Do you like old cars? If you do, come to the Capitola Rod & Custom Classic Car Show this summer. There you’ll see lined up in Capitola Village dozens of shiny, colorful, and curvy old cars. Viewing them all in one place is a quick walk through the history of the automobile. Here is displayed in one place the evolving style and technology of cars.
If you’ve never been to the Capitola Classic Car Show, I encourage you to come see it for yourself at Esplanade Park this June 11 & 12, 2022.
However, this article is not just about the car show, but more importantly, about the people behind it and why they put it on.
One of the classics at the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in Dearborn, Michigan. If you can’t get to Michigan, the next best thing may be the Classic Car Show in Capitola Village. • Photo Credit: Jondi Gumz
The Capitola Public Safety & Community Service Foundation has put on the Capitola Classic Car Show since 2005. The Foundation was also started in 2005 by a group of Capitola citizens with the mission of increasing direct citizen participation in community safety. These citizens and the city worked together to establish the Foundation. It is now a nonprofit organization with a board of 16 members made up of local residents, business owners, employees, and police officers of Capitola. The members work together to support the Capitola Police Department, community policing, and other community services in Santa Cruz County. In order to raise its necessary funding the Foundation relies on donations and events such as the Classic Car Show.
The Classic Car Show is one of the Foundation’s major fundraising events. The money raised is used to sponsor and fund efforts to improve public safety and community services. The recipients have included the Capitola Police Department, the Capitola Volunteers in Police Service program, the Neighborhood Watch Program, Capitola Lifeguard Program, the Annual National Night Out event, Herb Ross Award, the Fallen Officers Association, and Operation Surf for wounded veterans. And many more.
All of these efforts contribute to the ongoing effort to sustain community policing.
Community policing is a two-way street; the police need to be engaged with the community and the community needs to be engaged with the police. In the process, relationships and trust are built.
In Capitola, the Foundation is the keystone to that engagement. There have been many people who have volunteered their time and talents to make their community safer. Its hard to single out any one of them.
However, there is one person in particular who represents the spirit of community engagement. Her name is Lin Banks and she is the recently retired president of the Foundation. She has volunteered with the Foundation since its inception and has made our community a better place for her efforts.
In her own words, “one of my greatest desires has been to serve toward the betterment of this town that I love so much.”.
Thank you Lin Banks for making Capitola a better town!
So, in closing, if you go to the Classic Car Show, enjoy the automobiles and the other sights. However, keep in mind the people who bring it to you and why. If you would like to be a sponsor for the Classic Car Show or make a donation you may go to their website, www.capitolafoundation.org, for more information.
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Sam Storey is mayor of Capitola. Contact him at samforcapitola@yahoo.com.