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The Elizabethton Car Show’s season began a little late this year and at a new location due to Hurricane Helene’s closing of the Broad Street Bridge for the past nine months.

The bridge has reopened, and soon the car show will be moving back home — at least one Saturday night a month. The other Saturday nights, the car show will be held on E Street, one block over from Elk Avenue.

Regardless of where the show is, it is filled with cars and camaraderie.

For many years, the Carter County Car Club held its weekly cruise-ins on East Elk Avenue in downtown Elizabethton. It became a summertime staple. “Old cars” are always an attraction. They have a following. Cars, in general, whether they are old or new, are a passion among many, not a hobby.

The car shows are not just about cars and their owners getting together to show off what they have. That is the point of the car show, but that isn’t the only thing that goes on at a car show. Most people don’t bring their cars to the shows for trophies.

For some, it’s the chance to show off their creativity and craftsmanship. Many restoration enthusiasts enjoy the thrill of the hunt, looking through old barns and garages for classics hiding in the rough. Some try to remind themselves of their youth, restoring a car from their teenage days. Some want to get a car back to the way they remember it as kids. It lets them feel young again behind the steering wheel.

What constitutes a classic car changes as the years go by. Some youthful enthusiasts are showing off cars built in the 1980s and early ’90s. It can’t all be about 1950s and 1960s models and the Beach Boys anymore. The car show is a time for the mature to reminisce while the youth catch glimpses of the world that was, through automobiles that remain like four-wheeled time capsules. Many of these car show enthusiasts have spent countless hours and dollars on their vehicles, striving for eye-catching customization or factory perfection.

The Saturday night car shows have become a celebration of the times, memories and an event that brings together people from not only Carter County, but throughout the area, including western North Carolina and southwest Virginia. One of the best parts is seeing friends that car owners may not have seen since last year.

It has been an event with a setting in a downtown full of old Main Street buildings that readily lend themselves to that trip down memory lane. The hoods will be up on many of the old cars, showing off the mechanical hardware that makes the car run. But for many, it is a time to get together and just “talk cars” and any other subject that may come up. It’s an event that brings the community together.

The weekly car shows have drawn hundreds to the downtown during the summer, and their economic and social benefits can’t be underestimated. In addition to cars, there was music, some good eats and an opportunity to do some shopping. Many of the downtown businesses, including restaurants, remained open for the evening, and it was a good way to draw people into downtown and explore all the unique businesses that Elizabethton has to offer.

That still can happen if businesses on Elk Avenue choose to remain open not only for the Saturday evening the car show returns to Elk Avenue each month, but for the Saturday evenings the car show is on E Street.

The car show is more than showy cars — it is the people the cars attract to the downtown that make the shows successful each summer season. It’s an opportunity to meet new people, make some new friends and enjoy what Elizabethton has to offer. It can be a great season if we show ourselves friendly and welcoming.