Mustang Club set to let ponies out of corral, onto waterfront

Sunday, as more than 200 shining Mustangs file onto the Port Orchard waterfront for a beauty pageant on the automotive scale, it will be a display of the passion for performance and camaraderie that is held amongst these enthusiasts.

For the everyday audience member strolling amongst the sound of the engines on Bay Street, it’s more a free opportunity to see some sweet, cherry cars, past and present, Ford Mustangs only.

“We don’t get too many from Idaho, but they come from British Columbia, Oregon and all over Washington,” said Ervin Malkowski co-chair of the event, Mustangs on the Waterfront, and a member of the Kitsap Mustang Club.

Annually, KMC members flaunt their prized cars across the state at various events, parades and cruises. Recently in Kitsap one may have seen them en masse at the parades for Fathoms O’ Fun or the Armed Forces Day Festival or other small cruises. Today, they’ll be a part of Whaling Days, preceding their own event which kicks off at 10 a.m. Sunday.

It’s said within the club that “ownership of a Mustang is not only a lifestyle ... it is a way of life.”

“I can honestly say I’ve made some of my best friends through my car,” said the event’s other co-chair Susan Stadshaug.

Stadshaug and her 1970 Mach 1 Cobra Jet along with other members and cars of the Kitsap Mustang Club are fresh off a trip to Bellevue for what has been boasted as the world’s biggest annual Mustang show in the world, claiming more than 1,000 cars July 12-15.

But the KMC’s event is no stranger to pretige.

“Our show is the only Mustangs-only show in the state,” said the other co-chair Susan Stadshaug.

The expected 200-250 Ford Mustang entries will be parked along Bay Street from the entrance at the Kitsap Bank parking lot near the Frederick Street intersection to the gazebo in at Waterfront Park, and judged by every other participant in the group. Categories consist of Best in Show for early (1964 1/2-1978) and late (1979-present) models and 32 other classes separated by body style and year.

And there will also be a Mayor’s Choice award selected by Port Orchard Mayor Kim Abel.

There is still room for Mustang entries of all makes at a fee of $15.

For the audience, taking in the spectacle is free.

In addition to the autos on display, there will also be a canned food drive, poker walk through downtown business, a model car contest and a coloring contest for kids in addition the overall atmosphere of the event.

Unfortunately, there will be no races.

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