Car show puts a shine on education

SANDPOINT — Awards, entertainment, education. Oh, and don't forget all the awesome cars to browse during the Injectors Car Club's 18th annual car show Saturday.

"It's a car show, of course," said car club member Mike Nash. "But some of the other things that go along with it, it just puts a smile on faces ... People walk around and they talk to each other and it's just a nice family outing."

Also, every penny raised stays in the community, donated to local organizations, Nash said.

During the car show, the club hosts a unique program called Education Alley, which is designed to promote careers in trade and technical fields, not just for high school students, but also for anyone who may be considering a career change.

"To our knowledge, no other car club has ever done anything like this," Nash said.

Nash said the club held a small Education Alley last year, and this year it will be triple the size. One major player in the education portion of the show is Sandpoint High School. Nash said he worked with Alex Gray, career-technical education instructor at SHS, for the school's part of Education Alley, which will feature computer-aided design, welding and more. Nash said several such classes are offered at SHS, and he wants the public to know about them.

"I've found the teachers are very dedicated teachers that take these classes very serious," Nash said. "We want to try and show the public what is available out there to get kids to take some of these classes."

Ken Larson, pilot training and academic instructor for the North Idaho High School Aerospace program, will be there so people can learn about aerospace opportunities for local youth. Also participating is Busy Beaver Graphics, a local sign shop that specializes in banner printing, posters, vehicle graphics, aircraft graphics, boat graphics and more. The Sandpoint Police Department, Home Depot, the local Building and Contractors Association, Spartan Arc and Panel Company and Les Schwab Tire Center will be represented as well.

Nash said he came from San Diego, Calif., where an airshow was held each year with an education aspect for people to learn everything about planes — the size and weight of the wheels, how many miles of wiring is in an airplavne, what's inside of airplane wings and more. One year, a couple of people went up in an airplane during the show. It crashed and the people were killed, and the city decided the show was too dangerous. The next year, a Faberge egg show was held instead. Nash said his thought of the Faberge egg show was, "Who in the world is going to learn anything to motivate their life from that?"

Later, after meeting Gray at the high school and talking with the car club, Nash and Gray "got the ball rolling" on Education Alley.

"We decided we wanted to show the community what's available here, help motivate some people and maybe help create some good careers for some people and inject a little bit of ingenuity," Nash said.

Also during the car show, the 7B Band will be playing some "oldies but goodies." The band donates their tips to local charities as well. Raffles and a silent auction will be held throughout the day.

Registration for the car show is from 9-11 a.m. in downtown Sandpoint. Show entry is $20 and prizes will be awarded to the first-, second- and third-place participants. Education Alley will be located on Second Avenue, between Main and Church streets.

For information, email injectorscarclub@gmail.com or visit the website at sandpointinjectors.com.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.