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Auto Extravaganza slated to return to Elkins this summer

The Inter-Mountain file photo by Tim MacVean Spectators came out in droves to admire more than 100 cars that lined the streets of downtown Elkins as part of the 2015 Fourth of July weekend car show. Local group ‘Our Town’ and the Mountain State Street Machines club are working together to bring the event back to Elkins this year.

ELKINS — The roar of engines will fill the air June 29 to July 1 as the Mountain State Street Machines Auto Extravaganza brings car owners and enthusiasts into Elkins.

A group called “Our Town,” has filed for 501(c)(3) nonprofit status and is working toward bringing the popular event back to the area.

Tammy Dolly of the Delmonte Market said “Our Town” was “born out of necessity” to enable car enthusiasts, The Mountain State Street Machines car club and local businesses to keep the car show alive.

“I feel like the car show is a crucial event for Randolph County, not only just for the residents but for the amount of people that visit for the car show,” Dolly explained during a recent county meeting.

Plans for the event include a cruise-in the evening of June 29 in downtown Elkins, a car show June 30 and July 1 at Elkins City Park including food, vendors and a 50/50 drawing, as well as a bonus cruise-in downtown the evening of June 30.

“On June 29, the opening event will be the cruise-in downtown, as it always was. Then on Saturday we will move into the park for the entire day. Our hope is to bring the cars, as a parade, out of the park on Saturday evening and into downtown, where there will be lots of fun events,” she said. “There will be a lot of events happening all day Saturday so we can entice local people, not just visitors, to bring families downtown and to go through the park and take advantage of the events that will be happening downtown. Possibly a drive-in movie night for the cars downtown on Saturday night.”

Dolly said they hope to work with area organizations to try to set up additional events.

“‘Our Town’ is committed to responsibly raising funds that we want to benefit our community directly. We will do this through events such as the Auto Extravaganza, and it’s our sincere desire to include multiple Fourth of July activities that will bring more visitors into Randolph County during the entire weekend,” she said. “So, we won’t limit it just to the city park, but we do, with the help of downtown and different organizations, hope to have events happening on both sides of Randolph Avenue.”

She added while the group’s main fundraising event is the Auto Extravaganza, organizers hope to add additional events in the future.

Dolly said the event didn’t take place last year; however, in 2016, there were more than 500 cars involved in the show.

“I believe that we can take it right back to where it was the year before last and possibly even grow it from there,” Dolly said.

The Randolph County Commission recently allocated $5,000 in funding for the event to be taken from the hotel/motel tax budget line. Dolly approximated the total cost from becoming a 501(c)(3) throughout the process of holding the event, including insurance, to be more than $10,000.

“We are, maybe, walking a little blind at times but we are pulling it together, and have a really strong club and dedicated people so I feel like we can pull this off,” she said.

Club members also hope to host weekly cruise-ins in downtown Elkins — something that was started last summer.

“The cruise-ins on Thursday night — we are hoping to bring those back in May,” Dolly said. “We had up to – I think the most we had one night was 58 cars into Elkins on a weekly basis, so we definitely feel like we are a viable organization that’s doing our part to bring some interest into downtown and into the county as a whole.”

Mountain State Street Machines was established in 1984, and serves as West Virginia’s local car club, according to its website. MSSM hosts a variety of local events and shows that encourage the preservation and showing of all kinds of unique vehicles. For more information, visit www.mountainstatestreetmachines.com.

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