ATHOL — Canned soup was inside. Souped-up vehicles were outside.
Market Basket sponsored a North Quabbin Cruisers show in its parking lot this week, when three vehicles were selected out of a pool of 275 and will compete for awards in the Super Wheels Showdown in Boston’s City Hall Plaza on Oct. 1.
Paul Mennett, who hosts “Cruisin’ New England” on NESN and publishes a magazine of the same name, hosted the show Wednesday and met with fans, who strolled around the parking lot looking at the collection of antique automobiles present. Jim Gallagher, a member of Mennett’s show series crew, judged the vehicles and picked the three he believed were best.
Gallagher said he selected a 1968 Oldsmobile 442 entered by Jody Woodruff, a 2005 Ford GT entered by Pete Sienkiewicz and a 1929 panel truck entered by Doug Wilder. A 1971 Chevrolet Nova entered by Rob Watuins and a 1936 Dodge pickup entered by Chuck Blais were also tapped to appear in Mennett’s display at the Circle of Champions at the Big E.
Flashy cars young and old filled a cordoned-off section of the parking lot, which resembled the world’s most prolific car dealership. Swarms of people walked around to examine the machines.
Athol resident and car enthusiast Chris Sanderson approached Mennett and said his children have watched “Cruisin’ New England” since they could “crawl under the roll bar of (my) Nova.” Now, Sanderson said, his youngest son was driving Sanderson’s 1955 Ford Customline to enter into Wednesday’s show.
“That’s what I enjoy most about this whole thing, when I hear stuff like that,” Mennett told The Recorder. “Those are the things I like more than anything.”
You can reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 258. On Twitter: @DomenicPoli