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Car Show raised thousands
By ERIC MARK
Pocono Record Writer
SMITHFIELD TOWNSHIP — More than 1,000 people spent much of their afternoon at the Stroudsburg Pocono Airport Sunday.
Nary a plane landed or departed, but no one complained.
The Pocono Performance Enthusiasts Car Club utilized the airport's runway to put on an automobile show and race that drew 855 spectators, with all proceeds going to Joey's Eagles, a local non-profit group that aids the families of seriously and terminally ill children.
Joey's Eagles was founded by Middle Smithfield Township resident Nelly Grampp, who lost her son Joey to leukemia in 1996.
"We try to help them make ends meet, and help out with the everyday stuff," Grampp said. "It's the worst time of their lives, emotionally; the last thing they need is to worry about paying the bills."
Neither Grampp nor PPECC president Joe Keelan had an exact figure available for the amount raised by Sunday's event, but both are sure that it's "in the thousands of dollars."
The car club has hosted the auto show for six consecutive years, according to Keelan, who said the group tries to hold four major events each year, two in the spring and two in the fall.
Spectators at the event, who endured an unseasonably brisk afternoon, paid one dollar apiece to get into the airport grounds, but many of them donated additional funds to Joey's Eagles, said Grampp.
"It doesn't take much, once they learn what cause it's for," said Keelan.
Approximately 100 drivers paid $25 apiece to enter the race, and another 45 paid $8 each to display their classic cars in the auto show.
Keelan and Grampp both praised the efforts of the Lion's Club of Dingmans Ferry, who helped set up the show, and also collected additional donations.
ABC Trophies Company of East Stroudsburg donated the trophies that were awarded on the basis of "audience response," Keelan said.
Grampp described the trophies as "beautiful," and said that she wanted to thank "the car club, the show and race participants, the audience members, and all the patrons" for helping to make Sunday a "very special day" for her.
Anyone who wishes to make a donation to Joey's Eagles should contact Nelly Grampp at 77 Lake of the Pines, East Stroudsburg, PA
18302
, or call her at (570)
994-5526.
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