What to Expect at Woodburn Cars and Coffee

    Well…. I can’t tell you exactly.  I know what my hopes and dreams are, but I like to stay grounded.  This is a new event, in an area that, quite frankly, has been burned pretty badly in regards to any sort of car centric event happening outside of the Dragstrip.  Years of people not being respectful of the neighborhoods they’re driving in, and to the businesses and properties they host events on, has made a situation where getting permission in the first place for anything is a big ask.  So I’ll be up front that I’m going a different route-  I’m believing in attendees wanting this enough to act accordingly, and asking forgiveness when someone does complain – and at some point, sooner or later, someone will.  It’s a huge leap of faith- faith that other people want this as badly as I do, and that the larger community and businesses in Woodburn can forgive, and let bygones be bygones.  It’s scary with the current landscape in the car community as a whole, not just locally.  Takeovers in general have made a lot of law enforcement, neighborhoods, and the general populace nervous about large gatherings of car enthusiasts –  and they’re right to.  Any open car event in a public space is at risk of a takeover, but luckily, the vast majority of car clubs here are very outspoken about being against takeovers, with some being so clear on it that they will revoke a person’s membership if there is news that they attended one.

    What exactly are my hopes and dreams for Woodburn Cars and Coffee?  First and foremost, an event that the local community benefits from.  My first step has already been taken-  I will only source coffee from a local business here, Cafe La Onda.  Lluis really knows his coffee, and has made a huge effort to make sure he knows where his beans come from, and that a fair portion of his profits go directly back to those farms.  His commitment shows in the consistent flavor profiles of his blends.  Caleb at PNW Projectz supplies our vinyl stickers – the profits from sales of which will be going back into our community here – and the same is true of any future merchandise we offer, and if we ever have ticketed events – but truly planning for such occasions is going to have to wait until we’ve proven ourselves here.  I’m in talks with a couple of vendors to figure out schedules on when they can be available as well.  

    What organizations am I hoping to support with Cars and Coffee?  

1)Woodburn School District-  I would love to have a school supply drive every year to help make sure every student has all the supplies they need for school, and age appropriate gifts through the holidays.  By helping provide items like binders, backpacks, pencils and more we would be able to help make sure students have all the supplies they need to start off the school year successfully.

2)Colton Helping Hands Food Bank, a food bank that has not only helped others when they’re down on their luck, but one from which I myself have benefitted from – so a food drive to help ensure they continue to have the funds and resources to keep feeding families in need.  Funds help them cover the overhead costs associated with running the food bank, and shelf stable foods as well as fruits and vegetables help them make sure that families have enough to feed everyone in their households, and have well rounded meals.

3) I’d love to be able to help not just the Woodburn Animal Shelter, but local area rescues and fosters  as well to have the funds and resources to help with rehoming, reunification, and housing for the unimaginable amount of abandoned and stray pets.  

4) Lastly, I want to help fund resources to help individuals who are in or dealing with the fallout of abusive relationships.  Not just women, but men and children too-  abusive relationships affect everyone, and it’s hard to exit them, and stressful to pick up all the pieces afterwards. Helping make sure programs have the means to continue providing help to families and individuals experiencing domestic violence, or leaving those types of relationships, is a huge thing.

    In time, I’d love to be able to support more causes as well-  but this is all what I see as being realistic to start out with.  As I stated earlier, I’m taking a huge leap of faith here – there’s been a lot of people asking for a Cars and Coffee closer to where they live – Salem used to have one, but it’s pushing a good 4 years now since they hosted one – and Salem faces a lot of the same issues that Woodburn has, making it difficult for large gatherings of enthusiasts to hang out. But this doesn’t have to be the case.  Cars and Coffee isn’t just good for the car enthusiast community, it’s good for local communities as well.  A well run and organized Cars and Coffee not only strengthens bonds between local communities, it can boost both revenue for small businesses, raise awareness for various causes, help fund and support various children and family outreach programs, and bring in tourism.  None of this happens overnight-  it takes a lot of work, commitment, and trust to get there, trust which we have to earn.

    Rules for Cars and Coffee are pretty widely known within the community, but not everyone that attends knows what these rules are, so I’m gonna go over them for first time attendees, whether they just want to look at other people cars or they plan on bringing theirs to park up:

• Obey the all road laws, including speed limit,  both arriving and departing location
• No engine Revving
• No Burnouts
• No use of Excessively Loud Music, as determined by local municipal code
• No sliding or drifting

    These are all pretty universal rules, and some locations have a couple other rules, such as designated parking for theme days, and Max Occupancy.   One that we are throwing in there here at Woodburn Cars and Coffee is an extra step to cut down on the risk of traffic accidents with the expectation that this will grow to be a large event in time-  and it’s better to get attendees into the habit of doing now-  is where entrance and exit for the event is.  There are no left turns in or out of the event-  entrance is the first right on Arney Rd. at the Overflow lot to the east of Arney Rd. at the south end, and exit is at the far end of the lot from there to the north , right turn exits only there.  This accomplishes not only traffic accident mitigation, it clears that section of Arney Rd. for pedestrian traffic, in the event of needing overflow for Cars and Coffee.

    I’m really excited to see where this goes – and excited to watch it grow.