2022 Charleston Boulevard Rod Run and Doo Wop

[Frosty]

The 16th Annual Charleston Boulevard Rod Run and Doo Wop is scheduled for October 5-8, 2022.

http://www.charlestonwvcarshow.org/

 

Dualquad Pete and I are registered for this show. It will be the first time since COVID hit that we have been able to get together at our favorite annual event. Pete will be in Sherman and I will be in Black Beauty.

 

 

[indymanjoe]

Looks like a great time i know its one of your favorite shows. 

[Frosty]

Yes it is Joe. In addition to the Scenic Route 60 tour, the fireworks, and free concerts, it is a joy to walk the boulevard and look at difference cars - 1000 strong. The river back drop is very cool.

[Frosty]

I'm in Charleston WV with Dualquadpete. Today I am going to do the Scenic Route 60 tour today, up to the New River Gorge Bridge, lunch at the historic Glen Ferris Inn along the Kanawha River. My buddy Kenny is driving and we are taking his '70 El Camino (Ute is Aussie spek). He said he wants to "scare the shit out of me". I said if I'm not screaming like a school girl, it doesn't count.

[JUSTA6]

7 hours ago, Frosty said:

I'm in Charleston WV with Dualquadpete. Today I am going to do the Scenic Route 60 tour today, up to the New River Gorge Bridge, lunch at the historic Glen Ferris Inn along the Kanawha River. My buddy Kenny is driving and we are taking his '70 El Camino (Ute is Aussie spek). He said he wants to "scare the shit out of me". I said if I'm not screaming like a school girl, it doesn't count.

3 in a Camino with buckets?   You'll be in the back,  Kenny has this one!   Pete...Ya know how much we like pic's, Nuff said.

[64 kiwi boni]

Yeah 

[Frosty]

Pics are coming. I will start posting later today. I left Charleston and got home yesterday. Pete is leaving today and it is two-day adventure for him. He won't be home, back in Canuckistan until tomorrow.

Pete did have the best line of the weekend though. We were in line for the Mayor's Pararde on Wednesday when he said "You might be a redneck if....you think the last line of the Star Spangled Banner is 'Gentlemen - start your engines!'"

[JUSTA6]

Glad you had a safe trip.

[Frosty]

https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/rod-run-doo-wop-returns-to-charleston-west-virginia/

If you look close (and quickly) - you will see two FP member's cars in this video. I was setup too. I walked back to Black Beauty and I find a Channel 13 camera guy there in front of Black Beauty and Sherman. I get interviewed. I am still looking for video footage of that interview.

https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/rod-run-doo-wop-brings-traffic-changes-to-charleston/

Black Beauty was parked just to the left of the El Camino in this shot. The El Camino belongs to my buddy from Virginia. He is the same one that had to bail on my after 2 days on Power Tour due to mechanical problems in his buddy's GTO. I got to drive the Elco. More on that later.

Edited October 10, 2022 by Frosty

[Frosty]

Here is someone else's video of the concluding fireworks show from the car show.

 

[Frosty]

Wednesday - Mayor's Parade / Home Depot Cruise-In

I arrived in town early so I could get in line for the Mayor's Parade (e.g. police escorted parade) from Magic Island in Charleston to the Home Depot in South Charleston. This is where I got to see Sherman up close and in person for the first time. Oh yeah, Dualquadpete and his lady, Sharon, were there too!

Black Beauty in line for the parade.

Sherman - with the top down! Car looks great from 20 feet.

AN '81 Turbo Trans Am

Let the parade begin!

Police escort - in cars or on motorcycles

[Wrongway]

As always, great pictures Frosty one.

[Frosty]

More photos from Wednesday. I won an igloo cooler in the driver's raffle too.

Black Beauty and Sherman next to each other at the Cruise In.

My buddy Charlie (on the right) getting interview by Channel 3, WSAZ, with his brother-in-law Will (on the left).

