The show must go on

On a weekend regularly dedicated to celebrating the town of Monroe, the annual car show, now named the Rex Shepard Memorial Car Show, will headline activities on the city square. An all day event, the car show is pressing on even with the annual Old Settlers celebration canceled.

"They canceled Old Settlers and I had people from all over calling me to see if we would still have the car show in Monroe. I said I'm not sure, I'll have to do a little thinking. I went to the city council and they didn't have a problem with it, so it was a go," organizer Clint Price said.

Starting with registration from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, the show will feature hundreds of vehicles from near and far. It also has a special meaning in its first year without Shepard helping alongside Price.

"Rex Shepard used to help me put the show on at Old Settlers every year. He passed away at the first of the year and they had a memorial at the Monroe American Legion," Price said. "It is kind of a memorial tribute to Rex. We're going to have 25 plus trophies and a best of show. Also, I'm going to have Rex's mother pick a car, too, for an award in his name."

As the show started to take shape, many pieces fell into place for Price including entertainment and food. Local organizations, the Monroe American Legion and nearby bar Southside Food and Spirits tagged along to make the event bigger and better.

"I didn't know what I was going to do with the food part of it but the Legion contacted me and wanted to know if they could serve food because they are looking for ways to raise money. I said, 'you bet, that would save me a lot of hassle trying to find someone,'" Price said.

Southside will have a bags tournament with registration from 9 to 10 a.m. at $10 per team. A tent will be available with Uri Seller's Softball Tournament shirts, a beer garden will be open the entire day and food on a stick will be available in honor of the Iowa State Fair.

The organizer is also working to make it a safe event in light of the current pandemic.

"We're going to be as safe as we can with social distancing. The bathrooms will be open at the Legion and they will be keeping them clean. We will have hand sanitizer around different places," Price said. "Just trying to keep everybody at a distance so we don't have any problems getting too close. Hopefully, everybody will get along alright."

Even with the unusual circumstances, Price is excited to keep the event going.

"People called me from Polk County, Marshall County, Marion County. People are looking for something to do. I think we'll have a big turn out, I'm not going to turn anybody away but we have to have a place to get them all parked because the square will only hold so much," Price said. "I always have fun doing it. It is usually a fundraiser for Old Settlers but (with them not being involved) this year I am going to donate the profits to local organizations, many of which are hurting a little bit. I enjoy doing it and Rex always helped it and enjoyed doing it."

Contact Jamee A. Pierson at 641-792-3121 ext. 6534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com