For over 25 years the North Idaho Classics Car Club ran the Car d’Lane Friday Cruise and Saturday Car Show under contract with the Coeur d’Alene Downtown Association.

Virtually all the money the club received was donated to local charities. Over the last decade this amounted to from $5,500 per year to well over $7,000 per year.

The downtown association decided to change the contract in mid-cycle, dramatically reducing the amount the North Idaho Classics Car Club, therefore charities, would receive. The downtown association assured the public that they would continue to donate to local charities. The first year because of the publicity, they did contribute over $6,000. The next year that dropped significantly. The third year it dropped to less than $2,000.

When I inquired about what the contributions were for 2022, I was informed that, “The Coeur d’Alene Downtown Association is reframing how they do donations and instead of donating from one single event such as Car d’Lane, our board is encompassing all our events (we host 13 events) and considering an end of year donation.” I was informed on March 31, that the donations for the year from all 13 events amounted to $3,000.

It is sad that this iconic event that had done so much for the community and local charities has simply become a money making source for the Coeur d’Alene Downtown Association. I sincerely hope that will change this year.

TAD LEACH

Coeur d’Alene