The ‘Woodies in the Cove’ Car Show and Parade will be conducted Aug. 10 in Wells. COURTESY PHOTO/Jodi Locke

WELLS — On Saturday, Aug. 10, The Historical Society of Wells and Ogunquit celebrates history with classic cars and vintage music and expand its popular summer fundraiser, “Woodies in the Cove,” to include The National Woodie Club.

The event starts at 8:30 a.m. and runs until 2 p.m. when up to 100 examples of the finest vintage Woodie cars, as well as visiting Woodie enthusiasts from the 18 chapters of Woodie Car Clubs of California, the Midwest, and the regional Yankee Chapter in the Northeast will be on view.  The car show will take place at 974 Post Road (Route 1), a location donated by the Wells Beach Resort.

A Woodie Car Parade will start from here and follow through Wells and Ogunquit and into Perkins Cove between 2 and 3 p.m.  For more information, visit our Facebook page: Woodies in the Cove. This event has been listed as the top “things to do at Exit 19” in 95 North Magazine for the past two years running It is well known in the world of Woodie car shows.

“I’m delighted to see that the business communities of Wells and Ogunquit have come together to support our fundraiser and to help provide a great day out for all the family.  Keeping our Meetinghouse Museum, library and programs going means a big commitment of time and money,” said Irene Crocker, Chair of the HSWO Board.  “Our annual Woodies in the Cove event helps to make sure that we’re here for local people and for visitors-not only today, but tomorrow!” This is now the largest Woodie event in New England and possibly the entire East Coast, an achievement that is possible with the support of our community sponsorship.”

Historical Society Board Director, and President of the Yankee Wood Club, Sonny Perkins agreed.

“This year, we are anticipating double the amount Woodies and other high end classics that can’t be seen at any other classic car show in New England. This is one you don’t want to miss,” Perkins said.

The National Woodie Club promotes interest in woodies, and provides a forum through which Woodie owners and enthusiasts may exchange history, building, restoration, or modification techniques.

A peek into the world of Woodie cars will be offered by the Historical Society at this year’s Wells Harbor Fest on Saturday, Aug. 3. Perkins will bring his vintage model for kids “from 9 to 99”  to get a close-up look. There will be family fun activities to include wooden toy cars for young auto enthusiasts to make and bring home!

To kick off Woodies weekend, a concert of swing and blues will be performed in the historic Meetinghouse. The band, Lex and Friends, will play music to celebrate an era of Artist’s Balls, and “The Ice House Five” band who played music in a fisherman’s ice house in Ogunquit’s Perkins Cove in the 1950s. Lex Romane has played music in Ogunquit and up and down the East Coast for over 30 years. It was he and the recently deceased Joe Riillo, of Lex and Joe, who started this concert series three years ago

The concert is generously sponsored by Barnacle Billy’s of Ogunquit and The National Woodie Club. Doors open at 6:45 p.m. with a pre-lecture treat, courtesy of R & B Bistro in Wells.  The suggested donation of $5 will support educational programming at the Historical Society.

An 1862 Meetinghouse is the headquarters of the Historical Society of Wells & Ogunquit. Along with ongoing programming, History Games for Families, and Tuesday Tours, the Meetinghouse Museum collection of artifacts from local families, fishermen, farms and businesses are on exhibit to tell the story of Wells and Ogunquit which began as one town in 1640. The Meetinghouse is also the home of the Esselyn Perkins Library, one of the finest genealogical collections in southern Maine. The library contains family histories and town histories of Maine.