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Nearly 500 cars, hundreds of dogs and an untold number of people descended on the tiny town of Beaver Creek over the weekend for AutoMania at SpringBrooke Events and Golf and Grille.
SpringBrooke owner Rick Gourley bought the AutoMania brand when it didn’t return to Brandon after the last show two years ago.
He staged the 2020 event at SpringBrooke as a way to revive AutoMania and call attention to his facility and the community.
Despite what he described as “amazingly oppressive heat,” Gourley said he felt good about the weekend.
“People loved the music, the cars and the food trucks,” he said. “All in all, we’re calling it a huge success.”
A surge of classic cars, tractors and motorcycles arrived in the morning, with another round midday, but by 3 p.m. temperatures had climbed into the mid 90s with a heat index over 100 degrees.
Gourley said he understood why some didn’t stay. “When the temperature is 96, there’s an effect the sun has when you’re not in the shade,” he said.
For the nearly 200 dogs who participated in the Dock Dog competition, they were prepared with cover from the sun and fans when they weren’t in the water.
Gourley said he and his staff learned a few things from their first AutoMania and are already planning the 2021 event in Beaver Creek.
“Next year we’ll fine-tune it and it will be bigger and better,” he said. “It helped to bring an awareness to our facility and our community, so we’re very happy and will absolutely do it again.”