Hot sun, hot wheels
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 years, 1 month AGO
A hundred and one cars and their owners came out for the annual Othello All-City Classics car show this weekend.
Joel Martin/Columbia Basin Herald
J.B. Bell of Warden built this T-Bucket one piece at a time, making many of the parts by hand. It took him 11 years to complete, he said.
Simon, right, and his friend/transportation Cecil Aston of Selah look over the cars on display at the Othello All-City Classics car show Saturday.
Three-year-old Darla Garcia and her dad Uriel Garcia check out a 1970 Barracuda at the Othello All-City Classics car show Saturday.
This 1962 State Patrol cruiser at the Othello All-City Classics car show this weekend came complete with lights, sirens, handcuffs and other law enforcement paraphernalia.
From left: Juliza Gonzalez, Naylene Garza and Mariz Gonzalez offer cold pop, water and other beverages to the attendees at the Othello All-City Classics car show Saturday.
Fewer than 1,300 of this Pontiac Star Chief wagon were made in 1957. This one was restored by Bill Robinson of Pasco.
This “tow mater” truck, owned by Steve Gordon of Moses Lake, was one of 101 vehicles on display at the Othello All-City Classics car show Saturday.
This 1936 Ford Cabriolet, owned by Don Buehler of Kennewick, lent a touch of class to the Othello All-City Classics car show Saturday.
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | July 20, 2022 1:00 AM
OTHELLO — Hot rods, tricked-out pickups, rare classics – if it had wheels, it was at the All City Classics car show in Othello this weekend.
The event started with a slow drag race down Main Street on Friday afternoon. The winners were announced at 4 p.m. on Saturday, followed by a poker run. In the meantime, 101 vehicles of all eras and types gleamed in the 90-plus-degree sun at Kiwanis Park, while their owners sought shade under canopies and visitors oohed and aahed over their machines. As at any car show, every vehicle had a story behind it.
Gene Ketzenberg of Ellensburg brought a retired Washington State Patrol cruiser, a 1962 Ford Galaxie, lovingly restored and fitted out with all the proper police paraphernalia.
“When that car was in service it went from Bellingham to the Canadian Border when I-5 was U.S. (Highway) 99,” Ketzenberg said.
The car was in bad shape when he got it, he said.
“The gal that had it bought it at a state patrol auction and she blew the motor up in 1980, the same day Mount St. Helens blew up,” Ketzenberg said. “She wanted it hauled to the wrecking yard, and I went down with my tow truck, and I said ‘I’m gonna take that car and restore it.’ I talked to the Washington State Troopers Association and they helped me restore it. Got me the lights and the sirens and the shotgun, the handcuffs and the pistol and all that stuff. Took 10 years or so.”
Cars weren’t the only thing out at the park. There were food vendors, both local and from the Tri-Cities, and the Othello High School Cheer Boosters were out offering cold drinks to the parched crowd. The three cheerleaders staffing the booth had picked out their own favorite vehicle, a gold Monte Carlo lowrider owned by Cornelio and Irene Calderon of Pasco.
The 1957 Pontiac Star Chief Safari wagon shown by Bill and Arlene Robinson was a rarity: only1,296 of them were sold when they came out.
“We got it about five years ago,” Arlene Robinson said. “We got it in the fall, like the third week of August, and by the end of the year it was in 50,000 pieces in his shop. He (Bill Robinson) did the whole inside. The outside is the original color, and he redid all the chrome, plus he did everything else inside. Put a new motor in and whatever else you have to do, belts and fans and all that other stuff. Yup, he did an awesome job.”
The whole process took two years, she added.
Rick Bushnell came down from Colbert with a ’62 Buick Special owned by him and his wife Jan. It’s a sleek black convertible with a red interior and a matching stripe down the hood.
“I bought it probably six or eight years ago, sitting in front of an apartment in Spokane,” Bushnell said. “The guy wanted four grand. It needed a lot of work. Needed buffed out, needed a top motor, needed a head gasket, so we just kind of brought it back to life. It’s a great little running car. Got a little 215 V-8. All original down to the hubcaps. The radio works when it wants, but other than that it’s a good little ride.”
The T-Bucket on display by J.B. Bell of Warden took a lot of work. The two-seater hot rod had to be built nearly from scratch; its longer body meant the frame, radius rods, steering column and other parts had to be handmade, Bell said. The rear end is from a Jaguar and the engine is a 600-horsepower GM 454 V-8.
“It’s just parts and pieces,” he said. “A Johnny Cash special – one piece at a time. And then I figured a way to marry everything together. Took 11 years, but I was in no hurry. Just a labor of love.”
Joel Martin may be reached via email at [email protected].
