Jack 'Doc'Watson Announced as Guest of Honor for St. Ignace Car Show
Planners Preparing for Antiques on the Bay June 22 - 23, and 32nd Annual Car Show June 28 - 30 at St. Ignace

The 11th annual Antiques on the Bay car show will take place Friday, June 22, and Saturday, June 23, and the 32nd annual St. Ignace Car Show will be the following weekend, June 28 through June 30, at St. Ignace.

Both shows feature free displays of antique, custom, and collectible automobiles in downtown St. Ignace. Both are hosted by Nostalgia Productions and each year draw industry experts and crowds of automobile enthusiasts from across the country.

Antiques on the Bay, for cars 25 years and older, will take place at the marina, this year highlighting vehicles from 1932 and showcasing a rare restored General Motors Futurliner from Parade of Progress exhibits in the 1940s and '50s. The traveling exhibits visited rural areas to highlight the newest science and technology of the day in gleaming vehicles built by GMC Truck and Coach and Fisher Body. Only 12 of the 33-foot vehicles were made, and efforts to restore them began in 1999. Futurliner Number 10 will be displayed at Antiques on the Bay.

Each car show will begin with a rally for featured cars across the Mackinac Bridge. The rallies, planned for June 22 and June 28, are for featured participants and will begin at the Mackinaw City Welcome Center, terminating in St. Ignace at approximately 5 p.m.

Jack "Doc" Watson will be the guest of honor for the St. Ignace Car Show, and the Hurst/ Oldsmobile is the featured vehicle this year. Mr. Watson has enjoyed a 40-year career in the muscle car industry. As president of Hurst Performance Research, he was integral in developing technology such as the Jaws of Life rescue tool, and many legendary Hurst/Oldsmobiles, Pontiacs, Buicks, Hemi Darts, Barracudas, and American Motors vehicles. He has been involved in many programs for NASCAR, CAN-AM, Bonneville, and the U.S. military, and is now assisting Horsepower Heritage in compiling a history of the industry.

Cruise Night will begin the show Thursday, June 28, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., sponsored by Kewadin Casino. Registered show participants will travel a 17-mile loop that begins and ends at the casino on Mackinac Trail, traveling through town, west on US-2, and north on I-75.

A popular highlight of the car show will be the Down Memory Lane Parade on State Street Friday, June 29, at 7 p.m., featuring hundreds of award-winning antique and custom cars, as well as bands, entertainers, and floats.

Vendors and many displays of automotive technology will be available throughout the show area downtown Saturday. A 350 HO deluxe engine has been donated by show sponsor General Motors Performance Division, and will be raffled as a fundraiser for the St. Ignace Area Schools Music Department. Raffle tickets are $5 each, and may be purchased at the car show or by mailing a request to: St. Ignace Area Schools Music Department, Engine Raffle, West 429 Portage Street, St. Ignace MI 49781. The winning ticket holder need not be present to win, but must be at least 18 years old.

Top show participants will earn awards, to be presented by show sponsors Saturday, June 30.

Antiques on the Bay and the 32nd annual Car Show are the first two of three vehicle shows planned in St. Ignace this year. The Richard Crane Memorial Truck Show will take place Friday, September 14, through Sunday, September 16.

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of construction of the Mackinac Bridge, Ed Reavie of Nostalgia Productions, with the Mackinac Bridge Authority, is seeking information about 83 original 1958 Oldsmobile convertibles that were featured in a parade to mark the opening of the bridge in 1958. This year, a Mackinac Bridge parade of convertibles, one for each year from 1957 to 2007, will be a highlight of the Mackinac Bridge Authority anniversary celebration July 28 at St. Ignace.

More information about the St. Ignace shows is available from the St. Ignace Chamber of Commerce, www.stignace.com, or Nostalgia Productions, www.nostalgia-prod. com.