Several local businesses and individuals are teaming up with Big Brothers/Big Sisters and the Cruisin' Hoosiers to present the 15th Annual Big Brothers/Big Sisters and Cruisin' Hoosiers Car and Truck Show. The event takes place today from 2 to 9 p.m. at Petro's GM Showplace, north of Warsaw on Ind. 15. Admission is free.

"The community is coming together to raise money and have a good time," Art Gakstatter, Warsaw, said. Gakstatter is a member of the board of directors for the Cruisin' Hoosiers, as well as a member of the board of directors for the Warsaw Breakfast Optimist Club and Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Northern Indiana.

Gakstatter encourages anyone who enjoys cars, trucks, music, contests and food to come out to the annual car and truck show. In addition to lots of vehicles, there will be live entertainment, a disc jockey and more than $4,500 in prizes.

The car and truck show is sponsored by Big Brothers/Big Sisters and the Cruisin' Hoosiers, a car club based out of the Warsaw area. The classic car club was first organized in Pierceton in 1987 and comprises approximately 200 members, mostly from Kosciusko County, but also from other counties around northern Indiana.

The car and truck show for Big Brothers/Big Sisters is the club's sole fund-raising event and its largest charitable endeavor. The not-for-profit agency serves several counties in the region including Kosciusko, Whitley, Noble, Allen, Dekalb, Wells and Adams, and its purpose is to match children ages 7 to 15 from single-parent homes with adult volunteers who will serve as friends and role models. Currently, in Kosiusko County, 30 children are matched with adults and 11 children are on a waiting list.

Today's annual car and truck show will move those 11 children one step closer to meeting their match. Last year's annual car and truck show raised approximately $9,000 and Gakstatter said this year's is even bigger.

"It's kind of a social club (for) people who enjoy cars," Gakstatter said of the Cruisin' Hoosiers.

For the car show to take place yet another year, sponsorship was needed. Gakstatter said the car and truck show has approximately 15 corporate sponsors who gave cash donations to fund the show.

"It's the corporate sponsorship that helped fund it (the show)," Gakstatter said.

Along with funding, the show takes many hours of preparation.

"The car and truck show is their sole fund-raising event for the year," Gakstatter said. "It's all volunteer (and involves) countless hours of planning."

Gakstatter said the day of the show, "the whole club shows up and works the whole day."

The Warsaw Breakfast Optimist Club also has pulled together for their part in the annual car and truck show.

"There have been about 20 volunteers sign up to help with the show," Gakstatter said of the Optimist Club. "They signed up to work a minimum of three-hour shifts to help with parking and implementation." He also said the Warsaw Lions have "at least a dozen" volunteers donating their time to the show and the Gold Wings Club, Warsaw, also has donated time to the event.

Gakstatter said local businesses and individuals have donated more than 250 door prizes to be given away at the car and truck show.

"A lot of businesses have come together to put the show on," Gakstatter said. He said this year's car and truck show has many supporters and nearly 100 local businesses have signed up as trophy sponsors.

"Each trophy sponsor made a contribution of $20," Gakstatter said, "which is pretty incredible."

He said there's a total of more than $4,500 in prizes to be given away and more than 90 awards at this year's show.

"The awards are all sponsored by individuals and companies from the Kosciusko County area," Gakstatter said.

Many local individuals also have donated their time to today's show. Gakstatter said Bob and Debra Hobbs and Bill and Teddi Batalis have spent the most time in collecting door prizes, buying trophies, finding corporate sponsors and "generally worked hard to organize the event."

They put in a lot of hours," Gakstatter said. "They were instrumental in getting the trophies and the teeter-totter for the games together (and) they've hosted countless meetings together for the show. They've both done a lot."

The event is hosted by Petro's GM Showplace as Petro's annual charitable contribution to the community. Hosting the car show requires special effort from all 50 employees, who come in on their day off to move the dealership's inventory off the lot and prepare the area.

Besides clearing the lot, Gakstatter said, Bob Petro donates his building, donates electricity and "allows everybody to converge on his property and take it over for the weekend."

This is Petro's 10th year hosting the car show. Gakstatter said Petro and members of the Cruisin' Hoosiers are the two "big hitters" of the show, "because of the countless man hours they've spent preparing."

Gakstatter said the number of local businesses and individuals who've worked to prepare for the show are "just too numerous to mention all of them."

Of those cars displayed, the Cruisin' Hoosiers don't enter their own.

"We as a club don't enter any of our cars because we are a host and that wouldn't be nice," Gakstatter said of the Cruisin' Hoosiers. "But we'll have them out for display."

And out on display, car-lovers will find Gakstatter's 1958 Corvette. "I've had this old Corvette for 18 years," Gakstatter said. "It's not too bad for 42 years old."

Gakstatter encourages all ages to attend the show. DJ Steve Herniak also will perform his "car tunes" of '50s, '60s and '70s music and contests such as idle drags, a muffler rap and a teeter-totter auto balance using actual vehicles, will take place.

"There's games and activities for everyone," Gakstatter said. "Come out and enjoy the show!" [[In-content Ad]]