By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
Combine an enormously popular band with an annual car show, then add in ideal weather and you wind up with one of the biggest nights downtown Decatur has seen in many a moon.
The Decatur Chamber’s 23rd annual Motor Sports Festival produced a record-setting number of vehicles and The Bulldogs band brought out the largest crowd the Chamber’s Summer Concert Series has seen in a season of large crowds.
People began arriving early on as the car show opened at 4 p.m. and kept coming through several hours, many of them staying for the concert.
Chamber Executive Director Craig Coshow and Assistant Executive Director Linda Morris said 128 vehicles were participants in the motorsports festival, a record number.
Vehicles were lined up on both sides of Second St., from Monroe to Jefferson, and on both sides of Madison St., from Second to Third.
The music began at 6 p.m. on the Madison St. Plaza with a repeat performance by three young local women, the Pinkeyes.
The Bulldogs took over at 7 with their ’50s and ’60s music, and the dancing area in front of the stage was busy from that point on.
The only thing missing was Maggie Girard Hawkins, a Decatur native and longtime member of the Bulldogs who has retired due to health issues.
Maggie first began performing professionally with her mother, Rita Girard. Maggie operated The Music House here for a number of years.