Annual St. Jude Car Show features classic autos, sets records in this year's event
The annual St. Jude Car Show in Plaquemine has showcased classic cars, particularly Corvettes, since its inception in 1998, but now the show itself has landed a special distinction.
The 26th annual show put the event over the top in donations.
The contributions from participants and other donors put the event over the $1 million mark in donations for the St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.
The show was the brainchild of the late Joe and Fay Colletti, members of the Baton Rouge Corvette Club and enthusiasts of the iconic Chevrolet model, which first rolled into showrooms in 1954.
Hundreds of raffle tickets were sold, and every cent of the event goes to the St. Jude Children’s Hospital.
It has also become a tradition for the City of Plaquemine.
“They have such a great facility here, and they don’t charge us a cent,” Bobby Cashio said. “We couldn’t get a facility this nice – it would cost us a fortune.”
In the process, the St. Jude Corvette Show has made the Baton Rouge Corvette Club the largest donating car club in America that supports St. Jude.
“Every nickel we make – including all the hamburgers and jambalaya – goes to St. Jude,” Cashio said.
It doesn’t hurt that Corvettes have an aura unlike perhaps any other sports car.
“Last year was the 70th anniversary,” he said. “The Corvettes are special because they’re an American original, and they remain a favorite this very day.”
Sharing the spotlight were two top winners – one who claimed the top prize for the first time, and another who has been a perennial winner in the event.
Don Zuelke was the top winner at this year’s event. He won Best of Show for his 1948 Ford Thames, a rare model that was manufactured in an assembly plant in Great Britain.
His love for the car came almost by accident. He went to the drag strip with his older brother on weekends in the the 1950s when he first saw a Thames.
At 10 years old, he fell in love with the car.
“This little car was very popular on the drag strips in the late 1950s and early 1960s,” said Thames, 78. “I said one day I would build one, and after my two sons grew up and moved out, I got me one.”
It was a hobby that kept him busy after hours from his day job in the Polygraph Division for the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office.
He had entered the show for five years, but he had not received recognition until this year’s show.
“It was worth the wait,” Zuelke said.
Meanwhile, lifelong Plaquemine residents Ronnie and Cindy Rodrigue won first place in the 1955-68 division for a 1962 black Chevrolet Impala. It was the same model that one him the first prize last year.
“I just feel blessed to be honored with this every year,” Rodrigue said. “I’ve loved working on automotives all my life, and it’s such a great feeling to be honored for doing something I love.”