Chamber finds new partner for car show

Northern Knights club takes Sea Cruise wheel

The Chamber of Commerce has found a new car club to take the reins of the Sea Cruise car show after it was steered for 20 years by the Crescent City Car Club.

The Northern Knights Car Club envisions the same type of Sea Cruise, which drew 334 entrants last year, but with a few tweaks, said Gary Petersen, president of the club.

“We’ve got a lot of ideas, but they are ideas that we need to work out,” said Petersen, who was reluctant to divulge details.

He did mention that the club will be focusing its attention on a more aggressive advertising strategy to bolster attendance.

“About two years ago we kind of noticed some of the car shows we went to were getting smaller,” said Petersen. “A lot of people blame the gas prices and a lot of people blame the economy.”

He said he perceived there was a slight uptick in entrants last year in the car shows he attended, tracing it to a more concerted effort of people budgeting to travel to the car shows.

He opined Sea Cruise is poised for an increase in attendance considering when it is held.

“The timing for Sea Cruise up here is pretty good due to the fact that it’s almost the last car show for the (season) up in the North Coast,” said Petersen.

This year’s Sea Cruise will be Columbus Day weekend, Oct. 5-6.

The club hosted another show, the Cool Northern Nights on the Coast for eight years in Crescent City Harbor. 

That show garnered about 125 entrants each year, Petersen said. It will be put on cinderblocks as the club shifts it gears into Sea Cruise mode.

The Northern Knights Car Club was formed in July 2000 and has more than 25 members.

The highly popular Sea Cruise was started over 20 years ago by the Crescent City Car Club and the Crescent City-Del Norte Chamber of Commerce.

The chamber will partner with the Northern Knights to host Sea Cruise.

“We felt that this would be a great partnership and they’re going to bring a lot to the Sea Cruise Car Show,” said Gina Zottola, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce. “This is an important event because it brings outside dollars to the community. We’re going to continue to bring this forward.”

For further information, contact Zottola at 707-464-3174.

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