It was the fall of 1967 when Don Fender first started teaching in the automotive technology program at Northeastern that an Auto Tech Club was started. That following January 1968, the first auto show was held at the college. While this meant to be annual show has hit a few misses over the years, the 2015 show, to be held this weekend, certainly continues what has been a pretty faithful 47-year tradition. The Northeastern Junior College Auto Show will be held this Saturday and Sunday on the college’s North Campus located off Pioneer Road. The exact address is 318 Hagen Street.
This year’s queen has been named and she is Katrina Sanchez, a freshman theatre major from Colorado Springs. A graduate of Vista Ridge High School, she competed for this year’s title for no other reason than that she “loves pretty cars.” She will be at the show, mingling with the crowd and on Sunday, she will help hand out the awards during the special ceremony that takes place at 3 p.m.
Sanchez ventured out into the wind late last week to have her photo taken with a 2014 Shelby GT500 owned by Marvin Stanley of Sterling. Stanley will have this car and a 1961 Galaxy Sunliner in this year’s show. These cars have never been exhibited locally until this show. Stanley is a lab assistant for the auto technology program at the college.
The students have worked hard to continue the tradition of the auto show. They are expecting a higher number than usual of motorcycles in 2015. This year they expanded the show to not only include the model car competition, but also an exhibit of die cast cars and trucks and equipment.
The show opens at 10 a.m. on Saturday and runs until 8 p.m. It will also be open on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Cost of admission for the general public is $3 for adults and $1 for children 12 and under. The show is entirely held inside where attendees can take their time meandering through the big shops and really looking over what’s on display. Those who attend are asked to vote for what they think is the best of show.
In addition to the Auto Show, the college’s diesel students will be hosting a toy show in the adjacent building on Saturday only from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. The students report that they have sold more tables than usual for the toy show and expect it to be slightly larger than it has been in recent years. Concessions will be available at the event.