Charlie owns this uber-rare 1967 Dodge Coronet with a 440 Magnum, triple gold. He's owned it for over 50 years.

I love the Harley Davidson fuel tank air cleaner.

Rat Fink lives! Yes!

Sadly I was told that the wife of this car owner has stage 4 breast cancer and this was probably her last car show.

There is still COVID out there people - even this bug masks up!

[Frosty]

Thursday - Opening Day of the Show

 

From my hotel room - a good view of Haddad Park

This 70th Anniversary Corvette belongs to our buddy and the car show president, Jack Jarvis.

Sherman looking good on the boulevard.

The Hunley & Boggs drag team was here!

Most Pontiac guys put tigers on thier cars, not this guy. He puts a goat on his "goat".

[Frosty]

Friday - Scenic Route 60 Cruise - Lunch at the Glen Ferris Inn and the Bridge Walk

Day #2 of the show had me and my buddy Kenny heading out early Friday morning to do the Scenic Route 60 (the Route 66 of the East) tour up to the New River Gorge Bridge. Our lunch stop would be at the Glen Ferris Inn, which was built prior to the Civil War and is reported to be haunted. It sits on the Kanawha River, just above the Kanawha Falls.

Cars were limited this year, so Kenny and I team up in his El Camino. It's a 454-powered TKO 5-speed powered brute ute! He wanted to "scare the shit out of me!" I told him "if I'm not screaming like a school girl, it don't count!"

Here the cars on the cruise

Ken's Elco - sweet ride. I later got to drive it!

2015 Corvette owned by my buddy Charlie - who also owns the Coronet. This is the same Corvette I was invited to Bowling Green to watch them take delivery of several years ago.

This guy was an absolute ass. He had siren and lights on this rig and was running and blocking lanes of traffic for us. That's nice but first of all - he's not a volunteer with the show, second - he's not authorized to do that on behalf of the show! Third of all - he tailgated on the back of the Chyrsler 300s bumper the entire drive back from the bridge back to Charleston. Show officials gave him an earful.

The ride to Glen Ferris Inn

Leaving Charleston with the state capitol in our sites!

Across the river from the state capitol is the University of Charleston.

Getting off the expressway and onto Hwy 60.

Welcome to coal country!

Lots of kudzu here.

 

Ride to the New River Gorge Bridge

Lansing WV is home to the New River Gorge Bridge and the Bridge Walk

We've arrived to do the Bridge Walk!

.

The Bridge Walk

Now comes the highlight of the trip! We get to walk under the New River Gorge Bridge. A whooping 851 feet above the New River. We are strapped into the unique safety harness that runs along the catwalk that is underneath the roadway. The whole thing shakes as cars and trucks run over the road.

Ken and I getting ready to walk down to the catwalk

Fayette Station Bridge - was replaced by the New River Gorge Bridge. A great photo op is to drive down to this bridge and look back at the New River Gorge Bridge.

The area is home to large birds of prey.

The New River and the nearby Gauley River are home to white water rafting and canoeing.

At the conclusion of the Bridge Walk, we took a shuttle bus back to the base camp area and did the souvenir shop thing....

As I stated earlier, Ken let me drive the Elco part of the way back to Charleston. It has been awhile since I drove a car with a clutch. It drove well but I would have like a shifter closer to the driver. Ah well, it's still a fun car!

 

[64 kiwi boni]

Great pictures Frosty 

[Frosty]

Saturday, Finale Day

Remembering Randy Easter

At 12 noon was a remembrance service to Randy Easter. Randy was one of the founders of the Rod Run and Doo Wop, and it's first president. It was Randy that I met back in 2008 when I first came to Charleston. He was running around with his head cut off but he still made some time to see if my wife and I were enjoying ourselves. He really made us feel welcome. Later he would look after my wife and stepson when I had my near death experience in WV. He became a real friend to me and my family. Sadly, Randy died of cancer in mid-August after nearly a decade of health issues. I was asked to say some words at the remembrance because of the letter I sent to Randy's Celebration of Life. 

