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This weekend, the 32nd annual Custom Auto Show, the 25th annual Model Railroad Show and the Flea Market drew crowds to the center.
Art Fahey, director of the center, said such annual events are the basis of what has led to six years of good fortune. He said the center was $147,000 in the black last year and more than $200,000 in the black in 2004.
He said booking concerts such as Martina McBride and John Mellencamp, who will be coming to the center this spring, is also part of the success.
“We’ve been having a good run,” Fahey said. “We’ve got some really good shows that are rolling through here. Not every market has been that lucky.”
On Saturday, 50 cars, 19 motorcycles and about 30 other exhibitors filled the arena at the auto show, presented by God’s Country Racing Association.
Crystal Howe, 23, stood by her blue 1981 Chevy Camaro Z-28 with a 427-cubic-inch big-block engine. It sat on a bed of pillow stuffing, and Howe called the car her angel. Married for four years, she and her husband, Travis, 22, live just outside Winona, Minn., in Stockton.
“We actually treat these cars like they’re our babies,” Crystal said. “We’re gonna have children one day to take care of them when we’re gone.”
She lamented that designers only care about aerodynamics and gas economy these days.
“We gotta keep the muscle cars alive,” she said. “They’re a part of our history.”
Eric Goodman, 64, sat next to a 1962 Impala he bought at an auction for a couple thousand dollars and spent about $60,000 to restore and modernize.
He enclosed the engine, added tilt steering and a customized leather interior, and had the body painted orange lightened with white.
Goodman compared the car to children (he has three), art and religion. He also pointed to some of the fanaticism involved in the hobby.
“The rest of the world hates us because we do things like this to our automobiles,” he said, pointing to his Impala. “They don’t even have roads to drive them on.”
Fahey said the weekend’s events help shape the La Crosse Center’s role in the community.
“Our mission statement is to add to the quality of life, to have a financial impact and to break even financially,” he said.
Joe Orso can be reached at (608) 791-8429 or jorso@lacrossetribune.com.
