By: Mike Koury | Royal Oak Review | Published August 8, 2023
CLAWSON — For the 25th year, the Down on Main Street Charity Car Show will be back in Clawson.
The Down on Main Street show will take place on Saturday, Aug. 12, starting at 8 a.m. with registration and will run until 4 p.m. The event annually takes place on a half-mile stretch of Main Street from 14 Mile Road south to the city limits.
The event raises money for the Clawson Lions Club, which uses its funds to support charitable causes.
“The people that participate by bringing vehicles or motorcycles or campers or whatever they happen to enter, that money is what goes into what we refer to as our activity pool. That’s the money that we write checks against for charity,” said Clive Brown, of the Clawson Lions.
As Down on Main Street hits its 25th anniversary, Brown recalled how the event has grown from its small beginnings with fewer than 100 vehicles to what it is now.
Brown said organizers have at least 150 vehicles registered for the event, but adding in the people who will register on the day of the event will bring the total closer to 400.
“The initial concept was to use this car show as a fundraiser, but also to promote and help the community itself — the local eateries and the pubs and taverns that are on Main Street in Clawson,” he said. “And that’s where the partnership with the city of Clawson comes in. So it’s a collective challenge as it were to help promote local business and to raise money for charity, and then where that comes from is we typically will draw somewhere around 6,000 spectators and there’s no charge to get in. Where the benefit, we hope, comes in is that a good portion of that 6,000 will visit all of the stores, all the eateries on the corridor in Clawson.”
Dale Pioch, of Royal Oak, and his 1965 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu convertible will be in attendance for the car show, as he has for 20 of the last 25 years.
Pioch said he loves attending Down on Main Street, as the money goes to a good cause and he’s able to see friends he hasn’t seen in a year.
The car he’s bringing is what he referred to as a “daily driver” and not a show vehicle, which is what he prefers as a classic car owner.
“When your grandkids are smaller, they get in, they drip ice cream on the seats. You know what I mean? Those are the vehicles I like to have, the drivers,” he said. “The ones that aren’t afraid to take them out of the garage, and then drive them somewhere instead of putting them up in a trailer and taking them to a car show. And there are those type of guys too, and God bless them.”
Attendees still can register and participate in the car show on the day of the event for $20. For more information, visit clawsonlions.org.