Street Machine Weekend back in the driver’s seat

By Herald on July 9, 2021.

Car enthusiasts were out to enjoy the display of unique vehicles of all types making their way along Mayor Magrath Drive for the “uncontrolled cruise” Friday as the unofficial start of Street Machine Weekend. Herald photo by Al Beeber

Dale Woodard – Lethbridge Herald

The Lethbridge Street Wheelers Street Machine Weekend is back in gear.

After taking place in a limited capacity last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s Street Machine Weekend is back with the pedal down.

Although there’s still a bit of pandemic spillover as Alberta moved to Stage 3 of lifted pandemic restrictions at the beginning of the month, Street Wheelers president Alex Dewar noted the excitement of being back in the driver’s seat.

“We did the best we could last year, at least having as big of a weekend because it was still fairly COVID-safe to just drive around in your car with friends,” he said. “But a lot of people are really excited for this to happen. We have a bit of a modified weekend. We were given the go-ahead pretty late with the restrictions and whatnot.”

Last year, the Street Machine Weekend was limited to an uncontrolled cruise.

“There was a lot of contact for registration, so we had to limit it,” said Dewar. “As a group we decided to cancel the whole weekend instead of trying to piece together things. We had an uncontrolled cruise that just happened even though it wasn’t really a part of the club. We had some custom shirts we made that we sold, kind of a blitz sale we posted on our Facebook page, some special edition shirts and stickers we made. It was just something to keep the collectors happy with the shirts and apparel. They could still get their hands on that.”

Last night the uncontrolled cruise took place mainly down Mayor Magrath Drive with Street Machine participants putting their vehicles on display with the regular traffic.

The activities continue today with the SMW Poker Run at Pure Lethbridge Casino followed by the Show And Shine, which will be held Sunday at Galt Gardens.

“We have the Poker Run this year instead of the 100-footer, so a lot of people are excited for that,” said Dewar. “It’s just a different event to bring some more variety to the club. We’ve been talking to a few people and they’re all pretty excited.”

The Poker Run starts at Pure Casino Lethbridge. Registration is from 10 a.m. to noon and is open to classic cars and trucks and special interest vehicles. The registration fee is $20 — cash only — with the event running until 3 p.m., taking participating motors to five mystery locations within a 20-minute drive from the casino.

“It’s a charity poker run event,” said Dewar. “We’re keeping the poker stops a secret until you actually start the event just to keep some mystery to it and to not have an official route or anything so there aren’t too many cars in one location.”

At each location the driver will receive a card and whoever has the best hand at the end wins.

Third prize wins a $500 gift card to a minor sponsor of their choice. Second and first place receives a $1,000 and $2,000 gift card, respectively, to the major sponsor of their choice.

There are also plenty more door prizes up for grabs, which will be given out at the Show and Shine Sunday.

A charity BBQ will also be taking place at one of the mystery poker stops.

The Show and Shine goes on display Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Galt Gardens.

The entry fee is $10.

“Guys are rolling in at 6 the morning, so we’ll have registration probably until noon and then we’ll do trophies at 3 p.m. for all the different categories, said Dewar, adding the Show and Shine will be business as usual as its been in years past.

“It’s going to be a pretty open event. We’re going to have vendors as normal on 5th Street that we’ve usually had. There will be merchandise sales and those sorts of things. It’s the typical Show and Shine as it’s always been.

“People can come and go as they please and if they want to see the trophy presentation that will take place at about 3 p.m.”

As the Street Machine Weekend drives out of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dewar said he expects up to 2,000 vehicles taking part this weekend.

“I know in the past with the controlled cruise we were limited to about 830 and we do turn away about the same amount just to keep variety. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is anywhere from 1,500 to 2,000 vehicles show up.”

For more information on Street Machine Weekend, visit http://www.streetwheelers.com/events.

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