THE SLO POK Show & Shine car show will be Sat., Aug. 18, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., on Main Street in Uptown Vancouver. Usually about 150 vehicles are registered for the event and a portion of the proceeds will go to the Hough Foundation for support of area schools.
The annual Uptown Village Show & Shine car show, hosted by the Slo Poks, will be held this year Sat., Aug. 18, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., on Main Street in Uptown Vancouver.
Registration at the gate for the event is $15 and a school supply donation. A portion of the proceeds will go to the Hough Foundation for support of area schools. The event is open to all and spectators are free. Any vehicles are eligible to register, including custom hot rods, customs, bikes, collector cars, traditional rods and more. The Uptown Vancouver merchants will also be open, including Gala Gowns, Discovery Shop and numerous others.
There will be famous “Poks Pik” custom handmade trophies for the winners of the show, and there will also be plenty of freebies and prizes.
The Show & Shine Car Show usually draws in about 150 registered vehicles.
The Slo Poks car club was formed in 1952 by a group of Vancouver high school boys. The original club roster began with seven members. Attendance was mandatory at Monday night meetings, miss three in a row and you were out of the club. In the beginning, there were only two requirements for membership. The first was that each member owned his own hot rod. The second required interested members to attend a meeting and explain why they wanted to be a Slo Pok.
On March 25, 1954 the Slo Poks incorporated. Soon after, they joined the Northwest Timing Association (NTA), and began racing on area airstrips. In 1955, meetings were held at a Fruit Valley firehouse. Racing gained importance.
Legend has it that the current club colors of green and white were used in defiance of a 1970s racing superstition. At that time, it was considered bad luck in the United States to paint a race car green or to wear green in the racing pits. In their true renegade fashion, the Slo Poks, with their “I will show you attitude,” wore the color green, broke speed records and showed the world that this color was a winner. Today, members, old and new, still wear the traditional green letterman’s jacket.
In the 1970s, the Slo Pok’s moved their meetings to an alley behind Smith’s Muffler Shop in Hazel Dell. The Friday night meetings, referred to as “the alley,” continue today. Only now, “alley night” is hosted by different members of the club each week.
In 1979, the Slo Poks hosted a car show. The following year, 1980, the eruption of Mount St. Helen’s threatened to cancel the show. After this, the car show became known as the “Ash Bash.” This annual one-day event drew hundreds of cars each year with thousands of visitors. The day included live music, a raffle, kid’s games, thousands of dollars in prizes and free hot dogs and Pepsi.
Today, with a club roster of more than 115 members, the Slo Poks are still going strong. Members are still racing on area race tracks. They are active in the community, participating in organized car shows, including the Show & Shine, area high school student car shows, rod runs and other community focused programs.
Donations have been made to various children’s charities and school districts in the Clark County area.
For more information on the Show & Shine, contact Michael Finn at (360) 281-5333 or Bob Synoground at (360) 903-5432.
