and Nevada Johns. Without these sponsors, Big Mama's Show & Shine would not have been what we have all come to expect.

A special thanks go to the following to the Carson Valley Lion's Club who not only cooked our burgers and hot dogs but donated towards the purchase of the food, the 20-30 Club who donated half the proceeds from their beer sales the day of the event to Meals on Wheels, and to Mike Schiller of Golden Nugget Automotive who was invaluable both for his support and his ideas.

My last thanks are for the volunteers who filled all those important jobs both the day of the event as well as in the weeks leading up to it. Without their help, I would have been lost. And of course, thanks must be given to all the wonderful car owners who took their time, money, and energy to come out; because, after all, what is a car show without the cars!

I hope to see everyone next year for our 10th annual Big Mama's Show & Shine which will be May 8, 2010, in Lampe Park.

Amanda Reid is recreation specialist at the Douglas County Senior Center