Carter County Car Club makes annual contributions even after a difficult year

ELIZABETHTON — The Carter County Car Club was built with the idea of having fun by displaying quality workmanship in restoring classic cars. But the club also has a lot of fun by collecting money for children's charities and presenting those charities with donations right before the holidays.Thursday night was the time to present the donations this year, but it was not as joyful as past years. That was because the club had not been able to raise as much money as in normal years. There were a few causes for the shortfall. The biggest reason was Hurricane Helene, which closed the Broad Street Bridge for repairs.The bridge closure made it impossible to hold the weekly cruise-ins on downtown Elk Avenue. The bridge was finally opened in time for Independence Day. But the club also had to give up more of its days on Elk Avenue with an experiment to hold the cruise-ins one block over on E Street. Those cruise-ins were less successful.Car Club President Jim Bass spoke about the fund-raising problem in his speech before the donations were made on Thursday night. "With several weekends missed, we are down some $7,000 this year," Bass said. "Because of this, we are down 11 charities this year."The club still managed to raise $18,773 for the children's charities and services. The money was given to 15 different charities and organizations this year. They are: Betsy Book Bus, Camp Ta-Pa-Win-Go, Carter County Book Bus, Dream Team Adaptive Sports, East Side Elementary School Angel Tree, Elizabethton/Carter County Boys and Girls Club, Elizabethton High School Automotive Program, Elizabethton Police Department Shop With a Cop, Happy Valley Middle School Angel Tree, Harold McCormick Elementary School Angel Tree, Isaiah 117 House, T.A. Dugger Jr. High School Angel Tree, TLC Community Center, Unaka High School Automotive Program, West Side Elementary School Angel Tree.With the club wrapping up another year, Bass took the opportunity to thank many people who helped the club. He thanked Elizabethton City Manager Daniel Estes, Mayor Bill Carter, and the Elizabethton City Council for allowing the club back in downtown for cruise-ins. He also thanked the Elizabethton Street Department and the Elizabethton Police Department for the work they did to make the cruise-ins happen.Bass also thanked Principal Jon Minton of Elizabethton High School and the teachers and students for allowing the cruise-ins to be held on their campus until they could return to downtown.Bass also thanked the club's sponsors and concluded by saying "the Carter County Car Club has been resilient in its work, and that's why we are here tonight."