The small town of Newport, Indiana is expecting visitors this weekend – LOTS OF THEM! It is the weekend of the Newport Antique Auto Hill Climb. Doug Weisheit is a member of the Newport Lions Club which sponsors the event. He says a lot of cars and motorcycles will be involved….
Audio Player{‘’We are expecting about – a little bit over 300 in the show car area. That’s where folks bring their antique cars, trucks, motorcycles – all kinds of antique vehicles. And they’re in the show area of the festival here. Whereas the race itself, we normally have around 200 cars that are pre-1942 and antique motorcycles – pre-1942 – that race up the hill on Sunday.’’}
A community Gospel Sing kicks off activities Friday evening. Then on Saturday there are practice runs on Newport’s famed 1,826 foot long hill prior to Sunday’s competition.
Normally Newport has only a couple of hundred residents, but this weekend upwards of 100,000 people are expected to visit. They will find not only the cars and motorcycles, but also a flea market, food vendors, a parade and fireworks.
(Weisheit is shown here standing near a 1955 Desoto Fire Dome which someone will win this weekend at the Hill Climb.)
Weisheit was asked what he thinks keeps people coming back each year….
Audio Player{AUDIO: ‘’It’s a large race. You can come and anybody can own a car if you can afford it. And almost any car is affordable today. I mean we have some cars that people will buy for not much more than a couple of thousand dollars that are kind of junkers and clunkers, but if they’re pre-(19)42 and they can get ‘em to run they can race up the hill.}
(Newport’s famed hill has been the site of competitions since 1909.)
Proceeds from the event are used by the Newport Lyons Club to support several causes…
Audio Player{AUDIO: ‘’We’re a major benefactor to the North Vermillion Community School Corporations. We have a Christmas program here for the community with very, very nice Christmas presents. We have the Thanksgiving baskets. We normally do between fifty and ninety depending on how well we do. And those go out to families of need in our greater community here. We support the eyeglass programs. There’s lots of regular Lions Club programs – internationally and nationally – that we support, in addition to our state Lions Club programs.’’}
Although the event is sponsored by the Newport Lions Club, the town’s fire department and residents also volunteer to make sure the event runs smoothly.
{The top photo shows Newport decked out for this weekend’s crowds.}
For more information visit: https://www.newporthillclimb.com/
News story here.
