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Photos by Alen Fetahi
Rain fell on the July Fourth Parade. Rain postponed the fireworks. And on July 6, under sunny skies, Bob Siracusano and his crew of volunteers from Sawyer Motors and across Saugerties made it rain again — this time for the Boys and Girls Club.
“I set a goal of $30,333, which is the most they’ve raised through their auction and all their auctions, but when I heard we’d broken $41,000 it blew my mind,” Siracusano said.
That amount will likely be revised upward, as checks and donations are continuing to come in, he added.
“It was just amazing,” Siracusano continued. “We had more cars than ever before. We sold out all the spots we had open and then had more than 100 cars show up on top of that.”
While everything is still being totaled up, there were at least 600 vehicles in the show, which drew more than an estimated 15,000 people to Saugerties.
“It was just a tremendous turnout,” said Mayor William Murphy.
Each year for the past 11 years, Sawyer Motors selects a charity to receive the proceeds from the show’s entrance fees. Beginning next year, an organization will be set up to distribute the money more flexibly.
“We’ll be there to help as many as we can,” Siracusano said. “If a family with a sick child needs to go to Albany for treatment and can’t afford the gas, we’ll be there.”
In addition to money raised from the car show going into the foundation, funds raised during the annual Holiday in the Village will also go into that pot.
“We will no longer be limited to helping out one organization or one family,” Siracusano said.
