Boulder classic car show honors King Soopers shooting victims

3 years ago 329

Dave Seper, a precocious retired Boulder constabulary sergeant, wanted to wage tribute to those who died successful the wide shooting astatine the southbound Boulder King Soopers successful March.

So helium turned the best-in-show grant astatine the yearly foundation car amusement helium organizes into the “Boulder Strong” grant to grant each 10 radical who mislaid their lives, arsenic good arsenic renaming 2 different awards to grant 2 of the victims: Boulder Police Officer Eric Talley and Special Olympian Teri Leiker.

“I’m going to transportation these changes connected each year,” Seper said. “I don’t privation radical to forget.”

Along with honoring those who died, the ninth yearly StarLite Classic Car & Motorcycle Show continued to payment Special Olympics Colorado and the Law Enforcement Torch Run. The amusement was held Sunday astatine the 22nd yearly Boulder Creek Hometown Festival successful downtown Boulder.

Altogether, 54 cars competed successful the show. Another 4 were brought successful from the store of Stephen Tebo, of Tebo Properties, for display.

The awards ceremonial started with Tim Lambert, a elder lawman with the Adams County Sheriff’s Office, playing “Amazing Grace” connected bagpipes, followed by a infinitesimal of silence.

The car amusement includes prizes successful each of 10 categories, including a precocious added modern classical class for cars made aft 1985. This year’s “Boulder Strong” best-of-show award, arsenic good arsenic the people’s prime award, went to a 1956 Ford T-Bird owned by Jodie Brown.

The “Top Cop” award, which goes to a existent oregon retired constabulary serviceman with a car successful the show, was fixed successful Talley’s honor. Talley, who was the archetypal serviceman to respond to the shooting, was a longtime protagonist of Special Olympics and a Torch Run member.

The “Flame of Hope” award, which goes to a car chosen by Special Olympics athletes, was fixed successful Leiker’s honor. Leiker, who spent 31 years moving astatine King Soopers arsenic a courtesy clerk, was a Special Olympian who participated successful way and field, hoops and softball.

One of the archetypal spot awards went to a 1969 Chevrolet Indy 500 gait car owned by Syd Swennes of Lafayette.

He recovered the car for merchantability adjacent Chicago done an automotive mag and spent 5 years tracking down archetypal parts to reconstruct it. The car, helium said, was a acquisition to the metropolis of Indianapolis and utilized to advertise the race. After the race, it ended up sold to a Buick dealer, who gave it to a lad who “tore the hellhole retired of it.”

While helium has restored different cars, helium said, the gait car is his favorite. He’s taken it to 60 car shows, winning 58 awards.

“You conscionable a batch of car radical astatine shows,” helium said. “It’s a batch of fun.”

Norm Smith, who lives successful Denver, received the Boulder Creek unit prime StarLite grant for his “cardinal red” 1957 Chevrolet Suburban. He bought the car successful 1983 and spent 9 years restoring it.

“These cars are accomplishments, and radical similar to amusement their accomplishments,” helium said. “I ne'er cognize erstwhile different restored car is going to amusement up. You tin larn from different cars.”

Rob Myhre brought his achromatic 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air to the show. He kept everything archetypal to the car, saying it was “perfect erstwhile it came retired of the factory.” He recovered it successful Pennsylvania, wherever helium said it was stored for years by the mistress of a antheral who hid it erstwhile helium got successful occupation implicit taxes.

“It’s a classical Americana vehicle,” helium said. “It doesn’t get much classical than a ’57 Chevy. I bring it to shows due to the fact that I privation to amusement it off.”