By Alex Paul
Chronicle staff

     Need a chromed front grill for a 1941 Pontiac?
     John Williams, Okanogan, was willing to part with one May 10 for $178 during the 15th annual Friendly OK Car Club’s annual car show and swap meet in Omak’s East Side Park.
     Scavenging car parts isn’t new to Williams. He spent most of his adult life working in the wrecking yard business. At one point, he attended as many as 10 swap meets per year, but now sticks to about three.
     “Sales have been kind of slow,” Williams said on the cool, overcast morning. “Unless they know exactly what they want, they won’t bite the bullet to buy. The big dollar stuff isn’t selling too fast.”
     Sales aside, Williams said he was enjoying the show and talking with folks who stopped by.
     Faye Engberg, Sedro Woolley, said she wouldn’t miss the annual event. She and her husband brought three cars and a 13-foot camping trailer this year.
The cars included two rare 1942 Fords — few domestic autos were built during World War II — and a 1965 Ford Mustang.
     One of the 1942 Fords is set up to pull a restored fiberglass 1973 Echo trailer that was manufactured in Nebraska. Both are painted deep blue.
     Engberg, who said she grew up in the 1950s, has decorated the interior of the trailer along those lines, complete with dolls dressed in bobby socks and poodle skirts and Coca-Cola memorabilia.
     The trailer is functional and used by the family, she said. It features a couch that makes into a bed, microwave oven, gas stove and porta-potty.
     She said she and her husband enjoy sharing time at the shows with their 13 grandchildren.
     Just a few feet away from the Engbergs’ classic American steel was Josef Strnad’s 1974 VW Type 181, popularly known as The Thing.
     “It’s unusual to have a VW at a show like this, but people enjoy it,” said the Delta, B.C. resident. “I restored it a long time ago. I like to work on engines. This one has 46 horsepower. I’ve driven it to California, Arizona and New Mexico and many other places.”
     Strnad said he enjoys visiting Okanogan Country and usually also attends a Volkswagen show in Yakima.
     Kyle Schukar, 17 and a junior at Snohomish High, didn’t need any prompting to polish the 1942 Ford tractor he helped restore with his grandfather, Hal Schukar of the Crumbacher area.
     Granddad said the tractor came from a friend in Canada who had two of them. He gave Schukar one in return for getting the other one running.
     “It was kind of a mess,” Schukar said, adding it took about three years to restore.
     Schukar and his wife, Clarice, are founding members of the car club and said there were more than 100 cars in the show.
     There also were about 80 swap booths where anything from old tools to leather goods could be found. The show is always on Mother’s Day weekend.
     The club has about 200 members who hold a potluck and meeting the second Tuesday of each month at the Riverside park. The potluck is at 6 p.m. and the meeting starts at 7.
     Although there were muscle cars of all types, from Chevelles to big-block Corvettes, Ken and Judy Lakusta of Penticton, B.C., brought one of the more unique cars of that era, a 1965 Pontiac Parisienne.
     That’s the Canadian version of a Pontiac Grand Prix.
     Lakusta told Jeff Spangler and Evonn Oneill, both of Omak, about the dark blue beauty.
     “I had one when I was younger and this probably is the third or fourth one I’ve rebuilt,” said Lakusta, who is a member of the Peach City Beach Cruise Car Club. This one features an original interior and is correct down to the glass bottle mounted to a fender well that held window washer fluid.
     Juan Patino, Chelan, spent two years creating a low rider cruiser from a 1953 Chevrolet BelAir. It now features an air ride suspension, 20-inch wheels, the interior from a Lincoln Continental, a 350-cubic-inch engine and power windows.
     “I did about 90 percent of the work myself,” said Patino.
     The show drew 70 vendors, more than 30 cars, trucks and a hydroplane for sale; 95 show cars, trucks, boats and several tractors. A Saturday evening banquet at Sun Valley Restaurant, Okanogan, drew 165.
15th annual Friendly
OK Car Club Swap Meet
and Car Show
     1931 and older – 1, Ken Cline, Okanogan, 1928 Ford Model A. 2, Clarice Schukar, Tonasket, 1928 Ford Model A roadster pickup. 3, Ted For, Omak, 1931 Model A.
