Sun shines on His Place's car show

(5/14) The His Place car show established to raise funds for two local institutions held its third annual event May 12 on the grounds of the Mother Seton School.

The show was founded by the family-owned and operated His Place repair shop, 20 Creamery Road.

Unlike last year’s car show, the May 12 event was free of threatening rain, and was held beneath clear, sunny skies tempered with a mild breeze.

Bill Kuhn, III, owner and president of His Place, said last year that attendance was down at the 2011 event, likely the result of continually impending rain which hovered over the whole region literally putting a damper on area activities.

During this year’s show, Kuhn was elated at the numbers of vehicles turning out, noting that the participants were several times that which had attended the 2011 event. Around noon he said, “We’re pushing toward a hundred (vehicles). They just keep on rolling in.”

The car show was not designed to be a money-making event, but rather to raise funds for the Mother Seton School and the Emmitsburg Osteopathic Primary Care Center.

In spite of last year’s weather-stricken event, Kuhn managed to raise $1,200 to $1,500. As far as his goal for the May 12 event, he said he would like to see the event raise “as much as we can possibly get.”

Dozens of vehicles displayed, including cars, trucks and a vintage Vigilant Hose Company fire engine, covered a period of time from the antique to 50s and 60s hotrods.

Rows of vehicles lined-up with their hoods open looked like hungry alligators awaiting their feeding at a reptile sanctuary. The pampered automobiles and trucks presented a dazzling array of colors from the solemn blacks and grays of the Depression Era to the gaudy bright colors of the Age of Hot Rods.

Also featured was 1950s and 1960s music permeating the air, as well as a flea market offering an array of collectibles and wares (the collectibles-obsessed reporter picked up a still-sealed-in-the-original-package set of Accoutrements‘ “Horrified B-Movie Victims” for and “irresistible“ $5.00).

Dating back to the ‘60s itself, His Place was founded in 1969 by Bill Kuhn. Sr. After having been established a repair shop, the business soon began to also become involved in the restoration of classic cars, especially Corvettes. Founder Kuhn, Sr. continues to serve as the His Place business advisor.