BELLE FOURCHE—Rows of cars, from classic cars to newer vehicles and everything in between, were on display at NAPA for the annual Center of the Nation Show and Shine on June 20, giving car enthusiasts plenty to admire. “It is a fantastic turnout! There is a little combination of every kind of car here you can think of—cars and pickups, and we have fun doing it! That’s why we do it,” said Mike Jongeling, vice president of the Center of the Nation Car Club.
The event first started in the early 1990s at Herrmann Park, but then took a break and came back last year bigger and better than ever! “We’ve got the Center of the Nation Car Show, Show and Shine today and we’ve got a great turnout! We’ve got a ton of cars here,” explained Jongeling. “We started last year again—it stopped years previous, the car show here in Belle Fourche… We’ve got over 100 cars here today!”
Signing up for the event was free. All participants had to do was register to participate. “No registration fee, everything was through sponsorship, as far as setting up and putting everything together, it’s all done by volunteers. NAPA gave us a place here to be, and we just come down and have a good time,” said Jongeling. “The Belle Fourche Fire Department came out and wet the lot down for us. We appreciate all our sponsors!”
Loud music greeted visitors to the car show, making the whole atmosphere festive. There was a bouncy house for kids to enjoy and Mama O’s food truck was onsite for lunch. Crazee Cow was on hand offering ice cream.
Around 1 p.m. the sky started to turn grey and some of the fancy show cars headed out early to avoid any kind of bad weather. “It looks like everyone is pulling out, because it looks like we might get some weather, but we had a great showing,” said Jongeling.
Everyone seemed to have a good time, and the Center of the Nation Show and Shine is planning for another car gathering next year. “Absolutely yes! We are set to do it again next year,” shared Jongeling. “So, we’d love to see everybody come down again next year!”
The Center of the Nation Show and Shine group said an event like this isn’t possible without the support of many people. “We thank all our sponsors, and we really appreciate people coming out,” said Jongeling.
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