Terry,
I agree with you. This has always bugged me. It is kind of like having a rock star pay to perform at a concert and then letting the people come see him for free. Seems back wards to me.
So - we in Denver have come up with an event that is free for every one to bring their cars to and free for everyone to see them. The Old Car Council of Colorado started a "Colfax Ave Cruise and Car Festival" last Sept. It is kind of like (except a lot smaller) the Woodward Dream Cruise. Colfax Ave in Denver is 26 miles long so we invite Cruisers to cruise the entire length of it and have several "Festival Sites" set up along the way for them to stop and see some of the other cars at. To raise money to pay expenses we sell sponsorships and advertising in a full color program that is distributed to all the cruisers. Our charity is DARE and they help us with the police in the three citys we cruise through.
Last year was our first year and we had close to 3000 cars show up for it. What a fun day. Check out some of it at our sponsors web site at
KOOL 105 | Greatest Hits of All Time - Homepage. Click on the pictures button and check out the cruise. We are working on a new web site and should have it up and running soon.
We have found that people really enjoy these free, no rules, no awards, and no BS events. Just come and bring your car and see some other neat cars. And have fun.
Dick