The number of car and truck shows that take place in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, every year is on the rise, and why not? It's a great place to have an automotive show. There are plenty of hotel rooms and lots of great restaurants. Besides the large bike shows that take place a couple of times a year, there is a car and truck show known as the Run to the Sun. This show has been growing for the last 13 years, and it has become well-known up and down the east coast.
This show is put on by a small group of street rodders known as the Pee Dee Street Rod Club. Every year, they are amazed at the number of rides that show up for their annual fundraising event. The show takes place in the parking lot behind the large outlet mall on highway 501 going into Myrtle Beach at the bridge over the inland waterway. This show has become one of the most popular opening car show events east of the Mississippi River. Attendance at this year's show was more than 2,500 vehicles and an estimated 120,000 spectators. Additionally, there were cars and trucks from 31 different states.
The quality of the cars and trucks were better then ever. This show is an unveiling for many new creations that were built over the winter months. One such ride was the '48 Chevy truck that belongs to Paula and Glenn Clark of Summerville, South Carolina. This was a striking piece covered in pearl white and bright-yellow paint. There was a crowd of folks around it all weekend. It was such a great piece that the Pee Dee Street Rodders chose it as Truck of the Year for the show, and it will be featured on the show T-shirt along with the Car of the Year at next year's event.
This show has become so popular, that it has caught the attention of some of the large street rod associations such as the Goodguys and the National Street Rod Association. Representatives from these organizations were on hand to present awards from their associations. Will Drake and Gordon Walker were also there representing NSRA, handing out two safety awards and three Pro's Picks, and Johnny Walker from Goodguys was there to present five plaques for outstanding rides.
Drawing for door prizes went on all day with some really great prizes given out, donated by the some 60 vendors that were on hand. Since this is such a large event and there were so many different types of vehicles on hand, it was impossible to class and judge all of them. So, the club picks out 25 sponsors from the outlet mall and vendors to pick and present plaques. It is really something when so many people will show up for 25 plaques. This show is just a big gathering for people who love cars and trucks. One of the big activities of the day was the 50/50 drawing that took place. More than $20,000 in tickets were sold and four winners were drawn to receive $2,500 each.
As we mentioned, this is mainly a fundraiser for the Pee Dee Street Rod Club. This year, more than $60,000 was raised and divided up to such organizations as the Children Miracle Network, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the McClouds Children's Hospital in Florence, South Carolina, the Christian Rodders Association, and the Horry County Sheriff's Department, which was a big help to the club in putting on this event.
By the time you read this, plans for the 2004 edition of the Run to the Sun will be in the works. It takes a lot of planning and coordination to put on this show. For information on next year's show, give club president Fred Turner a call at (843) 667-9702, or his right-hand man David Rogers at (843) 389-3434. We hope to see you there.