Bob Groeneveld/Special to the Langley Advance
The ultimate garage has everything a car enthusiast needs to keep the motor running.
And that’s precisely what the Ultimate Garage package offered by Lordco Auto Parts will provide one lucky car enthusiast by the time Langley Good Times Cruise-In runs its course again this year.
With the addition of $4,500 worth of goods from Zone Garage of Aldergrove, the total Ultimate Garage package for 2018 adds up to a value of $25,000, said Cruise-In director Riccardo Sestito.
“We’ve got about 80 items in the garage package,” he noted. “They’ve got anything from wrenches to grinders, socket sets, storage shelving… I think there’s a bluetooth speaker in there somewhere.”
Sestito pointed out some of the bigger items that help to make up this year’s Ultimate Garage, including a “large big-ticket toolbox” worth about $2,000.
“There’s a hoist as well, a car hoist that’s on wheels so you can move it around, and it can lift most vehicles,” he noted.
Added to the wide array are wrenches, sockets, cordless power tools, and other mechanics’ dream items being supplied to the Ultimate Garage package by Lordco is a selection of Zone Garage products.
“The Zone Garage is another business that’s in Aldergrove,” Sestito said, “and they’re participating. It’s going to be the Ultimate Garage, but they’re throwing in their piece, too. All one package.”
Zone Garage specializes in flooring and storage solutions. “They’re contributing up to 600 square feet of ZG Shield polyurea floor coating,” Sestito said. “It’s enough to cover a three-car garage. They’re also going to give away in that package ZG Flat Wall and hooks, tire storage, and shelving unit measuring 72 by 76 by 24.”
Tickets for this year’s Ultimate Garage have been on sale at Lordco outlets in Langley, Maple Ridge, Aldergrove, and Abbotsford, as well as the Zone Garage in Aldergrove, and they’ll be on sale through most of the Cruise-In, as well.
The winner is chosen and announced later in the day.
But as always, charities supported by Cruise-In will be the big winners in this, because everything offered in the prize draw is donated, completely freely.
“We don’t pay for any of that,” said Sestito. “That’s the thing with Cruise-In.”
There are so many other shows out there are downtown shows which copy Cruise-In now, and a lot of the money goes to the BIAs or it goes to certain individuals or whatever, so getting this kind of stuff donated at these other shows is almost impossible.”
But the way Langley Good Times Cruise-In operates appeals to businesses that want to help out with charitable work.
“We can still go out there and get a lot of support from people, because they know where it’s going,” said Sestito. “And none of us are paid at all, and I’ve been doing this for 20 some-odd years now.”
Further, the Cruise-In organizers have garnered a high level of trust. The donors don’t even stipulate which charities their donations will support.
“It’s all left up to us,” said Sestito, adding, “We do vet a lot of the charities. We get so many requests every year, and we do go through them. We try to give to the ones that are not funded by somewhere else, like you know, government or something else.”
Charities that are most likely to get help from Cruise-In are those that “have to rely on donations by the public and they have to do it all on their own.”
There’s also a bit of give and take, Sestito explained. “The charities do also help out at the Cruise-In. They’ll take care of a barricade, or they’ll help sell 50-50s or something. So they’re contributing as well, as volunteers to help us out.”
So Lordco’s Ultimate Garage ultimately becomes a winning ticket for everyone.
