CAR SHOW RAISES CASH FOR DARE

Organizer: Event at Vantage Point to Become Annual

Tom Champagne sat Saturday morning in a collapsible chair, admiring a
sea of shinning chrome, engines and sparkling paint jobs.

Champagne, 68, of Port Huron was shaded from the bright sun by the
propped hood of his white, 1946 Ford Thunderbird.

His car was one of more than 100 parked Saturday at Vantage Point,
just south of the mouth of the Black River, for the first Wheels on
the Water car show, sponsored by Acheson Ventures and Moak Real Estate.

All proceeds benefit the St. Clair County Sheriff Department's Drug
Abuse Resistance Education program.

Deputy Cyndy King, the department's DARE officer, said she wasn't
sure how much the show raised. The car-show registration fees alone
raised at least $1,000.

It is an important cause, said Donna Greene, a fifth-grade teacher at
Indian Woods Elementary School in Kimball Township.

Inspired by Greene's enthusiasm for King and the program, Greene's
husband, Bob Greene, Moak Real Estate owner, organized the event.

He said he plans to organize a show every year in order to expand the
DARE program.

"Kids absolutely respond to it," Donna Greene said. "One of the
first questions they ask at the beginning of the year is, 'When do we
start DARE?'

"It's like a right of passage for them."

Douglas Young, 11, of Port Huron Township graduated from the program
this spring. "I learned stuff my parents didn't even know," he said.

Douglas was at the car show Saturday, wearing the red T-shirt he got
at the end of the program.

He hadn't yet explored the cars on display, he said.

Among the vehicles were a red Ford Mustang from the 1960s, a 1933
Essex Terraplane, a 1974 Chrysler Newport and a 1954 Studebaker.

Champagne, the Thunderbird owner, said he is amazed at the amount of
money spent restoring cars.

"It is unbelievable how much work goes into some of these," he said.

Dale McDonald, 36, of Port Huron, owner of Main Street Garage in Port
Huron, said he did a lot of work on his 1969 Camaro, which he drove
to Vantage Point on Saturday.

"I've had it 13 years. That's a long time," he said, walking away
from a 1939 Ford. "It's like a marriage."

Justin Greeves, 28, of Marysville wandered wide-eyed looking at the
vehicles Saturday, wishing he had a classic car.

"It'll be a while," he said.