Randy's Mercury Montenegro

All the car clubs and associations Randy belonged to.

Randy's wife, Johnna, and his cousin Jerry Easter. 

Family and friends surround Johnna and her family.

From the DJ booth perspective, the final speaker is Randy's son, Jim.

This DeSoto belongs to my buddy Lloyd - it also has a Firedome Hemi in it.

A pair of father and son rat rods

This Chevrolet was over the top. It is clearly a six figure car. It has an all new chassis under it as well.

GM never made a Monte Carlo convertible. So he hacked up a Lemans convertible to make it. It is still a Chevrolet VIN though.  It has a '59 Impala dash though.

This Studebaker was a dedication to our troops and WWII. I loved the helmet air cleaner and the canteen overflow bottle. Subtle and cool uses.

A pair of vintage Jeeps

I've never seen a Jeep fire truck before.

This REO truck is now enjoying life as a flatbed hauler. The above pictures tell the story.

Here is another look at Ken's El Camino. He has run several Hot Rod Power Tours will it. Next year, he will run this on Power Tour, he promises.

Ken left the show before noon to return to Virginia. So his stop was empty when I took this photo in the late afternoon.

The featured band was the Avalons - a Doo Wop cover band out of Ohio

Time for the fireworks finale!

2nd street bridge - we are going to light this sucker up!

The fireworks lasted 15 minutes. The sternwheels then horned their approval for 5 minutes.

Thus came to a close the 16th annual Charleston Boulevard Rod Run and Doo Wop.

I was later asked to help load up the lighting and sound equipment so I didn't get to bed until around midnight.

 

A question lingers over this show. Will there be a show in 2023? We don't know. There are several reasons for concern. First, many of the show's key board members are tired and they want to step down - time for new blood they say. Most have been around since the beginning. You can't really blame them. They've been doing it for 16 years (17 if you include the year it was cancelled due to COVID).

Second, Mayor Amy Goodwin has proposed a new walk/bike path down Kanawha Blvd. She has received federal grants for the design already. If this goes in, several hundred parking spots along the boulevard will be lost. The show's "Racers Row" area underneath the I-64 interstate was lost a few years ago when the Mayor decide that area needed to be turned into a skateboard park instead. So Mayor Goodwin isn't exactly friendly towards the Doo Wop. She would rather put the city's money back into the Sternwheel Regatta.

The town of South Charleston would love to host the Doo Wop. The question is where would they host it? There are only 2 hotels in S. Charleston and none are near any potential venue at the moment. 

Should the Doo Wop fold, I am certain the City of Charleston will try to host some sort of car show. The Doo Wop generates 14-30 million in revenue, based on 2014 figures I last saw. I realize COVID has probably hurt those figures somewhat, but it is still a self funding proposition for the city. However, the rights to the name Doo Wop does not belong to the city, so any new show would have to be a new name, new organizer, and essentially start from scratch.

[Frosty]

Well, we now know the answer to the question, WIll there be a show in 2023? The simple answer is no. The Doo Wop is no more. Dualquad Pete and I are saddened by the loss of this show. It was one of the highlights of our car show season and we got to spend time with our West Virginia family and friends. Now we will have to find other reasons to head back to WV.

I personally want to thank all the men and women who organized, funded, and worked these shows over the many years. I attended 14 of the 16 shows. I had a great time and I will miss it.

 

Here is the official announcement from the organizers.

[6704gto]

Seem like itbe a good time

[Frosty]

This was an awesome show that was on the banks of Kanawha River in downtown Charleston.. It ranged from 600-1000 cars at it's peak. In the early years we had stationary burn out contests until the neighborhood raised a fuss and something about insurance liability. We had monster truck demos for awhile too. Fireworks on Saturday night after the concert was a staple of the show. It was a great car show. I truly miss it and the friends that I made during this time of life.