The daily Astorian., June 15, 2017, Page 9, Image 19

JUNE 15, 2017 // 9
Seaside’s annual Muscle
and Chrome Car Show
includes live music,
treasure hunt, awards
By KATHERINE LACAZE
FOR COAST WEEKEND
wenty-fi ve years
ago, Kathy and
Mike Sasso waved
goodbye to their
wedding guests
while Ray Sheldon,
Kathy’s father,
drove the newly-
weds away in his butternut-yellow 1969
Ford Galaxy 500 Convertible.
Nearly two decades later, the Sassos,
who live in Olney, purchased the car
from Sheldon and have since entered it
in various regional parades and events,
including Astoria Regatta. At last
year’s Seaside Muscle and Chrome Car
Show, Mike Sasso took his father-in-
law’s place as chauffeur to convey his
daughter Nikkole, Miss North Coast’s
Outstanding Teen, and other title-hold-
ers during the traditional Downtown
Cruise.
That spirit — one of interests merg-
ing and passing among generations —
is expressed at the annual Seaside car
show, taking place Friday and Saturday,
June 16 and 17.
Because the event, organized by the
Seaside Downtown Development Asso-
ciation each June, features show-quality
vehicles from 1960 to 1978, and factory
performance vehicles from 1979 to
2017, the atmosphere creates an intense
mingling of multiple generations, exec-
utive director Sarah Dailey said.
“You’ll have the grandson there with
his Audi, and the dad with his Mustang
from high school that’s fi xed up, and
then the grandpa with the classic,” she
said, “and that’s so fun to see.”
PHOTO BY JEFF TER HAR
The annual Seaside Muscle and Chrome Car Show, which takes place Friday and Saturday this year, features show-quality vehicles
from 1960 to 1978 and factory performance vehicles from 1979 to the current year.
‘A LOT OF LOVE’
For the Sassos, their Ford Galaxy
will always be the car Kathy’s father
liked, “the one he went out and looked
for,” the one he found “that was in
good enough condition to bring back
to life,” and the one “me and my wife
took off in after we got married,” Mike
Sasso said.
Many owners have similarly signifi -
cant relationships with their cars.
“A lot of them have a long history
with their vehicle,” Dailey said. “They
put a lot of love and effort into them.”
Cheri Knobler, of Hayden, Idaho,
got her 2002 Ford Thunderbird as a
present from her husband, Jon, three
years ago for their 44th wedding
anniversary. Cheri Knobler’s parents
owned several Thunderbirds when she
was growing up, and she’s always had a
preference for that style of car.
Cheri Knobler light-heartedly
recounted how, in the early stages of
dating, she “broke up with (Jon) for
guys who I thought had better cars,”
including Mustangs and a ’57 Thun-
derbird. When she got her own Thun-
derbird — produced as part of Ford’s
eleventh-generation retro-styled series
made from 2002 to 2005 — the family
joked that her husband was now safe
from any more break-ups.
The Knoblers will show their T-bird
— Cheri Knobler’s daily driver “when
the snow is gone until the next snow
arrives,” she said — at Muscle and
Chrome this year. Not only will it be
the couple’s fi rst time at the Seaside
event, it will be the vehicle’s fi rst time
in a show.
“We thought it would be cool this
year to come to Seaside, because we
had never been for that kind of a show,”
she said.
At this point, they aren’t as interest-
ed in winning trophies or the compet-
itive aspect. “It’s really more now the
destination and the people when we go
to these events,” she said.
They also enjoy sharing information
about their car with others, and putting
it on display.
“We must like that to some degree,
or we wouldn’t have it,” Knobler joked,
adding that interested spectators in her
hometown frequently stop her when
she’s out and about. “We must, some-
where down deep, want to be noticed.”
CAR SHOW HAPPENINGS
Muscle and Chrome takes place in
downtown Seaside, along Broadway
Street and connecting streets. The pub-
lic is invited to view cars for free at the
Show and Shine 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Satur-
day. There also will be live music, with
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