Hi Everyone,
I hope you’re enjoying the warmth and fun of the summer season—I know I sure am! The summer months for me are always busy with lots of traveling to various trade shows and events, where I get to see many old friends and make new ones.
On June 7th the Wanda team participated in the third annual KC Auto Paint Auto Show in Prescott, Arizona. As always, KC’s owners pulled out all the stops to ensure a great time of “giving back to the community.” One whole city block was closed in front of the store so that 77 area car buffs could show off their custom hot rods and cars. Each visitor brought a donated can of food as their entry fee to enjoy a full day of BBQ, live music, door prizes and exhibit booths. More than 300 people attended this fantastic event and even got a chance to learn how my Wanda brand refinish products deliver simplicity, color, and value. The collected food goods were then transported to a local food bank.
I then made a quick trip to Canal Fulton, Ohio, on July 12th to join the folks at United Paint Supply for a customer golf outing. It was a fun, laid back event where my Wanda brand got lots of attention at hole #1!
On July 18-20, I hosted the 13th Annual AkzoNobel Wanda Blue Suede Cruise event at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio, along with the whole Wanda team. This is the fourth straight year that we’ve been the title sponsor of Blue Suede Cruise and it was hands-down the best year yet! The weekend kicked-off on Friday with record-breaking attendance. The weather was beautiful and it was amazing to see the hundreds of candy-colored hot rods, customs, classics, muscle cars and trick trucks lined up. Dare-devils enjoyed the quarter-mile fun runs down the famed Summit Motorsports Park race track, and young and old alike enjoyed a great cookout and sock hop. On Saturday there were more fun runs, a vintage fashion show, my Wanda Coloring Land for kids age 2-16, and the Wanda Challenge flag start race. That was a real blast with eight racers and a variety of cars from a Gasser, to a Tempest, even a Henry J that was painted in my Wanda bright green color! Who knows, maybe my Wanda products helped give it the boost it needed to win the race! Visitors really enjoyed the Wanda Car Care Clinics co-hosted with Presta Car Care products, where they learned how to turn their cars from bare metal to gorgeous color—all protected with Presta’s great car care products. Later that night I was honored to serve as Grand Marshall of the Neon of Lights Parade. The evening concluded with an amazing fireworks show and live performance by the legendary Van-Dells. The event concluded on Sunday, but not until after I got to choose the winner of the Wanda Choice Award. The honor went to Mark Jaynes and his gorgeous two-toned 1940 Mercury Eight Convertible. Of course, another important highlight of the weekend was seeing Jim Hurst win the 2014 Crusin’ Times Hot Rod Build-off. His custom 1951 Chevy was a real beauty—and painted in my Wanda Blue Suede color. If you didn’t get a chance to participate in this year’s Blue Suede Cruise, I hope you’ll make plans now to attend next year. Check out some these great photos of the event.
Next on my calendar is the annual Woodward’s Dream Cruise on August 16th in Detroit, Michigan. Situated between the cities of Ferndale and Pontiac, Michigan, this wildly popular event draws more than a million car enthusiasts who gather to show off their custom and classic wheels as they cruise up and down Woodward’s Main Street. I will join the team at the Lingenfelter Performance Engineering exhibit booth, where my custom Wanda paint and finishes will be showcased on several LPE concept cars. I look forward to another fun day of meeting new people, signing autographs, and cheering on the many gorgeous—and sometimes zany—vehicles on parade.
With the fall season just around the corner, I’ll soon be setting my sights on the 2014 SEMA trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada, November 4-7, so stay tuned for more information about this exciting event and more, by visiting www.wandarefinish.us. Or visit my Facebook page for quick updates.
Until then,
