Photos by Catherine Stachowiak
This year Kenny Rhodes kept his promise, from last year, to run another car show. He certainly came through with his Kernville River Run Car Show, 2024, Classic Cars Kickback, which was supposed to happen at its usual location of Riverside Park.
Readers may recall that Riverside Park, in Kernville has been closed, due to construction. Yet that didn’t stop Rhodes from doing his thing. The show was innovatively located along the edge of Kernville Inn, at the curbside of Riverside Park, and across the street from Circle Park. The event ran Friday, October 11 and Saturday, October 12.
His Rhodes Show has been going for more than forty years straight, with the exception of COVID canceling a couple of years in between and has been running since the 70s. “It
started in 1976,” he told the Kern Valley Sun.
The show holds a raffle annually with an awards presentation. “I do shows all over California. I do three shows a year, this one being my favorite and probably the prettiest,” Rhodes said.
Participants from the five western states participate in this show every year. “This is not just a local car-show,” said Rhodes. “A lot of people from out of state come in. I always am excited. I’ve been doing this for 50 years and I still get an excitement about a car show. My goal is always to put on a show that I’d want to go to,” he said.
Rhodes initially came as a participant for many years before he started promoting the show in Kernville. He loves the setting. “You got the river. You got the park. You got Kernville with all the boutique and antique stores. You got great restaurants. You got everything here for my participant. So I couldn’t ask for a better venue,” he said last year before he promised to return. He has kept his word to the satisfaction of participants and many locals.
A cruise around Lake Isabella annually follows the two days long show.
