THIS STORY IS PRESENTED IN PART BY DRAKE DENTISTRY
Vance County Tourism Development Authority’s Pam Hester and Norman Dickerson appeared on WIZS Town Talk Thursday at 11 a.m.
While seemingly a bit early in the year to discuss the Fourth of July Fireworks at Kerr Lake and the fall car show, Hester explained that the planning of these events is a “year-long process.”
The 19th Annual Show, Shine, Shag & Dine Classic Car Show will be held in downtown Henderson on Friday, October 16 and Saturday, October 17.
“We are up to our eyeballs with car show and fireworks,” said Hester. “We are hoping to make the car show even bigger and better than it was last year if that is at all possible.”
New for 2020, Southern Classic Cars will hold an additional cruise-in event on Sunday, October 18, giving car show enthusiasts another day of entertainment and providing local businesses such as hotels and restaurants another day of visitor revenue.
Located at 117 Horner Street in Henderson, Founder and CEO Charles Bowman and staff plan to hold a cruise-in the third Sunday of every month beginning in March, according to Hester.
“This will get people used to coming to car shows in Henderson and give our annual car show visitors a reason to stay one more night,” Hester said.
For the fireworks show scheduled for Saturday, July 4, with activities planned from 3 until 10 p.m., Hester and Dickerson said it takes multiple agencies and volunteers working together to make everyone’s Independence Day fun, and more importantly, safe.
“Between 14-16 agencies are involved in the fireworks show – governmental, state, other regulatory and volunteers” explained Dickerson. “It takes a good coordination of all these organizations to make the 20 minutes of kaboom happen.”
Events such as the car show and fireworks display aren’t possible without collaboration between organizations and between counties, Hester said. “Everybody in the five-county area has a unique, individual thing to offer and each of the five counties can benefit from the uniqueness of the other four counties if we all work together.”
Giving an example, Hester said Henderson does not have enough hotel rooms to accommodate all of the visitors to the annual car show. As a result, guests spill over into neighboring counties that enjoy the economic boost from hotel room rentals, restaurant meals consumed, gas purchased, etc.
“Norman and I can’t do what we do on our own,” Hester said. “We have to have collaboration, and I feel like we have formed some very valuable partnerships with other agencies and people in this county. That’s what makes us successful.”
For more information on Vance County Tourism events, please visit www.kerrlake-nc.com.
To hear the interview with Hester and Dickerson in its entirety, go to WIZS.com and click on Town Talk.