2006 Paso Memorial Day Rumor Crushing At Its Finest Seems like every year about this time the internet is filled with rumors about the WCK Memorial Day car show in Paso Robles. Its been the last year for Paso since about 1999, the cops have been randomly pulling people over in hot rods & kustoms over to do on the spot safety inspections for the past 3 or 4 years, Ive heard em all, and trust me, none of them have been proven to be true, even in the slightest. So I get a call today from my buddy Rick, seems some chick on MySpace posted some shit about Paso and the West Coast Kustoms Memorial Day weekend, she claims to have heard it from a reliable source. I told Rick to hold onto his FiFi and Id make some phone calls & get to the bottom of it all. First I called Penny from WCK, left her a voice mail, then I called the Paso PD, left a voice mail for Lt. Burton, then it was the Paso chamber of commerce, when I phoned them I got to talk to a live person who assured me she would check into my concerns and phone me back. What bullshit rumors am I here to squash? 1. No primered cars 2. The city of Paso Robles does NOT want us in their town 3. This is the last year the show will be in Paso 4. Police will be impounding any vehicles with any visible infractions 5. Random insurance & registration checks 6. Gestapo like enforcement of the no alcohol in the park law 7. Paso PD has shut down the bowling alley for Fri/Sat night About noon or so the Chamber of Commerce lady who assured me that not only were we (when I say we, I mean the car show as a whole) welcomed in Paso, but that they look forward to the show every year. Seems it puts quite a bundle of money into the local economy, she wouldnt get exact but told me the figure is in the six digit range. She also told me that if I had any other concerns, or anyone else did, call the COC & get it from the horses mouth. Not long after that Penny from WCK calls me, I told her what I had been told, after she was done laughing she assured me that all of the above is total bullshit and the only thing the Paso PD is going to be doing is the same thing they do every year, keep the peace and make sure we all have a good time. As for this being the last year the show will be in Paso, again Penny laughed and assured me that this show will never leave Paso Robles, it just wouldnt be the same if it was anywhere else. The no primered cars thing is 100% bullshit, Rich used to drive his primered Ford Vicky there, and hes the president of WCK! I do know that the Chief of Police in Paso is a bit of a stuffed shirt, always has been, always will be, I also know that there are new city council people for him to try and impress with his tough guy talk, most of the council members, if not all of them, are 100% behind WCK and the continuation of the Memorial Day show, nuff said. On my way home from work Lt Burton of the Paso Robles PD called me back, I shared my concerns with him and once he quit laughing he assured me that the Paso PD has no control over the bowling alley, is not the Gestapo and will not be any tougher or more lenient than they ever have been, he did pass on some of the things that will get you a ticket (only one of which will get your car impounded) they dont have the authority to impound at will as it has been stated. Heres the list of no nos according to the Paso Robles Police Department: 1. DUI will be strictly enforced, DONT DRINK & DRIVE, youll have nothing to worry about, seems fair enough to me. 2. No non street legal cars on city streets except during the Friday night cruise. 3. No drag racing, exhibition of speed, driving like a jackass, etc 4. Alcohol is and always has been prohibited in the park, has that ever stopped any of us from drinking a few beers during the show? I didnt think so, play it cool and youll have no problems. 5. There is absolutely no camping on any Paso Robles city streets, find a campground. 6. The police will be citing you if you are driving an obviously unsafe POS, eg;no floors, way too low, vice grips for steering wheels, bald tires, etc I guess its like this, if you drive a POS, and act like a dick, youll be treated like a dick,tit for tat and the like.Enforcement levels will be the same as always, its a pretty simple thing, dont act like a jackass and youll have a great weekend, act like a jackass and you can plan a return trip to go to court. As I spoke with Penny it dawned on me what a daunting task she and the other WCK volunteers undertake every year, I asked her if there was anything me, my car club, or anyone else could do to help out, I got a resounding YES! If you, your club, your mom or whoever would like to help WCK with some traffic control on Friday night, Penny would love to have the help, let me know and Ill get your names and whatnot to her, NO, there is nothing in it for you, no free show entry, no free beer, just the satisfaction of knowing you have helped one of the greatest shows in the US stay its course. Skip Autoholics
That is great to hear that the bullshit is just that. Me and my family cannot wait every year to be at this show. Hopefully a second generation will be bringing his car to this show which is my son. My Uncle Phil lives in Paso and writes a column for the newspaper and he also told me that the bullshit is only that, he also looks foreward to the show every year, so keep all the badest rides on the planet coming. Thank you Skip for clearing that up. I am also Skip and a WCK member.
Thank you Luke Jivetalker!! I hope I made it clear to everyone I was just asking if anyone had heard or looked into this. I sure as hell didn't want to piss anyone off with my first thread!! I love reading all of the threads on the H.A.M.B. and looking at the classifieds so making anyone angry was the last thing I wanted to do!! Funny you say that a girl started that rumor cause a girl told me that some people don't like the club I'm in(Black Jacks C.C.)Man girls are evil!! If this is true it is nothing I did so I'm not to worried about it.I'll be in Paso with my bare-metal 54 F-100 so say hi if ya see me!!Anyways, thanks for the clarification(spelling?) and I hope I didn't ruffle too many feathers!!
I have slept in my car every time I have been to Paso , seems like a waste to spend 100s of dollars for a couple hours of sleep on friday night , used to be lots of people doing the same , but they really are cracking down now.
thanks for squashing these bullshit rumors. sadly for the last few years ive been breaking my back trying to get to our failsafe hotel almost an hour away from the show, does anyone have any info on the campgrounds CLOSE to the city? my gal, my buddies and i are all going to take our cars and we were thinking of finding a spot to make a wagon circle. any info would be great and ill see you guys there.
What I'm really concerned about is whether or not the lady with the fresh cherries is gonna be there or not. She wasn't there last year. good thing there was a guy selling ripe bing cherries right outside our hotel in LA.
Rumor has it, Skip, you'll be sleeping with Men in Paso. I called Penny to confirm, and she confirmed. Just to make sure, I put a call in to Lt. Burton, and he acted shocked, saying, "Where in the hell did you hear that? Who told you? Man, if my wife finds out, I'm done for!" So, let's just keep this between us, okay? By the way, make sure my room is far from yours...I've heard stories about those Paso Cops.
What is the deal with Camp Roberts this year? Are they renting rooms or are they closed again? Anyone know?
So who's gunna be wearing the cowboy hat? I'm glad SOMEONE had the brains to call the folks in charge and get this all taken care of.
sorry to bump this thread, but ive got some depressing news: i passed through paso today on my way back from the bay area and it seems that one of the last remaining cool little eat houses in paso has been torn down "good old burger" that used to be in the parking lot of some hotel right where the 101 and the 46 meet is now a fucking starbucks.. lame. some of the best burgers ive ever had, i can only hope that the a&w and bowling alley can be there for years to come
We Gotta support all the small places there, last year was my first time there and we went exclusively to only small businesses to eat, it's on us to keep theses places open!
good ol' burger is gone for now but it's going to be moving into one of the spaces where the new starbucks is. it won't be the same without the unsafe, rotten, fallin' apart building they used to be in but the food will still be good. they may even be open by the show, i'll see if i can find out. paul
the a&w that was in paso robles is still there but now the 21st street drive in. the fosters freeze is still there too. the a&w in atascadero is still there but it's an eat in only. if anyone's interested, i can scan through the phone book for camp sites and rv parks. paul