The Eli Williams Mustangs and Muscle Car Show

The weather was cold but the warms hearts kept everybody feeling toasty inside.  On Saturday 25^th, 2014 a car show was held to benefit Eli Williams a 9 year boy from Athens, AL who is fighting brain cancer.  The parking lot of Lindsay Lane Baptist Church was almost full of Mustangs from the surrounding clubs (Athens, Huntsville, Shoals, Nashville, and Birmingham) as well as many other cars and trucks from all over North Alabama and Southern Tennessee.

Photo: SHOTbyTaco.com

The local celebrities were out in full force, Dan Williams former Athens Mayor and Alabama House of Representative/5^th District, Bill Holtzclaw-State Senator/2^nd District, ZTV’s Jamie and Gloria Cooper, Mustang Club of America (MCA)-President Steve Prewitt, and other MCA National Board Members were all there........even WAFF Channel 48 weatherman Brad Travis brought his Black Saleen Mustang, but the real Star of the show was young Eli.  The crowds rushed over to catch a glimpse and grab a photo of him as he got out of the 2014 Shelby GT500 Mustang he arrived in (on loan from McClary Ford). It was a special moment that all in attendance had waited for all week.

The car show started off as just a small private event just for Eli to view a few of the Mustangs from the Limestone Co. Mustang Club at his neighborhood club house.  Word quickly spread and the event was moved to his school (Athens Bible School), but when more folks begin to hear about why we were doing this and who Eli was, the event blossomed into a full blown car show open to all local cars and trucks.  A Face book event page was quickly created and thru word of mouth and the power of social media, the once small gathering became one of the largest car shows that Athens has seen in a while.  It’s estimated that close to 400 cars were in attendance and they all braved the chilly day outside just to show a little kindness and love to Eli and his family.

The outpouring of support for Eli, his family, and St. Jude’s (Gifts/donations totaling over $7000) was a perfect picture of just how caring our local car community is.  They traveled long distances and car club/car brand loyalties were set aside for one great cause.  It makes me proud to be a part of such a caring community.

The donations were almost too many to count but I must recognize Ben Tate at Tate’s Services for the use of four port-a-john’s, pizza from Pizza Hut, BBQ from Lawler’s, sandwiches from Chick-Fil-A, water from Publix and Sports-Med-Huntsville, and chips/goodies from Halsey’s and Frito-Lay.  A special thanks to Lindsay Lane Baptist Church for allowing us to use the large parking lot needed to hold this event. WHNT Channel 19 also covered the event with a great news story telling of how it all came together and those involved, including Lawrence Taylor-Duncan and Lisa Bass who were two key players in making this a special day for the Williams family happen.

The most special moment of the day came as Eli gave a speech that he had prepared just to say thanks to everyone who made this event an awesome day for him.  All I can say is I’m glad I was wearing sunglasses so everyone did not see my tears!  I couldn’t help but think how maybe this event and all the cool cars he got to see would bring a smile to his face on some of his tough days during treatments or weeks of feeling tired after long days of travel back and forth to St. Jude’s. 

Eli is a very special kid and I’m proud to call him my friend!!

For contributions visit: http://www.gofundme.com/6da7z4

Thanks, Joseph Scott

Father/Son project……do you have one?

There is just something about a father getting to share time with his son or daughter as they work on a car project together.  It’s an age old story of a dad who finds an old car that he wants to purchase and restore back to its original condition or hot-rod it to his liking.  After buying it he decides it would be a great way to work on it with his son and spend quality time as he teaches him about the workings of an automobile.  Now if you are like me your ability to do the restorations and/or modifications yourself may be limited, but it can still be fun to plan and strategize the project together.  There are so many things that can be decided on together like tires, wheels, paint, engine work, gears, etc. When you work on these things together your son will begin to take ownership in the project.  He may even decide he wants to drive it when you complete the work.

(Photo courtesy of Getty images)

It seems that time is our most valuable procession these days and everything is competing for it!  No matter how hard we try, there is still only 24 hours in a day and most of our weekends are filled to the max with other tasks and duties.  I've heard it said that the only thing you will wish you could have changed when you are old is to have spent more time with family and I am already old enough to agree with that.  It’s never too late to get started, so what are you waiting on??

A good project car or truck can also be a wise investment if you choose the correct vehicle and are willing to fix it up for the purpose of reselling it for profit.  Craigslist and e-bay are full of vehicles that can be turned or “flipped” for a decent profit if you find one that doesn't have too many issues.  Now keep in mind that those Saturday morning shows make it look easy, but you must be willing to take a gamble sometimes.  I guess the bottom line is win or lose, if you are spending more time with your son or daughter, it’s a success!

I currently have a car project (Mustang GT) and my son has had many good ideas and suggestions for modifications/upgrades……..I just hope when we are finished he’s not going to want to take it away from me!