Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

LV-Vancouver motorists will help charity

Promoters of Australia's renowned automobile event, "The Bash," have chosen Las Vegas to kick off their first-ever North American fund-raiser.

Drivers of 16 pre-1975 vintage automobiles and eight late-model Ford Explorers were to tip their glasses in a champagne toast today in front of the Fashion Show Mall, start their engines and head to Vancouver, British Columbia -- 1,879 miles away.

The trip, with daily stops for lunch and overnight inn stays, will take the motorists through Northern Nevada and California and into Canada within seven days.

A similar event in Australia for the last 10 years has raised $20 million, said John Flower, the event's coordinator. He is hopeful the "Vegas-to-Vancouver" bash will raise $50,000. All the money will go to the Las Vegas chapter of the Variety Club, a children's charity.

Each driver had to sign up a minimum of $5,000 in donations to participate, but most participants raise considerably more, Flower said. All the lodgings have been arranged, with drivers responsible for paying for their own fuel and food.

The drivers are expected to log about 250 miles a day, Flower said. They were to have lunch today in Furnace Creek in Death Valley and drive into Tonopah, where they will stay tonight. Saturday, they will travel through Fallon to Lake Tahoe to stay.

By Sunday, the motorists will drive through the Napa Valley and into Eureka. Then it's on to Oregon and Washington before arriving in Vancouver.

Variety Club of Las Vegas is moving from its headquarters in the Fitzgeralds hotel-casino to Opportunity Village offices at 6300 W. Oakey Blvd.

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