     1932 to 1948 — 1, Skip Ritner, Spokane, 1932 Packard Twin 6. 2, M. McMillen, Bellingham, 1941 Chevrolet Special Deluxe. 3, Art Miller, Sedro Woolley, 1934 Ford sedan.
     1949-1954 — 1, Dave Everett, Grand Coulee, 1949 Chrysler. 2, John Bakker, Entiat, 1953 Ford Custom. No third place.
     1955-1964 — 1, Marvin Benson, Bellingham, 1957 Ford Thunderbird. 2, Darrel Hickman, Tonasket, 1964 Chevrolet Nova. 3, Bob Michelsen, Okanogan, 1963 Chevrolet Impala.
     1965-1982 — 1, Bob Henifen, Bellingham, 1966 Ford Mustang. 2, Ken Lakusta, Penticton, B.C., 1965 Pontiac Parisienne. 3, Glenn Irwin, Surrey, B.C., 1968 Pontiac LaMans.
     Original unrestored, any vehicle — 1, Jane Johnson, Mount Vernon, 1956 Studebaker President. 2, Lyle and Esther Brown, Colville, 1968 Mercury Monterey. 3, Fred Holmes, Tonasket, 1957 Ford Thunderbird.
     Four-door or station wagon — 1, Steve Lewis, Burlington, 1935 Dodge Humpback. 2, Marv and Peggy Morton, Omak, 1965 Chevrolet Impala. 3, Tom Osborn, Omak, 1965 Chevrolet Nova.
     Modified or street rod (car or truck) 1948 and older — 1, Dick Dickerboom, Sumas, 1933 Ford coupe. 2, Lowell Engberg, Sedro Woolley, 1942 Ford convertible. 3, Jonney and Sharon Tellefsen, Everson, 1934 Plymouth coupe.
     Modified or street rod (car or truck) 1949 and newer — 1, Bill and Nancy Udy, Vernon, B.C., 1954 Chevrolet convertible. 2, Dick Carter, Westbank, B.C., 1955 Chevrolet pickup. 3, Juan Patino, Chelan, 1954 Chevrolet BelAir.
     Unfinished or work in progress, any vehicle — 1, Steve Thornton, Omak, 1948 Chevrolet pickup. No second or third places.
     Special interest — 1, Rodger Rude, Mount Vernon, 1960 MGA coupe. 2, Faye Engberg, Sedro Woolley, 1942 Ford sedan and trailer. 3, Mark Jeseritz, Bellingham, 1969 Mini Cooper.
     Trucks (any size or style) — 1, Joe Schell, Tonasket, 1948 Diamond T. 2, Bill Douglas, Omak, 1930 Model A Ford pickup. 3, Don McFarland, Omak, 1925 Ford Model T.
     Factory muscle car, original or unrestored — 1, Larry McPhail, Blaine, 1958 Chevrolet Corvette. 2, Dale Lehman, Osoyoos, B.C., 1970 Plymouth Superbird. 3, Larry Freeman, Blaine, 1966 Chevrolet Corvette.
     Tractors — 1, Bob Pierce, Omak, 1935 John Deere. 2, Walt Beuck, Omak, 1944 John Deere. 3, Bob Michelsen, Okanogan, 1949 Farmall.
     Hard luck trophy — Francie and Lyle Jacobsen, Sedro Woolley, two cars broke down, but they finally made it to Omak in a GMC pickup.
     Long distance trophy — Jasef
Strnad, Delta, B.C., 1974 VW Thing, 240 miles to the show.
     People’s choice award — Skip Ritner, Spokane, 1932 Packard Twin 6.
     Best participation club — Antique Automobile Restorers Club, Bellingham, 18 cars.


Upcoming
car shows
     June 7 — Ninth annual Kettle Falls Town and Country Days Show and Shine; $10 entry fee. Parade, cars, trucks, tractors. Information: (509) 738-2198, hot30chevy@hotmail.com or puzzelnut2@hotmail.com.
     June 14 — 19th annual North Country Car Club cruise-in, Father’s Day in Tonasket. Trophies for 14 car classes. Information: 486-2098 or 486-2433.
     June 20-22 — Peach City Beach Cruise, Penticton, B.C. Information: 1 (866) 889-2288, www.peachcitybeachcruise.com or info@peachcitybeachcruise.com.