EVERETT – Summer car shows are usually about chrome and classic muscle cars, but Wheels on the Waterfront, scheduled for Saturday August 22 at Box Car Park alongside the Everett Marina, emphasizes charity over car.
In it’s 14th year, Wheels on the Waterfront has generated over $150,000 for the Providence General Foundation Cancer Patient Assistance Fund to benefit Everett’s Providence Hospital cancer patients.
Mike Beardsley, calls himself Team Leader of the car show charity event, telling the EverettPost.com, “This is a group of un-paid volunteers that put on this event purely from the heart. Unfortunately, there’s not a family out there that hasn’t been touched in some way or another by cancer. Some of these people (volunteers) are cancer survivors. Some of them have cancer that’s been in the family. They’ve lost people (to cancer) and so that becomes a little bit of a motivational thing to bring them in and be active with us.“
Beardsley confides his mother died of lung cancer and he’s battled skin cancer. His wife volunteers with the beneficiary, PGFCPA. Wheels on the Waterfront exists for one reason, according to its mission statement: to turn a shared love of cars into tangible hope for cancer patients and their families—and to remind them they are not facing their journey alone.
Beardsley is a classic car owner with a ’56 Chevy Nomad, ’31 Ford “Tudor” and a ’64 Corvette in his stable but he invites car enthusiasts of all stripes to show their car for the Saturday fundraiser. “It doesn’t have to be a classic car,” Beardsley says, “it can be a brand new car if you want to because at the end of the day this is a fundraiser for Providence Hospital for cancer patients.”
To show your car or truck at Wheels on the Waterfront, it’s a $50 entry fee or a $100 VIP entry fee will get you a parking space at Box Car Park along the edge of the water at to serve as the perfect summer backdrop to get pictures of your vehicle with the water and boats of Port Gardner Bay in the background.
You can register now for the August 22 event at the WOW website. Attendance is free but the Everett Marina does charge for parking next to Box Car Park. Or you can use public transit to arrive at the Everett Waterfront.
The show will reward the top 50 vehicles with honors during the fundraiser but the emphasis is on the spirit or personality of the car, not necessarily the highest value or most detailed restoration. Cars also receive awards based on creative categories like “Best make-out car” or “Most likely to get a speeding ticket”, says Beardsley.
The other big fundraiser at WOW is a ’50-50’ raffle where half the money goes to the PGFCPA and a winner gets the other half of the raffle jackpot. Sponsors are also stepping forward with hotel stays and restaurant meals as part of the raffle, including Angel Of The Winds Casino and Harbor Marine.
Wheels on the Waterfront is a state registered non-profit. PGFCPA is state and federally registered non-profit.