RGV OldCars.com Editorials 2003 Fun Run

I can’t think of a better way to spend a holiday weekend than enjoying the old car hobby with a great group of fellow car enthusiasts. This past Memorial Day weekend was the Coastal A’s 11th annual Fun Run at the Holiday Inn Airport in Corpus Christi.

The event brought in 216 cars from as far away as Bakersfield, California. Everything from newer stock Mustangs and Camaros to classic hot rods and cruisers were on display during this three-day event. Friday night, we all cruised down to Snapka’s Drive Inn restaurant where a mini-car show took over the neighborhood. There were several cars at this gathering that we never saw at the show, including some Pro-modified race cars. There was also a large assortment of motorcycles at Snapka’s.

Saturday morning dawned with many late arrivals showing up to register. This is when the parking lot really filled up. Games were played throughout the day including the push-rod drop, lifter toss, washer toss, nut and bolt race, and the always crowd-pleasing commode races. Many door prizes were awarded as well as a silent auction for donated items. Proceeds from the sale of t-shirts, drawing and raffles were donated to a local charity, the Coastal Bend Youth City. NSRA representatives were on hand to perform safety inspections during the event. Participants also had access to a special shuttle that went to Padre Staples Mall for shopping.

At 4:00 pm many of us lined up for a caravan through Corpus Christi to the Flagship boat cruise on Corpus Christi Bay. This one-hour cruise was included in the registration fee. At 8:30 the Holiday Inn Banquet Room was rockin’ to the tunes of Corpus Christi’s own Aloha Dave and the Touristers for a special 50’s dance party which lasted into the wee hours.

Sunday church musical services were preformed by Bob and Barbara Clawson who drove in with a 1940 Ford hot rod. An event which we had been anticipating since arrival was the Poker Run, which turned out to be a real disappointment. The organizer of this event decided to change the format into a “Poker Walk.” This was a walk around to the different vendors in the swap meet area of the parking lot to collect playing cards with the best hand winning the pot. Needless to say, participation was low. I feel that this part of the weekend event was misrepresented since all the literature stated that it was going to be a poker run. Well, a traditional poker run is done by driving our classic cars to pre-determined locations and collecting cards to make up a poker hand, returning to base to present the hand and finding out who won. Hopefully next year, a true ‘poker run’ will be offered.

We enjoyed our weekend hosted by the Coastal A’s and other than the “poker walk” fiasco, the event was a success.

Next year’s Fun Run will be May 28-30, 2004. For more information contact Bryan or Patsy Craven at 361-993-3839 or email: bryan.craven@sbcglobal.net