A handful of the “Poks Pik” custom-made trophies for the 2018 Uptown Village Show and Shine set for Saturday.
The decades-old Slo Poks car club has some hardware worth winning as part of its annual Uptown Vancouver Show and Shine car show slated for Saturday.
The “Poks Pik” trophies — dozens of awards that sponsor businesses give out to the cars they like the best — have been a part of the Slo Poks’ signature event since the first iteration in 2012. Though there are always a good deal of trophies to hand out — Slo Poks member Paul Springer reckoned 54 were part of 2017’s event — each one was unique.
“This is not one of those plastic bowling trophies,” fellow member Jeff Petersen said. Each one is custom-made by a Slo Poks member. A selection this year features ones made using woodworking and metalworking skills as well as a decorated Stratocaster model guitar which is both functional and decorative.
The custom-made nature of the trophies fits in well with car culture as a whole given the hands-on nature and flair for creativity that hot rodders and handcrafters can display.
“The hot rod guys, they work and build their cars, and so they like the creative aspect of the trophies,” Petersen said. Slo Poks member Michael Finn added that in some cases trophies never make it to the show — a fellow member gets a glance at a particularly enticing piece of hardware and buys it off the creator.
Though all Slo Poks can get in on the trophy-making, some take it a little more serious than others. Several Slo Poks pointed to 82-year-old member Jack Schultz who has made 22 over his tenure.
They also pointed to a rivalry between trophy-makers Springer and Gary Baker, the latter being “the mark to beat” when it came to the club’s own contest for their favorite trophy, Petersen explained.
“The Baker/Springer competition has been fun to watch over the years,” Finn remarked.
When The Reflector spoke to a handful of Slo Poks members their upcoming “alley” — a get-together of members and automobiles every Friday night — would be where the vote for the best trophy happened. In years past, the winner has been given a special prize like best in show.
“It’s usually real tight, I mean it’s like one vote difference between the top, the second, the third,” Springer said.
As to what kinds of cars are eligible for a top trophy — there aren’t any “categories” per se, as Slo Pok Tom Phillips explained that sponsor businesses are the ones calling the shots on the majority of trophies. There are a few specialty trophies, such as chairman’s and mayor’s pick, but generally the selection is purely up to what the business owner thinks is the most worthy — free of any adherence to car classes as would be the case in some shows.
“Our standard response when people say ‘what class’ is ‘we’re Slo Poks, we have no class,’” Finn remarked.
Finn gave an example of the highly subjective competition, recalling at a previous Show and Shine a late 1970s Ford van “patina’d beyond patina” had entered. One sponsor — Matt Brislawn, owner of Briz Loan & Guitar and son of Slo Poks member Mark Brislawn — took a liking to it, giving the ostensible clunker of a vehicle a trophy.
“The trophy was probably worth more than the van,” Finn said.
Show and Shine supports the Hough Elementary School.
