Klingberg's Peter Burk & Rob Metz loading Avery's soda into the Klingberg Model T Ford
“We sell nostalgia” said Rob Metz, owner of Avery’s Beverages, the legendary 106 year old soft drink company, located on Corbin Avenue, within sight of Klingberg Family Centers. This year Avery’s Beverages will be a Bronze Sponsor of the Klingberg Vintage Motorcar Festival (KVMF), serving as the official soft drink vendor of the annual fundraising event, which raises vital funds for programs serving troubled and traumatized children. A special Motorcar Festival label is being design.
We agree that the partnership between Klingberg and Avery’s is a great match! Both organizations are all about children and families, Rev John Klingberg founded the Klingberg Children’s Home in 1903, Sherman F. Avery began making soda in the red barn on Corbin Avenue in the summer of 1904, and both organizations have left an indelible mark on the city of New Britain.
Since purchasing Avery’s Beverages in 1999, Rob has used creative marketing and an instinct for retailing, to grow the company locally, nationally and even internationally. In addition to Avery’s classic sodas [Birch Beer, Cream, Root Beer, Orange and Grape are top sellers] Rob, with the help of visiting students from local schools, introduced such new flavors as Swamp Juice, Bug Barf and Dog Drool soda! Not surprisingly, these ‘Totally Gross Sodas’ are especially popular among Avery’s younger customers! Rob has also produced ‘designer’ sodas such as Barakoberry and John McCream, which drew worldwide attention during the 2008 presidential election race.
Klingberg's 1914 Model T Ford Depot Hack at Avery's Barn
Just as Avery’s Beverages stands out from most other soda makers, the KVMF stands out from most other auto shows! The event includes 450-500 vintage and collectible show-cars spread out over the sprawling 40-acre Klingberg Family Centers campus. In addition to the incredible automobiles, this nostalgic ‘trip down memory lane’ includes old-time music, ragtime dancers, vintage clothing vendors, spectators and car owners dressed in period-costumes, vintage games and activities for kids, as well as homemade foods reminiscent of a giant backyard cookout. This year’s show will feature a collection of rarely seen autos: motorcars manufactured right here in Connecticut at the close of the 19th century and the early years of the 20th century.
Emile Delahaye began his automobile manufacturing company in 1894 in Tours, France. He continued to make very elegant automobiles and reliable trucks until 1954.
“Hartford does not claim to have made the first automobile but does claim to have started the automotive industry,” This statement was made by auto designer and engineer, Henry Cave, who worked with Daimler Motor Company, Locomobile and with George B. Seldon to design, develop and demonstrate the first Seldon patent car. (that is another story coming soon)
The Klingberg Antique Auto Show has been an annual event for 17 years. There are many types of auto shows and I have thought about how our show fits into this array. On one hand, we have the typical auto show: antique car owners who have worked on their antique and/or classic automobile, their pride and joy, come to our show to show it off and spend time with others with like interest. This adds fun and mystery to our show because we never know what owners will bring until they arrive the day of the show. If you are like me, many of these automobiles bring back memories like the car in which I learned to drive, my first car, our family station wagon we took across the country in 1955, etc. From the very beginning, I have enjoyed watching parents and grandparents telling auto-related stories to their children.
But apart from being a typical car show, one aspect of our event is most like a Concours d’Elegance. A Concours features very rare and elegant automobiles with interesting histories, some in their original, untouched condition and others restored to be pristine and flawless. Owners compete at the top Concours d’Elegance around the world and many have won prestigious honors. There seems to be a proliferation of car shows throughout Connecticut; there are auto shows every weekend. I even saw seven auto shows listed for one weekend in the Hartford Courant. However, there are only four true Concours d’Elegance events in all New England. 
The major difference between our event and the standard national Concours d’Elegance events will be our focus on children and families. We want to change the heart of the usual Concours event from the competition between collectors and winning of prestigious trophies to helping children how have experienced child abuse and other forms of trauma. Our show will be a Concours d’Elegance where those who usually compete against one another come together on a beautiful hilltop and share a good time while significantly helping children in need. 
On Saturday October 17th, the date of the 17th Annual Klingberg Antique Auto Show, it was a cold but a beautiful morning in our big field that should be filled with antique automobiles. It was a sad morning because we have heard from many, many people disappointed over the cancellation of the show due to the ominous predictions of a two punch nor’easter coming up the east coast. The forecasters were 60% -70% sure, so on Thursday morning I was forced cancelled it. 
Klingberg Vintage Motorcar Festival wheels in the classics
NEW BRITAIN — Somewhere between the Caspian blue metallic 1964-and-a-half Mustang and the candy apple red and white “Starsky and Hutch” 1975 Torino, it occurs to guests and drivers at the Klingberg Vintage Motorcar Festival that it’s not just about shiny chrome and a slick paint job.
The annual event offers auto aficionados and those seeking to remember the past the chance to view hundreds of glistening cars from the turn of the 20th century on up while helping to raise funds for the nearly two dozen programs Klingberg Family Centers provides for youth in trauma and their families throughout the area.
This year’s show was held for the first time in the spring on Father’s Day weekend and appeared to already be drawing a larger crowd by noon than the 5,000 visitors that were anticipated, said Mark Johnson, Klingberg’s vice president of development who along with his staff organizes the show.
“I’m thrilled, it’s tremendous,” Johnson said as he watched thousands of visitors stroll among hundreds of glistening cars, live entertainment and booths by local sponsors. “There are a lot of people, it sure seems like suddenly the cars were buried with people. I’m getting a lot of positive feedback.”
“The majority of folks that are here are from out of town,” Stewart said. “It’s a great event that brings people in from all over and showcases all the good things in the community.”
Kelly’s Bel Air was parked in the new “Concours d’Elegance” exhibit showcasing pristine vintage cars including several “Corbins” made in New Britain circa 1901 — 1910, at least five Pope Hartford’s also built in Connecticut and 1929 Rolls Royce driven up from Stonington that morning.
Kelly was dressed to match her blazing red automobile in a poodle skirt and saddle shoes. The car donned a “take out try” like those in 1950s drive up restaurants and a speaker from a drive-in movie. “I call her (the Bel Air) the picture and I’m the frame,” she said. “It’s a total look.”
The Concours also included a show-stopping Caspian blue metallic 1964-and-a-half Mustang convertible — one of the first off the production line — lovingly restored by Bob Urban of Waterbury. “I had a 1965 coupe and a 1966 convertible in high school as a teen,” Urban said. “It took a year and a half to restore. I have it out almost every day.”
Many of the cars come with a history, Johnson said, which adds to the ambiance and the attraction of the show. “We have a Trumbull, also built in the state in Bridgeport,” Johnson said. “Issac Trumbull took many of his cars on the Lusitania to bring them to be sold when it was hit by a torpedo. He died and that was the end of the company. There are just a few Trumbull’s left.”
But for the Shurack’s of Wethersfield, one of the best attractions was a link to their past and a recent movie shared with the entire family.
“I’m going to go see if the keys are in it,” said 13-year-old Jarod Shurack as he surveyed the 1975 candy apple red and white Torino painted the same colors as the famed Ford used in the Starsky and Hutch television show and recent movie with Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller. “It has the siren on the windshield,” Jarod’s 15-year-old brother Nate said. “It looks just like the one in the movie. The paint looks really nice too.”
“I drove a 1974 Torino,” their father Mike said as he explained the family had attended the show a few years ago. “It seemed like a fun thing to do today. This is an awesome show.”