Pre-Scoop Cruise-In and Car Show benefits Cops and Kids

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Whether they are cruising down a country road or setting up at a car show, Ryan and Angie Money love to show off their Corvettes.

Ryan bought his polo green 1996 Corvette when it was two years old, while Angie has had her two-toned bronze 1984 Corvette for seven years.

Sometimes, they go on drives in one of the cars or both. They also like taking them to car shows.

On Friday night, they brought both of them from their North Vernon home to display during the sixth annual FOP Pre-Scoop Cruise-In and Car Show in downtown Seymour. Their Corvettes sat back-to-back along Walnut Street.

Working at schools, the Moneys are drawn to that show because proceeds benefit Fraternal Order of Police Donald M. Winn Lodge 108’s Cops and Kids program. That pairs local law enforcement officers with less-fortunate kids in Jackson County for a shopping experience in early December at Walmart Supercenter in Seymour.

“This is an awesome show, and you can’t beat who this is going for. The charity aspect of this is tops. That’s what brings us to this one,” said Ryan, who teaches at Seymour High School.

“It’s the same as him — helping the kids,” said Angie, a secretary at Graham Creek Elementary School in Jennings County.

Their Corvettes were among the 240 vehicles participating in Friday’s show, which had all types of makes and models in and around the Walnut Street and Robertson Mill parking lots.

For the second year in a row, the show was a tribute to Tom Gray, who was a member of the Seymour Area Cruisers car club that helps with parking and judging at the show. He died Dec. 30, 2019.

Again this year, members of the car club helped with judging, trophies were handed out by the FOP and local band Six Ways to Sunday performed.

C.J. Foster, president of the local FOP, said money is raised for Cops and Kids through registrations, raffles, a silent auction, sales of drinks and ice cream floats and the big auction items.

“It’s just such a good cause. That’s the bottom line,” Foster said. “I enjoy seeing all of the people out here looking at cars. It’s a lot of work, but I think the end result is really cool. I think we’ve established ourselves as a good car show.”

The Moneys also participated in last year’s car show.

While they enjoy displaying their Corvettes, Ryan said he almost wound up with a different type of car in 1998.

“I had gone to go buy a Camaro, and a buddy of mine says, ‘Hey, there’s this Corvette for sale. Why don’t you go look at it?’ because I had talked about a Corvette,” he said. “I looked at it and I was like, ‘Huh, it’s pretty sharp. I think I’m going to go this way instead of the Camaro.’”

What drew him to it? The color and the 6-speed manual transmission, he said.

“It’s the whole package of driving. It’s got awesome brakes. It’s got good acceleration. It’s got excellent handling,” Ryan said. “We love to take them on the backroads and just enjoy the backroads up and down.”

Angie said she decided to get her own Corvette because her husband had one.

“We get them out and take them for cruises and stuff,” he said. “I just like driving it and letting people look at it.”

Jackson Ross and his grandfather, Tim Hamblen, both of Seymour, had unique vehicles at Friday’s show. Ross’ 1950 Crosley Hotshot sat next to Hamblen’s 1949 Crosley pickup truck.

Ross’ car is unique because he obtained it after writing and submitting an essay on his knowledge of the automobiles and winning the Crosley Automobile Club’s second Crosley Youth Project.

The program awards a restorable Crosley to a young person to promote the hobby of restoring antique cars to a younger generation.

After driving to Erie, Pennsylvania, to pick up the car, Ross and Hamblen returned to Hamblen’s shop, Tim’s Trim Shop, completely stripped it down and began the process of putting it back together, making needed repairs along the way.

“I had to do a lot of work, pretty much everything,” Ross said. “I had to repaint it, do a little bit of motor work, tore the motor apart, made sure everything was OK.”

It was red when they picked it up, but Ross chose to paint it blue with a white stripe down the middle.

“I just picked it out and thought it would look good,” he said.

They had two years to complete the restoration, but it only took a year and a half.

“That one right there, he can never sell it,” Hamblen said, smiling, of his grandson’s car.

In all, Hamblen has seven Crosleys. His first one was a 1949 station wagon.

“I stopped by Jerry Edwards’ place one day, and he had bought out a collection. There was one there, and he said, ‘I’m getting rid of that one,’” Hamblen said.

After he bought it, Hamblen put in new interior and did brake work.

He’s now up to his seventh Crosley, and it’s one of the first ones made in 1939.

“It doesn’t take up a lot of room, obviously. I’ve got seven of them,” Hamblen said. “They are actually very cheap to work on. The value of them is really starting to go up because people collect. … When I started, they told me that a fully restored Crosley was worth about $6,000. Now, they are worth $15,000, $16,000.”

Ross said he’s glad his grandfather got him interested in Crosleys.

“They are just cool little cars, and I’ve grown up with Grandpa and just fell in love with them,” he said. “It’s different. You don’t run into one of these very often. They are just honestly a cool car.”

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