Iola Old Car Show

Iola Old Car Show. A Remarkable Phenomenon. , A precursor “test run” event hosted at Iola’s Ingval Olson Memorial Park on Sunday, August 27, 1972, (see Historic Iola marker #4), an Old Cars newspaper promotional outreach, was the genesis of what became known nationwide, even worldwide, simply as IOLA, an event attuned to car enthusiasts of all ages, inclinations and focuses. The occasion was an Iola Lions Club pork roast, with Chet Krause extending the offer of “two free tickets” for plated servings to collectors arriving behind the wheel of favorite vintage car. That invitation had been extended by letter to roughly 50 area collectors, resulting in about a 22-car turnout to great enthusiast and attendee satisfaction. , In 1973 an “Antique Auto Festival” was added as an Iola Loins Club Chicken Roast component – that event had originated in 1956 – which was first billed as an “Old Car Festival” in 1975. Off and running, in 1973 the collector car display count had grown to 92, and 1,100 chicken dinners were served. The “Chicken Roast” became subordinate to the “Iola Old Car Show” in 1976. The fourth annual event was hosted on Sunday July 11, 1976 – having outgrown the original village park location, it was moved to the present grounds – there were 550 show cars, 100 vendor stalls and an estimated attendee count of 10,000. , (Continued on other side) , (Continued from other side) , From that time onward the event grew by leaps and bounds, becoming a taxing annual undertaking that literally put Iola on the map. By the time Iola ’85 rolled around, the booming event was in need of a dedicated staff, having been spun off as a non-profit community organization. As a two-day affair, it was featuring upwards of 3,000 show cars, 1,700 vendor spaces, 5,500 chicken dinner sales, and 85,000 attendees, consumers of over 40,000brats and hot dogs, and 3,500 cases of beer and soda. The efforts of Krause Publications and the Iola Lions Club had been supplements with volunteer crews from Iola, Scandinavia and Ogdensburg fire departments, the American Legion post and the Iola-Scandinavia Jaycees chapter, among 20 local and area organizations. , The Iola Old Car Show has also enjoyed dramatic monetary growth. The Iola ’85 revenue figure was $347,000, of which $125,000 was divided among the core organizations providing 10,000 volunteer hours then required for hosting visitors. Over its half-century existence, profit distributions to the organizations total over $9 million, benefitting the community-directed projects of their choice. Annual payout typically fall into the $210,000 to $225,000 range. An economic impact analysis done in 2022, the event’s 50th anniversary year, found an area economic impact within a range of $25 to $30 million; $22 to $27 million attributable to visitor spending.