By MELANIE PILTINGSRUD
Copy Editor
The weather was fine and the vehicles beautiful at the 9th Annual Gus' Station Car Show that took place on Saturday, July 15 in Owatonna at the Steele County Historical Society (SCHS) from 8 a.m. - 12:30.
Proceeds from the event go toward funding a Service Bay to be constructed next to Gus' Station at the Village of Yesteryear.
One prominent feature of the Service Bay will be a collection of tools made by the Owatonna Tool Company (OTC), a business begun in 1925 by Godfrey Kaplan. Frank Menulty began collecting tools from OTC 20 years ago, because he felt there should be a display at the SCHS of the products made by what was once the largest employer in Owatonna, having at one time employed 1,600 people. Many individuals bring their hand-me-down tools to Menulty, having heard of his goal to create a display at SCHS. Menulty, who worked as a product manager for OTC for 30 years, plans to donate the collected tools for display at the hoped-for Service Bay.
The number of vehicles at the Gus Station show this year was hard to keep up with, as they started arriving before 8 a.m. and were still rolling in at 11 a.m. One motorist was overheard to say, “We showed up at 8 o'clock and we should have been here by 6!” Suffice it to say that at least 170 vehicles were on display at Gus' 9th Annual Car Show, and the eye candy ran to everything from a 1916 Dodge Bros. Street Rod, owned by Ed and Marilyn Wetzel of Blooming Prairie, to a 2019 Buick Special, owned by Todd Moran of Austin, and vehicles representative of every decade in between. Whether a '20s Model T, a '50s Bel Air, a '60s Mustang, or another iconic car is your groove, there was something there to trip your trigger.
Car owners love to discuss their vehicles, and the car stories abounded on Saturday.
Scott Coy of Waseca showed off his 1956 Chevy Corvette, still in its pristine, original paint job in Cascade Green. “They only made 290 of these in '56,” said Coy, who also explained that the “bug eye” headlights were designed when the CEO of Chevrolet thought the lines of their original design looked too feminine. The “bug eyes” were a move to make the vehicle more manly.
Owatonna resident Dave Brauten's entry was a vehicle he'd previously owned that he bought back after a 40-year hiatus. When he got married, he found he needed money, so he sold his 1967 Chevy Chevelle. The car went through five owners. The last owner was Brauten's nephew, who had the vehicle tricked out with a stock car engine and repainted it from butternut to a far brighter '68 Corvette Safari Yellow. “It's a lot more powerful now,” said Brauten, who is more than pleased with the changes. Brauten says he's the third and seventh owner of the vehicle, which he doesn't intend to part with again.
Many car owners decorated the interiors of their vehicles with stuffed animals or dice, and a couple cars even sported drive-in style food trays, sure to bring back fond memories for some.
Announcer for the show was John Connor, who occasionally interrupted the steady stream of car-related tunes to announce the winners of various door prizes, as well as to thank the many sponsors of this year's Gus' Station Car Show, including Steve's Meat Market of Ellendale, who donated the popular hot dogs and bratwursts, and Jule Johnson, who provided the sound system for the event.
Gus' Gas Station brings visitors from all over the country, as visitors remember lining up to buy candy there as youngsters when they attended school in Ellendale. It took many volunteers to move the tiny, beloved station house from Ellendale to the Village of Yesteryear at the SCHS several years ago, so grown-ups could recall this happy memory from their childhoods, and so children could see a piece of how their parents grew up.
Mayor of Ellendale Matthew Bartsch drew for the winner of the 50/50 drawing, which won Steve Moreau of Faribault a handy $212.
Mike Hamilton of Owatonna Motor handed out the awards for the Top 20 vehicles as well as the various other categories.
The Top 20 cars as voted by the motorists were:
1957 Chevrolet Bel Air owned by Daryl Johnson, Hope
1957 Chevrolet Bel Air Convertible owned by Dave Wecker, Carver
1958 Chevrolet Impala 348 owned by Gary Johnson, Lemond
1967 Pontiac GTO owned by Arnie Beyer, Owatonna
1933 Ford Beebop Body owned by Dave Dunnette, New Richland
1931 Model A Ford 2-door Tudor Sedan owned by Rick Ahrens, Owatonna
1959 Chevrolet Impala owned by Jule Johnson, Waseca
1955 Chevrolet 2-door Handyman Wagon owned by Dwight Ward, Kasson
1968 Ford three speed factory Pontiac GTO owned by Mike Casson, Meriden
1950 Mercury 2-door Sedan owned by Rick Kendall, Waterville
1969 Chevrolet Camaro owned by Dan Deneen, Faribault
1972 Plymouth Cuda owned by Dana Christianson, Hartland
1971 Dodge Challenger RT Heavy owned by Scott Soderberg, Austin
1950 Chevrolet pickup owned by Dennis Malecha, Waseca
1969 Plymouth GTX owned by Allen Lee, Ellendale
1955 Chevrolet Bel Air Hardtop owned by Chris Iverson, Austin
1949 Chevrolet 3100 owned by Richard and Karlene Hansen
1957 Ford Thunderbird owned by Gene Michaelson, Owatonna
1966 Ford Mustang owned by Randy Young, Owatonna
1955 Ford Crown Victoria owned by Vicki Hanson of Minneapolis
Mayor's Choice – 1929 Ford Model A owned by Ron Musolf, Kasson
Best Street Rod – 1936 Ford Coupe owned by Steve Moreau, Faribault
Farthest Driven – 1972 Mercury Monterey Custom owned by Kevin Clark, Fergus Falls
Best Engine – 1964 Plymouth Belvedere owned by Dan and Sandy Janke, Owatonna
Best Truck – 1979 Chevrolet C10 Pickup owned by Rob McGreger
Best Interior – 1957 Ford Custom 300 owned by Wayne Woodward, Albert Lea
Best Paint – 1950 Buick Special owned by Todd Moran, Austin
Best Late Model – 2019 Corvette Convertible owned by Ron Fuller, Owatonna
Best Wheels – 1933 Ford 3-Window Coupe owned by Mike Klampe, Ellendale
Best in Show – 1963 Chevrolet Impala 409 owned by John Erickson, Kasson