It’s that time of year again. Birds are chirping, tires are chirping, and the 2017 Car Show Season is upon us. I’m sure by now, that we have all had our share of the “winter blues” and what a lot of us like to call “cabin fever” during the long winter months, but that’s all about to change. For some of us, we are excited about the warmer weather and longer sunny days, but for the most of us it’s about that and taking our classic cars and trucks out of hiding and hitting the black top searching for the nearest car show, or cruise night, in the New England area. This will be this writer’s twentieth year of non-stop classic car and truck shows and cruise nights in this region. I love them! I can’t attend enough of them! I’m sure a lot you reading my article right now feel exactly the same way. Now, imagine this: No more Car Shows and Cruise Nights. None. Obsolete. Non-existing. It’s not far fetched and hard to imagine when you think about it. We automotive enthusiasts are getting older and a lot of us are not attending these venues anymore like we used too. The older enthusiasts are getting too old and can’t attend due to illness, financial strains, personal hardships and deaths. Year, after year, we lose a lot of our car show enthusiasts to numerous reasons. That will not change. The trend is very obvious to many of us. What can be done to help change this trend and help our Classic Car & Truck American Culture grow and thrive for years to come? “Take a Kid to a Car Show!” Yup. That’s what needs to happen if we are to stop this current trend. Our American Classic Car & Truck Culture and Hobby is going to be completely gone in another fifty to seventy-five years if we do not help change this trend. Our lifestyle will end with the baby boomer generation. Well, this writer and automotive enthusiast doesn’t want to see that happen and neither do a lot of other automotive enthusiasts. SEMA doesn’t want to see this happen. How do I know? Because they sent me a case of their “Take a Kid to a Car Show!” Stickers to pass out at the events I attend all season long. They found out through social networking about all of my Car Show & Cruise Nights Events I will be attending this year when I bring my Giant Buckleupallofus Child Passenger Safety Balloon Attraction to help bring in the kids to these venues. I already have more than 100 of these events on my 2017 schedule and it’s only March. By April, that event schedule will double. SEMA contacted me and asked me if I could please pass out their stickers at my Car Show and Cruise Night events this year and I agreed to do so because I believe what they believe. We all need to help keep this automotive hobby and lifestyle alive along with keeping kids safer and alive in the family vehicles as well as classic vehicles. Motörhead Magazine, and other Automotive Magazines across the USA, are featuring this article in their publications because it’s something that hits home with every classic car and truck enthusiast in the country. Granted, displaying a giant cartoon character balloon that teaches kids about traffic and seatbelt safety is quite the attraction to these types of venues, it’s just part of the whole picture: Kids and Car Shows. Teach them about traffic safety while attracting them to these classic automobiles is a win, win, for everybody. Host sites that use car shows and cruise nights to increase their business are also using my Buckleupallofus Giant Balloon Attraction to do the same exact thing this year. As the car show season gets into full swing this spring you will start to see a lot more kids attending these car shows and cruise nights because there is something besides classic cars and trucks to help attract them to these venues. So, why not take advantage of this and help promote our American Classic Car & Truck Culture, Hobby and Lifestyle at the same time? SEMA thinks it’s a great way to change the current trend and so do a lot of automotive magazine publishers, automotive parts stores, parts manufacturers, classic car and truck clubs and organizations as well automotive dealerships and aftermarket retailers. They are all going to benefit from a positive changing trend to help attract kids and families to this car show and cruise night scene over the coming years and do it with a safety theme that helps prevent injuries and potentially save lives. This is “Our” American Classic Car & Truck Culture. We need to help it grow and last for decades down the road. So, please, every chance you get: “Take a Kid to a Car Show!” And, kids always, “Buckleupallofus!”