ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
September has nearly arrived, and Labor Day weekend is here.
Many people consider the holiday the unofficial end of summer, though the official start of autumn comes later in the month with the equinox.
For nearly two decades in one Oklahoma Panhandle community, the weekend following Labor Day has also meant a chance to look at some vintage automobiles, and Saturday, Sept. 7, the Hooker Car Show will once again dot Glaydas Avenue for a full day.
Car show coordinator Linda Martin said while most of what visitors will see are things seen at past editions of the event, there will be a few new vendors this year.
“Some of them are food, and some of them are jewelry or T-shirts,” she said. “There’s several different things going on with that. We have the food trucks. It’s usually Oklahoma Smoke, and I’m not sure if we’ll get the hamburger guy here or not, but we’ll have the burrito lady.”
The show has drawn an average of around 200 entries in the past, and Martin said she is already seeing many entries for this year.
“I think we’re always going to be growing a little bit more,” she said. “We want to grow every year.”
Also a part of past Hooker Car Shows, sponsor drawings will take every place every hour for $100 for car entries.
“We just draw their number,” Martin said. “We’re doing a raffle on a rifle, which is similar to what we did last year. We’re selling tickets for $2 apiece. We also have people’s choice. For $2, they can buy a ticket, and the car that gets the most votes gets a plaque. We do a drawing for $500 we give away to whoever we draw. We give them a ticket. On one side, they put their name, and the other side is the number of the car they like. The Hooker Chamber of Commerce gives us that money every year, and it works out real well.”
A medical clinic and Hooker’s Physical Therapy on the Move office are also doing a 10-year anniversary drawing, with the winners getting baskets of goodies.
The 2024 car show is the 18th edition of the event, and Martin said what keeps coming back is simply explained.
“They just love our car show,” she said. “They come in and shine their cars up and park them, and people come by. They go look at everybody else’s car.”
The Hooker Car Show has traditionally been an event with fun for the entire family, and this year’s show will have some fun for children as well.
“We also have the kiddie ride,” Martin said. “They belong to the Hooker Lions Club. It’s the little car ride we put out, and our HALO group takes care of that.”
Youth from Guymon 4-H likewise provide much in the way of help for the car show.
“They do a lot of running for us, helping with the cars and setting up, finding people,” Martin said. “They help with the entries. These kids do a really good job for us.”
A bull ride and a bounce house will also be part of the weekend’s fun, and new for this year, Martin said the car show will feature a dog rescue.
“The city is going to bring some of the dogs that have been abandoned,” she said. “They’re going to set up and have the dogs available.”
In May, Liberal’s Light Park is home to the Yellow Brick Road Car Show. With that show taking place near the start of summer and the Hooker Car Show taking place near the end of summer, Martin said she finds it interesting how the shows are bookends for the season.
“We picked this date, and at the time, there wasn’t much going on,” she said. “It’s an area where it works out. School’s started up. It’s quieting down from that. I get feedback that they love our car show. They like the people. They like being simple. We don’t have a lot of things we ask them for. They just come in, park their cars and go look at everybody else’s car.”
Past Hooker Car Shows have brought in entries from as far away as Washington state and Michigan. Martin said some of these people are relatives of people who live in Hooker. She likewise finds it interesting how the show draws people from such distances, and she said there are many stories that could be told such as one visitor from Washington state.
“The guy was going to visit some relatives in Woodward, and they said, ‘If you’re going to come that weekend, bring your car and put it in the car show. Then come see us,’” she said.
With nearly two decades in the books, Martin said the future of the Hooker Car Show looks good.
“Every five years, they have an all-school reunion here in Hooker, and they’ve usually had it on Memorial Day weekend,” she said. “Next year, they’re wanting to do it on the Hooker Car Show weekend. We’ve had class reunions for the last five or six years that have come to here on that date. It brings in more people too. It’s more than just a car show. It’s a good day for Hooker. We don’t draw a big crowd very often, and that’s one thing that shows off our town.”
Gates for the Hooker Car Show open at 7 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 7, with the national anthem performed at 9 a.m. Drawings start at 10 a.m., with a prayer taking place at noon.
Voting cuts off at 1 p.m., with merchant drawings taking place at 3:30 p.m. and car show awards and the gun drawing happening at 4 p.m.
Entries made by 5 p.m. Sept. 6 are $20, and those made the day of the show are $30. Entries can be made by calling 580-652-2333, e-mailing
Checks can be made payable to Hooker Car Show and mailed to Hooker Car Show, P.O. Box 515, Hooker, OK 73945. For more information, call 580-652-2333.
