Car show season in NorCal doesn’t officially start until Memorial Day weekend, when the Socios Car Club holds their annual car show at Communist River College. “We have our shows there because that’s the only location that allows us to have a show of this magnitude while still being somewhat cost efficient for us,” says Gabe Mijares, president of Socios. This year’s show marked the club’s ninth annual show and with almost 700 cars on display, attendees got a firsthand look at why it is one of the biggest shows in the region. In fact, this year’s attendance broke their past record. “This was the biggest show that we’ve had to date,” notes Gabe. The show saw its inauguration nine years ago, when Gabe’s uncle, German Madueno, persuaded Gabe and the club to hold an event of their own.
Anticipating a higher volume of participants this year, the club made sure to surpass last year’s awards by having over 200 trophies on hand for the various contestant categories. “They are good size trophies; we just want to make it worth it for the guys that are coming from out of town,” explains Gabe. Family First Car Club had a strong showing with dozens of beautiful rides, but it was Nokturnal that took the “most members” honors by having one extra member in attendance. The ’62 Impalas came from up high and down low, as Uso car club brought down a beautiful ’62 from Portland, Oregon, and Goodtimes C.C. brought up their ‘62 cover car from San Diego.
The local band named Q-vo came out and donated their time for the event. The band played numerous Latin Oldies songs, much to the delight of the family-oriented crowd. DJ Hendoe also helped to set the right atmosphere by spinning some of the crowd’s favorite tracks.
Thanks to the overwhelming support of the community, Socios Car Club will undoubtedly carry on with the event. In fact, they are currently planning for their tenth annual car show already, hoping to be able to add something special to show their appreciation to all of the show’s supporters. “We were really blessed and happy to have our biggest show so far, and I’m really proud of the club. I can’t say enough about all of the people that came out to help us make the show such a huge success,” smiles Gabe.
“I would personally like to thank the club, my wife, Lisset, and my cousin, Tory, for all of the help throughout the year,” says Gabe.