Marysville Hot Wheels Weekend draws 600

The 2023 Marysville Hot Wheels Weekend brought show cars, national recording artists, pop culture celebrities, food trucks and more to Marysville on Aug. 25 and 26.

“As a team, we could not have been happier with the 2023 Marysville Hot Wheels Weekend,” Hot Wheels Weekend Entertainment Director Christopher Troy said. “One of our biggest worries was the weather, but the predicted rain never came and everyone had a great time.”

The weekend began Aug. 25 in the Village Green Plaza with a car cruise along Gratiot Boulevard. Following the cruise, a drive-in movie showing of “The Last American Hero” took place at dusk.

“It is hard to say just how many were out on Friday night for the cruise,” Troy said, noting that Gratiot Boulevard was lined on both sides with lawn chairs, individual parties and car shows.

On Aug. 26, a car show took place in Marysville Park.

Troy said the parking team recorded 673 show, custom and hot rodded cars, motorcycles and other unique rides.

“Dean Transportation, as well as the Port Huron Museum and the Council of Aging, all provided shuttle buses between the high school and the park to keep fans safe,” he said. “Dean reported over 30 runs being mostly full, so we know there were a lot of people.”

He said there were cars from all over the country and Canada at the show.

“We had cars from Memphis, Tennessee; Austin, Texas; Dayton, Ohio; Columbus, Ohio; Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Fairbanks, Alaska; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Indiana; Illinois; New York, and Florida,” he said. “Not to mention Toronto, Windsor, London and Guelph from Canada.”

Tom Wopat, who played Luke Duke on the television show “The Dukes of Hazzard,” signed autographs and posed for pictures next to the famed General Lee car.

Troy said Wopat signed over 300 autographs and got up on the stage to perform three songs with local performers Bob (Junior) Pratt and Jamie McDowell from the band Alter Ego.

The 2023 Miss Marysville Hot Wheels Weekend Pin-Up girl contest also took place on Aug. 26.

Troy said around 20 women bid to be the 2023 Miss Marysville Hot Wheels Weekend, and the winner was Andrea Benson, of Flint, known to her fans as “Miss Greta Grenadine.”

Stage entertainment included The Slot Rods, the Horse Cave Trio, Mitch Polzak and the Royal Deuces, The Surfrajettes and Big Sandy and his Fly-Rite Boys.

Troy said the musical groups “wowed the crowd” with their sets.

“We have received amazing feedback from car owners, as well as the thousand-plus who attended,” Troy said. “The setting, the cars, the music and just how friendly everyone was, especially to out-of-towners.”

He said he enjoyed watching the people at the event the most, as well as the bands.

“To know that mostly three people — Mike Deising, Pat Shirkey and myself — were able to pull together something like Hot Wheels and bring so many people so much joy really makes me feel blessed,” he said. “We had a car from Houghton, Michigan, break down Friday night and a local car owner helped him work all night to get him back on the road in time for the show on Saturday. I think when you see that kind of camaraderie of some of the car owners who help each other out without even knowing each other, but simply share the love of their cars, is amazing. It really was an amazing two days in Marysville.”

The event is presented by the Marysville Business Council.

For more information, visit marysvillehotwheelsweekend.com or search for “Hot Wheels Weekend” on Facebook.

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