The winners:
Best in show: 1939 orange ford hard-top, Tom and B.J. Carlton, Moses Lake
Ladies’ choice: 1957 blue Chevrolet Bel Air, Larry Chmela, Moses Lake
Bicycle: Schwinn Phaeton, Bernie Garza, Othello
1960-1970 car: (1st) 1970 grabber orange Ford Mach 1 Twister, Raz Martinez, Othello; (2nd) 1970 Blue Chevrolet Chevelle, Jason Valentine, Othello
1971-1980 car: (1st) 12971 orange Dodge Challenger, Roger Jennings, Benton City; (2nd) 1971 yellow Dodge Superbee, Craig Klages, Kennewick
1932-1950 car: (1st) 1949 green and gray Chevrolet Coupe, Bob Bridenback, Ellensburg; (2nd) 1950 red Mercury, Ken Rochel, Yakima
1951-1959 truck: (1st) 1957 Chevrolet pickup, color “yuck-mater,” Steve Gordon, Moses Lake; (2nd) 1955 red Chevrolet 3100 pickup, Don Haack, Moses Lake
1951-1959 car: (1st) 1955 red Chevrolet Bel Air, Josh Knopp, Moses Lake; (2nd) 1957 turquoise/white Chevrolet Bel Air, Robert Atkins, Auburn
200 and newer: (1st) 2000 white Chevrolet Camaro Yanko, Angel Garza, Othello; (2nd) 2015 red and black Volkswagen MK7, Bob and Linda Swingle, Sedro Woolley
Lowrider: (1st) 1978 gold Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Cornelio and Irene Calderon, Pasco; (2nd) 1964 blue Chevrolet Impala, Bernabe Velasquez, Othello
Special interest: (1st) 1969 Mustang Mach 1, Buzz LeBret, Coulee Dam; (2nd) purple Chevrolet Delray, Scott Wagner, Yakima
Motorcycle: (1st) 2020 black Harley Davidson Tri-Glide, Rick Ramos, Moses Lake; (2nd) 1976 red Honda GL1000, Aaron Dailey, Othello
Foreign: (1st) 2009 white BMW 1M, Alex Silva, Othello; (2nd) 1959 blue Berkeley SE 492, Jeremy and Luke Ross, Othello
Special interest truck: 1995/1964 white Chevrolet Corvette/pickup body, Cecil Aston, Selah
ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Quincy National Night Out scales down
QUINCY — Quincy’s National Night Out was more compact this year, which worked out well, said QPD Sgt. Joe Westby, who’s in charge of event planning for the Quincy Police Department. “National Night Out is a big event, and the fact that we’re able to shrink it up is like a breath of fresh air,” Westby said. “If you're always doing the same thing, it's kind of nice to switch things up and see how it works.” National Night Out took place Thursday on the block of C Street next to the police station, a shift from previous years when it was held at Lauzier Park. The smaller space meant fewer emergency vehicles for children to explore, but it also meant less walking for attendees. Grant County Fire District 5 brought a fire truck, and the Grant County Sheriff’s Office had a patrol boat. Renew, the Grant County behavioral health agency, had a booth and so did Quincy Partnership for Youth. Veterans Operation Creation sang the national anthem, and the Quincy Animal Shelter brought kittens that piled over each other making friends with passersby. As before, the QPD served grilled hot dogs.
Quincy Police retirements leave big shoes to fill
QUINCY — There are some big shoes to fill at the Quincy Police Department. “We’re losing 48 years of experience between them,” Quincy Police Chief Ryan Green said at the retirement party for Capt. Jorge Trujillo and Det. Damon Powell Thursday. Trujillo, who grew up in Sunnyside, has been with QPD for 19 years, he said, coming on as a patrol officer fresh out of the military. From there he served as a field training officer, a detective and finally captain. “I consider him my left-hand man,” Green said. “He runs the operations side of the house … He knows the agency very well, and he knows the community.” Trujillo has some projects around the house to tackle now that he’s retired, he said.
Big fun on a small scale
Wheat Land Communities’ Fair opens Thursday
RITZVILLE — The Wheat Land Communities’ Fair isn’t as big or as flashy as some of the county fairs around central Washington, but the folks who keep it going like it just the way it is. “It’s somewhere you can go and get an old-time traditional feeling, and you’re comfortable letting your kids roam the grounds and experience all that it has to offer,” said Board Member Lori Williams. “It’s more of a feeling than (one) specific thing,” The fair starts Thursday in Ritzville and runs through Sunday. Starting Friday, the 56th Ritzville Rodeo will take place alongside the fair at the rodeo grounds. This year the entertainment budget was expanded, Williams said, to be able to offer more fun that’s covered by the cost of admission. For the kids, there’s face painting, balloon art, Lego crafts, races, contests and games. Children can also ride on a little train towed around the fairgrounds behind a tractor.