Drive-through car show at Du Quoin fairgrounds gets nixed

A brainstorm to raise a little money for Southern Illinois Special Olympics during the COVID-19 pandemic has been quashed, after the organizers consulted with the Perry County Health Department.

Bill Asbury, a Special Olympics Illinois volunteer and board member from Du Quoin, said the idea was to hold a car and Jeep cruise followed by a drive-through car show at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds this coming weekend.

Organizers took pains in the planning to make sure the participants would not come into contact with each other. But there were other obstacles that became clear once they talked with the health department, Asbury said.

"We're not disappointed by this, we understand," he said. "We don't want to cause anyone to get sick."

Organizers were anticipating up to 300 participants - most of them coming from outside Du Quoin and southern Illinois, which flies in the face of Illinois' stay-at-home order.

Moreover, the bathrooms at the fairgrounds are closed, and the health department insists that during the pandemic every public bathroom must have hot running water. Asbury said the group was envisioning using portable toilets, but those have no running water at all.

Asbury said the drive-through car show idea was born out of urgency, since all Special Olympic fundraising has been shut down all over Illinois. He added that car shows are also shut down for the season, and car owners and Jeepers are itching to get out.

The drive-through car show seemed to fit the bill for both, Asbury said.