The circus is in town

Our sleepy village of Iola is being overrun this week with fans of old cars, muscle cars, unique cars ... just about any car (except my Honda Civic.)

This weekend marks the 35th year of the Iola Old Car Show, started as a little picnic and chicken roast. Now, it overtakes the Krause Publication grounds where Jim and I work. We're talking acres and acres of cars and roughly 125,000 visitors between now and Sunday.

It's a circus around here -- including the tents! We can't park in our parking lot -- that's reserved for show cars, including the million-dollar Duesenberg -- and we need to wear a wristband just to get into work. A wristband? When do the rides start?!

I'm not a car nut, but as editorial director over our automotive magazines, this is my first year of "real" involvement with the show. I'll be working our booth today and tomorrow, so I will get to interact with the interesting cross-section of visitors.

"People watching," hands down, is the best part of the show for many of us non-car geeks. That, and the food. That probably will take over as "the best" for me ... I hear they're serving cheesecake on a stick this year!