Cops N Rodders Hamilton is in fact hosted by members of the Hamilton Police Service and some close friends who make it all possible. A special thank you goes out to Kenny 'Hot Wheels Hamilton' Holmes and John 'The Sheriff' Booth for their countless hours of volunteer and organizing time that they put in to make our show happen.
The hosting police officers are members of the 'Law Enforcement Torch Run In Support Of The Special Olympics' committee. This committee is an internal workplace committee that meets regularly and self organizes numerous charity events throughout the year to raise money for the Special Olympics Ontario . These events are done on the officers own time, why? Because they are passionate about the Special Olympics Ontario and The Law Enforcement Torch Run.
Come on out and be part of this family fun event at Bayfront Park, Hamilton!
How it all began...
September 2014, members of the HPS Torch Run Committee performed a mini car show within a classic car cruise night event at Hamilton's Pier 4 waterfront park also known as 'Rockin The Waterfront'. This car show within a car show was called 'Chief's Choice Coral' where 50 car owners paid $5 to have their car placed in the Chief's Choice Coral and our very own Police Chief Glenn DeCaire came out and chose his favourite top 3 vehicles and awarded the owners with an award plaque. With the fun and success of the Chief's Choice Coral it was inevitable that we had to plan and organize an annual car show at the neighbouring waterfront park - Bayfront Park and thus 'Cops N Rodders Hamilton' was born.
Sunday August 16, 2015 - it began, the very 1st Cops N Rodders Hamilton! And what a success it was while being held in our beautiful Bayfront Park, Hamilton. We stopped counting at 225 cars, vans and trucks because it was time to start the show as many more were still trickling in as the day progressed. We had live music by local Hamilton band 'Neon Moon' and young starlet 'Venessa Girard' who kept the crowd grooving in the summer heat. With a great mix of vehicles, music, food and friends we ended the day with many awards to many well deserved owners. Sunday August 6, 2016 - what a success!!!! 408 classic cars, trucks, vans, tuners, hot rods and even some motorcycles filled Bayfront Park. We were once again blessed with the music of local Hamilton band 'Neon Moon' and 'Venessa Girard' as well as the famous duet 'Sugar n Spice'. The numerous food trucks and food stands were kept busy all day with the large crowds and the ice cream truck was certainly not short of business. We were supported in 2016 with sponsors: Lant Insurance, Action Truck Accessories, RPM Magazine, Ron's Transmission, Road Runners Car Club and the Rodmasters Car Club. We were captivated by the presence of 7 local Special Olympians who walked the grounds and awarded some deserving vehicle owners with awards. And how can we not mention the presence of our very own Chief of Police - Eric Girt coming down and finding a special Corvette of his liking to be chosen as the 'Chief's Choice Award'.
Sunday August 20, 2017 - 527 amazing cars, trucks, vans, hot rods, tunes and motorcycles made their way to our show. That is more than double in 3 short years. We are overjoyed with the success and the patronage of the car community. Just as we did in the previous years we rocked the park with live music from entertainer Rusty James, filled it with amazing people, cars and food. Our sponsors continued to support us and our charity of choice - The Special Olympics and we cannot thank them enough: RPM Magazine, Action Truck Accessories, Lant Insurance, Ron's Transmission, Road Runners Car Club and the Rodmasters Car Club. Once again we were captivated by the presence of 7 local Special Olympians who walked the grounds and awarded some deserving vehicle owners with awards along with our very own Chief of Police - Eric Girt. The owner of an amazing 1968 Camaro RS/SS was the proud recipient of the Chief's Choice Award. At the end of the day, we were able to give the Special Olympics a cheque for $8,851.75.