|
FEATURED
EVENT:
Cops & Rodders 2005
Saturday
July 16th 2005.
This was the 12th annual event for Cops & Rodders and
it is very easy to see why this event continues to be a
great success. This event is FUN.
How
many car events do we go to that are merely, park you car,
polish it up, and talk with people who come by to gaze at
your creation. Not this one, this event starts at the Beach
Boardwalk in Santa Cruz with a line up of all the cars in
preparation for the Police escorted parade through Santa
Cruz, down through Capitola, then out to Scotts Valley,
where the show and shine was held.
As
we waited in line for the parade, we munched on donuts provided
by the Scotts Valley Peace Officers Association. It must
have been tough on them to give up their main food supply.
The
morning was a welcome overcast and cool in comparison to
the heat we have been having. We tried to get there by 7:00am
to be as near to the front as possible, but arriving at
7:15 put us in the middle of the parade of about 150 cars.
The parade starts with Police Sirens blaring and Hot Rod’s
revving up, what a wonderful sound. As the parade winds
through these little seaside hamlets it is so nice to see
parents and children standing in their yards and on balconies
in PJ’s, as we cruised through their neighborhoods.
Those of them who were awake enjoyed waving to the participants,
especially the kids who were waving back from my rear seat.
The kids loved it because it gave them something to do besides
just sitting in the car asking "are we there yet?"
Arriving
at Siltanen Park in Scotts Valley the event changed into
a Show & Shine and everyone had to wipe their cars down,
no trailer queens here. The grass was still a bit wet, which
made it fun to watch those with massive horsepower try to
position their cars without sliding sideways. Walking through
the show later I noticed some interesting patterns carved
in the grass.
This
event is sponsored by Scotts Valley Peace Officers Association
included demonstrations of the Fire Department’s "Jaws-of-Life"
on rescues where they need to cut the top off the vehicle
to get someone out. The highlight of the day was also a
scary one, in that they landed a police helicopter in the
field next to all the show cars. The dust kicked up was
a mere annoyance compared to the shade canopy that landed
on a show car. Not a happy event at that point. When the
helicopter took off, every one was holding onto their canopies.
Cont'd
Nick
|
