Pubdate: Sun, 13 Aug 2006
Source: Times Herald, The (MI)
Copyright: 2006 The Times Herald
Contact: http://www.thetimesherald.com/customerservice/contactus.html
Website: http://www.thetimesherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2570
Author: Danielle Quisenberry, Times Herald
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/dare.htm (D.A.R.E.)

CAR SHOW RAISES CASH FOR DARE

Organizer: Event at Vantage Point to Become Annual

Tom Champagne sat Saturday morning in a collapsible chair, admiring a 
sea of shinning chrome, engines and sparkling paint jobs.

Champagne, 68, of Port Huron was shaded from the bright sun by the 
propped hood of his white, 1946 Ford Thunderbird.

His car was one of more than 100 parked Saturday at Vantage Point, 
just south of the mouth of the Black River, for the first Wheels on 
the Water car show, sponsored by Acheson Ventures and Moak Real Estate.

All proceeds benefit the St. Clair County Sheriff Department's Drug 
Abuse Resistance Education program.

Deputy Cyndy King, the department's DARE officer, said she wasn't 
sure how much the show raised. The car-show registration fees alone 
raised at least $1,000.

It is an important cause, said Donna Greene, a fifth-grade teacher at 
Indian Woods Elementary School in Kimball Township.

Inspired by Greene's enthusiasm for King and the program, Greene's 
husband, Bob Greene, Moak Real Estate owner, organized the event.

He said he plans to organize a show every year in order to expand the 
DARE program.

"Kids absolutely respond to it," Donna Greene said.  "One of the 
first questions they ask at the beginning of the year is, 'When do we 
start DARE?'

"It's like a right of passage for them."

Douglas Young, 11, of Port Huron Township graduated from the program 
this spring. "I learned stuff my parents didn't even know," he said.

Douglas was at the car show Saturday, wearing the red T-shirt he got 
at the end of the program.

He hadn't yet explored the cars on display, he said.

Among the vehicles were a red Ford Mustang from the 1960s, a 1933 
Essex Terraplane, a 1974 Chrysler Newport and a 1954 Studebaker.

Champagne, the Thunderbird owner, said he is amazed at the amount of 
money spent restoring cars.

"It is unbelievable how much work goes into some of these," he said.

Dale McDonald, 36, of Port Huron, owner of Main Street Garage in Port 
Huron, said he did a lot of work on his 1969 Camaro, which he drove 
to Vantage Point on Saturday.

"I've had it 13 years. That's a long time," he said, walking away 
from a 1939 Ford. "It's like a marriage."

Justin Greeves, 28, of Marysville wandered wide-eyed looking at the 
vehicles Saturday, wishing he had a classic car.

"It'll be a while," he said. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake