The annual Ken Ruegsegger Father’s Day Car Show is set for Sunday June 16, at the Rock Island Train Depot in Heritage Park on the southwest corner of West Liberty.
To be held from 1-4 p.m., the West Liberty Heritage Foundation event invites all types of vehicles including classic cars, hotrods, Model T’s, sports cars, classic trucks and more.
Anyone is welcome to participate according to organizer Mike Duytschaver of West Liberty, who can be contacted at 319-321-4194 for more information.
There is no entry fee to participate and no trophies will be awarded, but there will be free dash plates. Duytschaver said there are typically about 50 cars attending the event, but said the number of vehicles that show will likely depend on the weather.
Admission is free, an organizer pointing out it’s all for fun and gives people a chance to relive memories and talk about cars, cruising and friends. Organizers said drivers may join the group from all over Eastern Iowa, noting there have been years participants have come from Dubuque, Cedar Rapids Kalona, the Quad Cities and, of course, locally.
Some concessions will be available, including gourmet popcorn and lemonade from West Liberty’s own Lugos as well as Yotty ice cream bars.
The depot, built in 1897, as well as the old school house and historic barn will be open to the public that day. The depot was recently earned a place on the National Register of Historic Places by the National Parks Department. Those attending can also see the historic 1841 stagecoach inn recently moved to the Heritage Park grounds. It is believed to be the only remaining pre-statehood stagecoach house in Iowa from the 1838-45 period.
The show wasn’t held for a one year because of the COVID 19 pandemic before it was revived in 2022.
Ken Ruegsegger was an avid car lover from West Liberty who started the show in 2001, which continued following his death in March of 2016 at the age of 82.
Along with many other voluntary duties in the community, Mr. Ruegsegger was a member of the West Liberty Heritage Foundation board and was instrumental in securing and arranging transportation for the old barn on the heritage grounds, which he also mowed in his spare time.
He was the owner of West Liberty Lumber on the west edge of Route 6 and started West Liberty Builders in 1969.