Bumper to bumper charity event in Lakewood Ranch

John Joly, a Knights of Columbus member at Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Church in Lakewood Ranch, didn't have any trouble getting volunteers for the annual Car Show and Cookout at the church on Saturday.

He only had to say the event's charity.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

"There's a pouring out of the community whenever when you say St. Jude's," Joly said. "It has meaning to a lot of people. And the Knights of Columbus exists to give to charities. That's Our No. 1." 

Whether giving to charity, seeing vintage cars or eating great food was the No. 1 priority, a steady stream of visitors kept coming on Saturday during the event.

Along with the car show, the church hosted a Trunk or Treat event that was presented by the church's youth group.

But the cars were the main draw.

"So far, I love it," Waterlefe's Denny Meskill said. "There are a lot of cars, a good variety of cars. There's music, there's food, and the people are all great."

"This is a great car show," said Central Park's John Golon. "It's got a lot of cars, lots of events going on, raffles."

Panther Ridge's Rich Epps said the event allowed him to showcase his car, a 1970 Mustang Mach 1, which he'd sought out for four months and finally found in a sparsely populated area in Georgia, south of Augusta. 

"I love having the opportunity to take this out, and I enjoy all of the other cars, and talking about mine," he said.