Community of Care Puts on 8th Annual Bike and Cruise Show With a Touch of Nostalgia

The money from the show will allow elderly residents in rural Cass County

CASSELTON, N.D. — The senses are opening up a window to the past.

“I remember my grandfather’s car. And it smells just like this. No other car in my youth smelled like this,” said Mike Thiel.

It’s that one–of–a–kind scent that actually kept Thiel from getting rid of his 1962 Chrysler New Yorker.

“My daughter fell in love with this car when she was pretty young. I was going to sell it and now I can’t sell it because she likes the way it smells is what she said because it smells like and old car,” he said.

Thiel got his car a little over a decade ago.

He’s showed it off in several car shows over the years, including Casselton’s Eighth Annual Community for Care Bike and Cruise Show.

“Community of Care is a non–profit that serves older adults in rural Cass County, those grandmas and grandpas. Our real goal is to help them stay in their rural Cass County homes. We know that many of them have lived here for a lifetime and it’s where they want to stay,” said Myrna Hanson, executive director at Community for Care.

But it’s not just classic cars like Thiel’s you’ll see traveling nearly 150 across miles across North Dakota in order to give back.

“We use to say it was classic cars. Now we say I don’t care what kind of car you have. You just have to be able to go 60 miles an hour,” Hanson said. “It’s amazing how many people out in rural Cass have a motorcycle or Corvette they want to get out and drive so we just do a cruise to the countryside.”

While showing off their old and new cars, these drivers are also building an entire community around some of their most prized possessions.

“It’s just fun. The whole culture. Everybody’s happy, it’s like you’re on vacation and to talk about them and help people work on them and come up with solutions for this problem or that problem, I mean it’s just a whole community of people that enjoy the hobby,” Thiel said.

As they continue to build brand new memories, it’s the older generations who are getting a little nostalgic.

“You’ll see elderly people in their 70’s or 80’s like ‘oh I remember I had a car like that. And I met my wife with that car,'” Thiel said.

As long as these engines are running, they will continue to get a glimpse of the past.

The show went through Sheldon and Leonard before heading up north to Ayr.