Holm discontinues car show, local organizer steps up

May 7—Holm Automotive decided to end hosting their car and truck show. To fill the hole of Holm's show, Rod Riffel decided to step up and organize a car show to replace Holm's show, the Downtown Abilene Cruise for Food Car Show.

"I guess I wanted to help out downtown, and I have a business in downtown Abilene," Riffel said. "Wanted to help them out and see how it goes. If I get enough help and support and it goes fairly smoothly, I might consider doing this again depending on how everything goes."

Riffel said the Abilene Antique Show organizer Ricki Elliott and Abilene Convention and Bureau Director Julie Roller Weeks approached him to organize a show. Riffel agreed to run a show even though he only had three months before Holm's show would have happened alongside the Abilene Antique Festival.

"It's been going good," Riffel said. "I've had a lot of support and a lot of my car show friends have stepped up and volunteered to help that day for whatever needs to be done, whether that's parking cars during registration or whatever."

In a statement to the Reflector-Chronicle, Tim Holm, Holm Automotive owner, said the show became too large of a project for the business to keep running with the other events and organizations they support each year, such as the Hope Lives and the Breast Cancer Awareness.

"After putting on the event over the last five to six years we found that it was getting to be such a large event that it required more time, effort, attention and expense than we could justify," the statement reads. "While it was a great event, and we loved the results, it was quite a disruption for our dealership operations and that of our neighboring businesses as well."

The statement continued, "We just made a decision that with limited staffing and marketing funds, that this was something we could pass on this year. We appreciate that Rod has taken on this effort, and we wish him good luck and our support. Hopefully it will become a community event."

Riffel's show will be similar to the Christmas Cruise for Food he has annually organized. Registration for the show includes a food item to be donated, and anyone can donate to either organization. Donations will be going to Abilene Food Bank and Neighbor to Neighbor Abilene.

In addition to the food drive, cars will be shown in parking spots around Little Ike Park from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Riffel said registration will be the day of at Little Ike Park. While there will be no awards and judging, those registered will be randomly selected to win an assortment of door or cash prizes. The first 100 entries will also receive a dash plaque for their participation.

Riffel has been a long-time car show organizer. His main show is the Chapman High School Class of '77 Car Show which runs during the Chapman Labor Day celebrations. He also assists shows in various events for Woodbine, Navarre, and Dickinson County Heritage Center's Heritage Days

Riffel said he is unsure whether he will continue to host this car show in future years. He wants to see the outcome of the show before making a decision.

The Downtown Abilene Cruise for Food Car Show will be May 11. The "show and shine" will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, contact Riffel at 785-200-4133.