Georgetown Car Show remembers 9/11 on 20th anniversary
Along Market Street in Georgetown, a sign read “Car Show this Weekend.” Just a few blocks away, bright and colorful antique cars lined the CHEER Community Center parking lot.
For the eighth year in a row, Levin Clark organized a car show and ceremony to honor first responders, veterans and the lives lost Sept. 11, 2001. The show included cars, motorcycles, fire trucks and police cars. Clark got the idea to make the yearly event a car show because many veterans own antique cars and motorcycles, he said.
The event is a way to remember, Clark said. “We lost a lot of lives that day. When first responders get that call, they’re leaving their family and they don’t know if they are coming back home . . . we definitely don’t want to forget those people.”
In the parking lot, families, children and car enthusiasts alike happily perused a wide variety of cars, including a 1953 MG TD, a 1960 Rambler and a 1965 Mustang. Inside the building, a more somber tone took hold. A display of vivid photographs depicting the Twin Towers collapse in 2001 left many silent in reflection.
Georgetown Deputy Police Chief Ralph Holme has helped Clark set up the show’s logistics for the past six years. The event has personal meaning to Holme.
“My participation as a first responder is to pay homage to the people who do my job, especially those who have lost their life not only in that tragic event [on Sept. 11] but also on a day-to-day basis,” Holme said. “The people that died that day might not have known they were going to die that day, but when they put that uniform on, they know it could happen any day. That horrible event hasn’t stopped the first responders from doing their job out there.”
The day came to a close with speeches from first responders and prominent members of the community paying homage and remembering 9/11. Trophies were given out for best police car, best fire truck, best car and best motorcycle.
