For the love of classic cars: Fabulous 50s Fling in Sugarcreek continues to draw fans for 21st year
On the back of the cherry red Chevy is stenciled 'In memory of…'
"That's because everyone remembers someone having a car like this, and they love to come up and tell us about their memories," said Hager.
"It was my back and forth to work car when we first got married (in 1967)," commented Patty Hager as she smiled fondly at the Chevrolet. "When Fred went to Vietnam, we had a '69 Roadrunner and a '53 Chevy convertible, and had to come back here, so we knew we had to sell one. We sold the '53 and kept the '57. I think it was a good choice."
Now, the Hagers have a whole collection of classic cars to make up for the '53 Chevy they had to part with so long ago.
"At home, we have two '57 Chevys, two Chevelles – a '66 and a '68, two Novas, a '29 A Roadster, a '47 Chevy business coupe, and a '77 pickup that I bought brand new that only has 40,000 miles on it," admitted Fred.
"We do go to a lot of car shows, three or four times a week. We aren't into the judging all that much; we never paid attention. We've won our fair share, but that's not why we come," added Patty as she motioned to the large group she was sitting with. "Look around at this circle of people. The camaraderie is wonderful. It's about the people."
Mary Agnes Grewell of Dover had a much newer, yet rare vehicle at the show.
"We didn't even know Lincoln made a pickup until we saw this, and we fell in love with it," she noted of the shiny black 2002 Lincoln four-door pickup beside her.
"We got an insert in our Sunday paper about a month ago, and it suggested the 50s Fling as something you could get to on a tank of gas in Ohio," commented Mark Jaymes, as he and his wife, Randi, of Dayton, relaxed beside their 1940 Mercury convertible. He admitted that the food prices were a great draw.
"The food prices are cheap. Very cheap," noted Jaymes of the 1950s-styled foods at 1950s prices, including hot dogs for 50 cents and root beer floats for just $2.
"We had the cruise in Friday night, with 137 vehicles, which we were pretty happy about," said Sugarcreek mayor Jeremiah Johnson. "This year we added a 5K event, with over 100 runners, so that is a great new thing for us. We grow each year, and that's all we can ask for."
Trish White has been part of the event committee for 11 years.
"This is our 21st year with the Fling. We have a lot of fun, and we help to promote Sugarcreek. We've had a lot of people come out with their cars. Cars come in on Friday, and then again very early on Saturday, with some coming before 7 o'clock in the morning," said White, as she enjoyed a fry pie. "Dick Lahm and Jim Hostetler have been here from the very beginning. We couldn't do this without all of our volunteers and all of our community people, and we love them all.. We're having a good time!"