BOUNTIFUL—Cars old and new will be cruising down Main Street in Bountiful Father’s Day weekend for the annual Coats for Kids Car show that kicks off June 16. The popular event sponsored by the Bountiful Rotary raises funds to buy children who are in need, coats and other winter clothing. 

“It’s been 25 years,” said Krista Simonsen whose father Chris Simonsen helped start the program. “In 1998 the rotary applied for a $15,000 grant to help children in Bountiful. They bought winter clothes for those in need. It was like we do now it just continued forward.”

Krista said 1999 is when the first actual car show was held. “Some of the members had old cars. They’d display them over by the bubble. It was just one day on Saturday. There were 50 cars and they bought every hotdog at Costco and women brought their cookers and sold the hotdogs for $1.”

It turned into something bigger, she said. “They got sponsors and had more cars coming on. Dick Nourse of KSL had two cars and he loved to help out. He talked about it on KSL and got the word out. That really made it grow.”

Karl Malone brought his truck for years, said Krista. “We had Doug Wright and Mark Koelbel that would talk about it on air.” 

Burt Brothers Tires wanted to help so they decided maybe they could do a burnout sponsored by a tire company, she said. 

Anything goes at the car show.

                                                                                     Photos by Roger v. Tuttle

It turned into a two day event with a Friday parade on Main, the burn out, live music and food, Krista said. “It just blossomed from there. It’s become a destination event.”

Former Mayor Cushing wanted it and gave it his blessing, she said. “He supported and helped for years. (Former) Bountiful Police Chief Tom Ross was great working with the burnout along with the fire department. They were all onboard. That’s why it blossomed; it was because of everybody’s help.”

The club asks principals and teachers from 16-17 elementary schools in the south Davis area to find those children in need, said Krista. “It is handled as a voucher program. They give them to the parents so they can shop at the store and buy winter clothing but they don’t have to tell their kids that they can’t afford it. We help everybody that comes to us.”

Spectators line Main Street for last year's Coats for Kids parade.

                                                                                        Photos by Roger V. Tuttle

During 2020 they still held the parade, she said. “We raised enough money to help the kids that year as well. There’s usually more than 500 kids that we help. We’ve helped a lot with other people in need.”

In addition to the clothing the club has branched out to give service scholarships to high school students, Krista said. “They have to show us what service they’ve given. We love giving scholarships to high school students.”

They already have 300 registered cars, she said. “We don’t care what you bring. It can be new or old, rusted or duct taped – it doesn't matter.”

Vito’s will be there making 500 sandwiches, said Krista. “He just said, ‘I can help you guys out.’”

The car show opens on Saturday at 10 a.m. “There will be a patriotic program to honor veterans at noon with a skydiver who jumps with the flag,” she said. “We’ve got live bands booked. Vision does only one free concert and they’ll play on Saturday. We also have the Rockees, a band made up of local kids on Friday.”

Krista wants to emphasize that they need visitors to eat at the food court. “That’s how we make our money.”  

There have been many sweet stories from participants about how the show has helped them, she said. “One man came up and said he’d gotten a coat as a child. He said he hangs his big coat over the little coat. He said it gave him confidence. Now he’s graduated from the U and is a lawyer. He said he just wanted to come back to help other children.”

There will be big prize giveaways at the show as well, said Krista. “We have a motorcycle and four-wheeler that were donated.”

It’s hard to believe it’s been 25 years, she said. “We’ve probably helped over 14,000 kids during that time. We feel blessed that we’ve been able to help everyone.”

Coats for Kids starts Friday, June 16 at 5 p.m. at Bountiful Town Square, 75 E. 200 South, with the parade along Main Street at 6 p.m. followed by a pie eating contest and the burnout around 8 p.m. The next day Saturday, June 17 the car show opens at 10 a.m. at Bountiful Park, 400 N. 200 West and closes at 4 p.m.