The 2016 Gypsum Daze Car Show

Strange name for a town in Colorado, eh? Not the craziest town name in Colorado, tho. The town of Gypsum is noted for the mining of gypsum a mile from the town and the American Gypsum plant that manufactures drywall/wallboard there. Over 6,447 people live there and the whole town turns out, plus everyone that lives close when the town puts on Gypsum Daze – July 13-16, 2016.

A parade, a piano concerto, a revival of sorts (songs of praise), a $300 3 on 3 basketball championship, a talent show, a dance ‘Stampede,” a pancake breakfast, a CW concert for only a $15.00 ticket, 5K run/walk, a line of vendors selling everything you can imagine, a kiddie carnival and the car show.

For the third year in a row, ‘The Gypsum Creek Cruisers’ hosted a great show and possibly next year, they’re going to have to find a new place to hold the show as the park was literally packed to the hilt.

Gypsum Daze Car Show — Overall shot of the car show.

But it wasn’t just a car show, it was a huge car show for a small town -142 cars attended from as far away as Vernal, Utah- 175 miles; Grand Junction-110 miles; Denver-150 miles, Texas and many of the smaller towns close in.

Of course, a local car show wouldn’t be one without inviting the local 4x clubs and the local rock crawler club. Gypsum is smack in the middle of the Rocky Mountains and for those clubs, it’s an ideal place to live and to have fun. Small town shows are sometimes better than large shows – registration fees are low-$20.00, whether you pre-registered or were late.

The Goodie Bags-yes, bags – two of them, filled with goodies that far surpassed the registration fee: a gallon of windshield washer, an 18 ounce can of aerosol glass cleaner, a roll of paper towels, a nice LED flashlight (worth more than $20.00!), a water bottle, a bottle of water, some candy, two ballpoints, an emergency tempered glass breaker for the glove compartment, a cozie, a small air gauge, hand lotion, a bar of soap, Wendy’s coupons and some local literature so you could explore the town.

Even the bags themselves were cloth, ideal for the grocery store! Not a bad deal but the door prizes were even better. Everyone won at least one and as Mayor Steve Carter (the emcee of the event) said, “IF you didn’t get a prize, you weren’t paying attention!”

These were not inexpensive door prizes either – jack stands, tool sets, car care kits, bar stools, creepers and the list goes on. NAPA donated two $400.00 battery chargers which were auctioned off to help pay for the school’s cheerleaders plus a parts washer and a window air conditioner as the grand prizes. When’s the last time you saw a window A/C unit at a car show?

Awards? Certainly, but NOT your ordinary wall plaques or 50 cent plastic trophy – Steak Knives – a very nice set of six in a fancy wooden case, engraved on the top with the club’s name and town’s name for the ‘Top 20’ and the “Top 5 Off-Road” picks. Mayor’s Choice, Firemen’s Choice, Sheriff’s Choice, State Patrol Choice and Best of Show was awarded a really nice knife Carving Set- in a wooden ‘block,’ engraved with the club’s and town’s name.

The quality of cars ranged from a couple of primered rat rods to a couple of Pro-built cars and nearly everything in between. Picking out the “Top 20” to vote for certainly wasn’t easy for the participants and neither was the ‘Best In Show.’

In 2017, Gypsum Daze will be held mid-July, check out their website for details-plan on not missing it, you won’t regret it: www.gypsumdaze.com