Ferrari featured at classic car show

This year’s feature car at the third annual Bainbridge Island Classic Car Show brings prestige.

Brian Hubbard will showcase his 1994 Ferrari 348 Spider at the Bainbridge First Baptist Church at the Aug. 18 event. The 348 Spider was introduced at Ferrari America on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills on February 27, 1993. It is only one of 1,090 that were made in the three years the model was produced, and only 420 were sold in the U.S. in 1994.

Hubbard, a member of the Ferrari Club of America, was asked to be the feature car by organizer Jim Peek a few weeks ago by chance. Peek was filling up his car at a gas station in Silverdale when Hubbard pulled in with his Ferrari on his way back from a car show benefiting the Children’s Hospital in Seattle.

The car has been involved with several charities, including a show in Oregon to benefit a town’s fire and rescue in April and one in Port Orchard to raise money for the local veterans’ home.

“We would offer rides to anyone who would donate,” Hubbard said. “Anyone who gave a few bucks, we let them ride in the Ferrari around the block.”

Hubbard, who works in biotechnology, had been looking for a Ferrari for a while when he came upon a dealer who specialized in exotic cars in Springfield, Mo.

“I flew out for a day (in March), bought it and had it shipped out,” he said. “I was looking for quite a while (for a Ferrari), and I didn’t find a better one.”

He may have several other cars at the event, including a 1953 Austin Healy 100, the same make and model of the car that his father rebuilt when he was a kid.

This year’s car show will be held at the Bainbridge First Baptist Church this Saturday after being held at Strawberry Hill Park for the first two.

Peek said the location switch came about to offer more room for the cars that come through for the event, along with making it easier for lowrider cars to come through without getting stuck on the speedbumps at the park.

Also, thanks to Tish Payne at Land America Transnation, the event will feature a silent auction. Several businesses have donated car-related items for bid, such as a free tuneup or a free detail.

Peek and his committee of Jim Valentine and Lon Kollodge are also taking a different approach to the awards. Instead of trophies, he will hand out 25 plaques with a box of crayons attached to it. They will be awarded by a local youth club that will judge on what their favorite car is based on color – not what kind of car they are.

“We’re trying to think on how a grade school kid thinks,” Peek said. “They wouldn’t recognize what a Ferrari is, but they would come up and say ‘I like that red car.’ It’s not your average plastic trophy.”

The car show is to benefit Project Backpack, a program created by Helpline House to provide school supplies for kids and families in need. Last year, over $1,500 was donated by people at the car show, and volunteer Penny Paulsen said the school supplies that were donated completely filled the back of her car.

“Last year was the first time I had ever been to a car show,” she said. “(But) I was impressed by how much fun they had and how supportive they were of Project Backpack. It was great.”

Admission is free and there is no entry fee for those who want to show off their cars. Registration starts at 7:30 a.m., and there will be food provided by the BHS lacrosse team. After the show, there will be a cruise around the island.

For more information, see www.bainbridgecarshow.com.

—John Becerra, Jr.

Chamber slates golf scramble

The Bainbridge Island Chamber of Commerce is holding their ninth annual Summer Golf Scramble August 18th at Wing Point Golf and Country Club.

The check in time is at 11 a.m., with a 1 p.m. tee time for the shotgun start.

Chamber Executive Director Kevin Dwyer hopes to “sell out” the scramble, with 144 players being the max the course can handle.

The registration fee is $99 which includes a cart, green fees, mulligans, a banquet dinner, a raffle, two tries in the $5,000 putting contest, one chance in the hole-in-one contest valued at $20,000, two other hole-in-one opportunities for prizes, and cash prizes of more than $3,000.

There will also be a live auction for several items, including a round of golf with Dave “The Groz” Grosby and Mike “Gasman” Gastineau of KJR-950 fame and trips to Port Ludlow, Monterrey and other exotic places. Non-golfers can enjoy the banquet, $25, which starts at 6 p.m.

The scramble supports Chamber programs. To enter, fill out an application at the Chamber of Commerce or download one at www.bainbridgechamber.com.

—John Becerra, Jr.