There are a few things you should never do at a car show.

Don’t touch the paint. Don’t lean on somebody’s hood. And whatever you do, don’t call City of Cold Lake Councillor Bill Parker’s Pontiac GTO a Mustang.

I learned that last one the hard way while catching up with the Cold Lake Cruisers outside the Cold Lake Energy Centre.

I remembered getting a picture with Bill in his car last year. The problem was, I remembered it being a Mustang.

“I wouldn’t be caught dead in a Mustang,” Bill fired back.

That got his blood flowing.

Apparently, calling Bill’s Pontiac a Mustang is the automotive equivalent of showing up at a Canadiens game wearing a Leafs jersey. I may have also lost funding for every event I plan from here until retirement, but we’ll deal with that at budget time.

Once we got that cleared up, we got back to the real reason we were there: celebrating 26 years of the Cold Lake Cruisers.

Twenty-six years of cars and community

The Cold Lake Cruisers have watched their annual show grow over the years. What people see on show day is a parking lot packed with polished vehicles, music, food and familiar faces.

What they don’t see are the months of work required to put it together.

“Months of planning. Months and months of planning,” one of the club organizers told me. “A lot of reaching out to our community supporters as well, and a lot of coordination within our club and also within community partners.”

Club treasurer Trevor said the final week involved running around, collecting donations and getting products ready for the show.

In other words, while the rest of us were deciding which car we wanted to pretend was ours, the Cruisers were doing the work.

The club also uses the event to raise money for community causes. The Cold Lake Ice were there selling tickets, volunteers were helping wherever needed and community supporters once again stepped forward.

“We have a ball. We have a blast,” the club shared. “We raise a bit of money even for some of the community causes as well.”

The Cruisers always show up

M.D. of Bonnyville Councillor Ben Fadeyiw was there with a vehicle of his own.

Ben told me cars are his pastime when council business gives him a moment to breathe. He also wanted to support a club that regularly supports other events around the Lakeland.

“The Cold Lake Cruisers have been a big supporter of the Kinosoo Ridge car show,” Ben said. “They always come out, so you know what? It’s a little bit of paying back, and I always enjoy it.”

That’s what these events are really about.

Yes, the vehicles bring everybody into the parking lot. But it’s the people who keep these shows going year after year.

Bill Parker is one of the founding members of the Cold Lake Cruisers. He said the club has always tried to create something enjoyable for Cold Lake.

“We’ve always tried to produce something for the city and for everybody here as best we can,” Bill said.

Volunteer John admitted the club doesn’t always get a huge turnout for meetings. Funny how everybody suddenly remembers they’re a member when the cars, food and music arrive.

“We don’t have a lot of people showing up for our meetings, but I tell you, they come out in droves when we put on a show,” John said. “Lots of helpers. Incredible.”

I also asked John to name the best vehicle he had seen that day.

He thought about it for a moment before choosing his own 1955 Chevy stepside pickup.

That is the confidence I need in my life.

Barry brought the wife’s car

M.D. of Bonnyville Reeve Barry Kalinski brought a 1965 Chevelle Malibu to the show.

It belongs to his wife, and there’s a pretty great story behind it.

“My wife was born in 1965, so on her 50th birthday, we bought her this car and gave it to her,” Barry told me.

That’s a big birthday gift.

Most husbands grab a card, some flowers and whatever gift set is sitting closest to the checkout. Barry showed up with an entire Chevelle.

The rest of us never had a chance.

Naturally, we ended up talking about Highway 28

I had the M.D. reeve, an M.D. councillor and a parking lot full of vehicles in front of me.

Of course I brought up Highway 28.

Barry said the M.D. continues lobbying the provincial government for improvements, but the lack of progress is wearing council’s patience pretty thin.

“It’s insane how we keep lobbying the government all the time, and we get nowhere,” Barry said. “A little bit ticked off on that.”

Ben chairs the Northeast Alberta Alliance for Growth and Opportunity’s Highway 28 committee. He said the group meets quarterly with Alberta’s transportation minister to keep the issue in front of the province and hold the government accountable for its commitments.

“There’s some engineering work, but you know what? I think it is the most over-engineered highway ever,” Ben said. “We’d like to see some money on the table.”

He said the group wants to see serious funding for engineering and land purchases before it can believe the highway is truly moving forward.

It was a fitting place to have the conversation. Nothing makes you appreciate a bad highway quite like looking across a parking lot full of restored vehicles with expensive paint and carefully tuned suspensions.

One good Highway 28 pothole and suddenly your classic car has become a parts car.

The youngest car fans weren’t forgotten

The show also had something for the kids.

Club member Jim handed out free colouring books filled with trucks, cars and Jeeps. Young visitors could find him beside his red and white Ford Mustang Cobra II.

I asked Jim whether he could stay between the lines.

“Never,” he said.

Finally, somebody at the car show with a skill level I could match.

After 26 years, the Cold Lake Cruisers continue to show that their club is about more than polished chrome and horsepower.

It’s about volunteers. It’s about friendships. It’s about supporting the community and sharing the stories behind the vehicles.

And it’s about remembering the difference between a Pontiac GTO and a Mustang.

I know now, Bill.