Show 'N' Shine has triumphant return

Saturday saw the return of the Hi-Line Cruz'n Association Bear Paw Rod Run including a Show 'N' Shine held at the Great Northern Fairgrounds.

The Rod Run, and Show 'N' Shine, had been canceled for the last two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but saw a successful comeback over the weekend.

The Show 'N' Shine featured local car enthusiasts showing off their rides and checking out what their fellow enthusiasts have. This year's show, the 34th of its kind, didn't disappoint, with car models new and old being showed off by people across the Hi-Line, throughout Montana and beyond.

Among those was Monte Connor, who brought his 1930s Ford Model A, and said it seems like this year's event had better attendance than years past.

Connor said he's had his Model A for almost two years now and he's happy to be able to show it off to people who came from all over.

One person who had to make quite a drive was Chuck Lahey of Helena, who's been coming off and on for a while now.

"It's always fun," Lahey said.

He said he doesn't come to this show every year, though he finds himself in Havre at least once a year to meet an old friend of his, but this show was always his favorite of their yearly outings together.

"I used to come to stuff like this with an old buddy back from my, or, I guess our, Navy days. He was in Chinook and passed away a year and change back, but I like to come back anyway," Lahey said

He also said it seems like this year had more people, and it was good to see so many people out, especially the younger ones.

He said he suspects people still have a bit of residual cabin fever from the pandemic, or maybe they're just stressed out from that time, but it seems like everyone he knows is itching to go to things like this and he's glad they're happening.

Indeed, it seems the event was a significant success, with an variety of cars from newer hot rods to almost-100-year-old classics like Connor's Model A. Many vehicles had their hoods popped open for enthusiasts young and old.