Tell us about this year’s theme.
Rick Fischer, executive director of Rolling into Roanoke: This year’s theme is the 70s. It’s going to be a blast! We’re reliving the 70s vibe, not necessarily just focusing on the cars of the era, but we’re encouraging all cars to come. That’s the nature of our show, from old to new! So the 70s theme is reliving the disco era, the music, the clothes, the fashion, just reliving the vibe.
We're playing a little bit on the tv show That 70s Show. We have a Vista Cruiser that is a representation of the station wagon from the show that we’ve been using for promotion for the event.
In addition to the 70s vibe, I wanted to include famous tv and movie cars from all generations. We have around 20 cars coming already. They aren’t necessarily the ones used in the movies, but they’re reproductions. For example, we have a DeLorean coming. One of our board members, Ty Bennet, has a Scooby Doo Mystery Machine recreation. We will have a Smokey and the Bandit Trans Am, a Hooper Trans Am, the KITT Car from Knight Rider, a Starksy and Hutch Grand Torino recreation, just to name a few.
Tell us about your Friday night kickoff event.
RF: The Friday before Rolling into Roanoke we are having a cruise-in called Rockin’ Cars at the Sweetwater Pavilion from 5:30 to 10 p.m. at a cost of $15 per person. Sweetwater has graciously donated the pavilion for our use and we hired the Sweetwater All-Stars band to perform from 7:30 to 9 p.m. There will be food trucks and a wine and beer truck. If you pre-register for Saturday to show your vehicle in Roanoke, you can get VIP parking in the show corral for the Friday night cruise-in. Anyone can come on Friday, but the VIPs will get more prominent parking in the show car area. This is to encourage pre-registration on our website.
What’s new this year for Saturday?
RF: We’re going to have an area for original-owner cars that have been owned for a minimum of 30 years. These are folks who bought their cars when they were new and still have them. We have at least 12 of them coming.
We also have booked the Indiana Historical Society’s museum on wheels. It’s a semi that opens up with a huge display. The theme is Indiana automotive, covering all the automotive manufacturers and companies from Indiana. They’re going to be at the Friday night cruise-in and at our event all day Saturday, and it is free for attendees.
What makes Roanoke the perfect setting?
RF: Roanoke has that quaint, historic, small-town America feel. It’s been revitalized and preserved, and it is the perfect backdrop for the event. The town and residents, everyone gets behind the show and supports it. You can wander into the shops and eat lunch at the restaurants. Roanoke has it all! We average around 6,000 to 7,000 people who come and go throughout the day to see our 500-plus cars on display, which is rather unheard of in a small town.
I also want to mention we offer VIP parking run by the Concordia Lutheran ROTC. There's also handicapped parking and shuttle service back to your vehicle.
Where are the proceeds going?
RF: We originally operated under the Roanoke Beautification Foundation, which is a 501(c)3. The car show originally spawned from the desire to raise revenue for the town. The board members have decided that they want to branch out and not be so consumed with organizing and running this event, so they encouraged me to do it on my own and create my own committee. So we obtained our incorporation, Rolling into Roanoke, Inc., which is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, and we also have a board of directors made up of 11 great people from Roanoke, Fort Wayne and Auburn.
Our main beneficiary is still the Roanoke community and the Roanoke Beautification Foundation. We invite Turnstone to come and raffle off a Corvette. We help Auburn and the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum and the National Automotive & Truck Museum for their education programs, as well as the ACD Festival. Huntington County, Fort Wayne and Auburn is where we like to give back!
For more information and registration, go to rollingintoroanoke.com and follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
