23rd All Wheels Weekend Sees Attendance Rebound

DAYTON – The 23rd annual All Wheels Weekend was a success, as numbers for the famous Show & Shine on Saturday returned to normal.

Last year's weekend was beset by wet weather throughout the three days, while this year saw wind and rain on Friday evening during the downtown cruise. However, sunny skies prevailed Saturday and Sunday, and the number of cars downtown recovered.

"Turnout was good, but we've had larger years," said Bette Lou Crothers, committee chair for All Wheels. "It was average, but not above average."

The Men's Drag Race that took place downtown on Saturday saw large attendance. "We had a great turnout for the Men's Drag Race," Crothers said.

The Demolition Derby Saturday was held evening at the Columbia County Fairgrounds. While the Show & Shine attendance could be described as average, this was not the case for the derby, which saw an amazing turnout.

"The demo (derby) was humongous. It was huge. It was a great turnout this year," Crothers said.

The grandstands were packed, with some people struggling to find seats at the 5 p.m. start time. The fairgrounds was also playing host to various food and merchandise vendors.

The Father's Day breakfast and AWW golf tournament at the Touchet Valley Golf Course were held Sunday morning. The tournament suffered a slight drop in entrants this year, although this was not likely due to the weather.

"We had a few less teams at the golf tournament. It was still a wonderful tournament even with the fewer numbers," Crothers said.

The annual $10,000 putting contest was held again this year during the golf tournament.

"There was no winner in the putting contest again this year, but someone will make that putt one of these times," Crothers said.