Running an annual car show can be very difficult for many reasons, thus very few annual car shows reach the ten-year plateau. There are a few exceptions however, such as "Scrape By The Lake," which is one of the longest running custom car shows in North America. The show was born out of necessity, in fact, it was created by a group of Lowrider enthusiasts who had no place to show their cars. The only local events near them catered to hot rods and muscle vehicles, so Joe Sud and his crew decided to create an event for all types of vehicles, with the main focus being the Lowrider culture.
The tenth anniversary of "Scrape" was held in a new location, due to the growth in the number of participants over the past three years. They decided on Prudhommes Inn, Niagara Falls, Ontario. Barely able to contain the enormous crowd of 5,000 spectators, and well over 700 show vehicles, the giant parking lots were filled to the very brink of their capacity. This year's new features included skateboard demos, an exhibition by the FMX Motocross stunt team, the widely popular bikini contest, a hydraulic hop-off, and live DJ's who performed throughout the entire day.
Taking home Best of Show honors was Abe Lopez, in his Cutlass, appropriately named "Pure Elegance." Runners up included Abel Giroux from Luxurious Car Club and his '98 Lincoln Town Car, complete with a massive rear lockup, and Pete Reibel from Buffalo, New York, with his '63 Chevy Impala named "Back In Black" which represented Rollerz Only Car Club. Other notable vehicles included Adam Kusidel's '64 Chevy Impala from Affiliated Car Club, and "Fully Loaded," a gold-plated '63 owned by Glen Goodwin from Ottawa. The hop contest was a huge hit with the spectators, and Raff dominated the competition with his Chevy Impala, which launched upwards of 56 inches. The popular bikini contest was the perfect way to cap off the show, as Irena Gee took home the first place prize.
The tenth annual Scrape By The Lake was a huge success, and Joe Sud is now searching for an even bigger location for next year, due to the overwhelming turnout. "I couldn't have done all this without the help of my amazing staff," Joe told us, adding that "without all of the supporters and hard working staff, there would be no Scrape." We have already added Scrape By The Lake to our 2010 schedule of can't miss events, and you should too.