Attending a special event at this year’s highly successful Hot August Nights, I chanced to run into one of the creators of the event by the name of Jim Webster. I asked Jim to clarify the many stories I have heard about the beginning of Hot August Nights, so he wrote out the following:
“The very beginning! How a simple meeting between two men would become a yearly event that would, through the years, generate several billion dollars of economic impact, put Reno on the world’s map for classic car enthusiasts and still continue 32 years later.
My name is Jim Webster, and I’m one of the Emeritus Directors for Hot August Nights. In 1986, I was the Special Event Coordinator for The Easter Seal Society of Northern Nevada. In late April of that year I had just completed an event called The Easter Seal Softball Marathon. You will understand the significance of this later. Easter Seals was a local/national, non-profit that raised funds for children and adults with disabilities. We generated funds through special events like telethons, golf tournaments, the National Easter Seal Stamp campaign, corporate giving, the original Truckee River Raft Race and our annual softball tournament.
One day I received a phone call from a very amicable gentleman. He explained he was with the Reno Board of Realtors and that he had been referred to me by my radio DJ friend, Jim McClain. He explained he wanted to do a ‘50s themed dance to benefit Easter Seals. Never turning down a fundraising opportunity, I invited him over for a meeting. Soon after I would meet a young, charismatic, commercial real estate agent, named Chuck Rose. He explained he was chairman for that year’s Reno Realtor’s dance. He wanted to make it their biggest, and best, while raising funds for Easter Seals. I was taken in by his enthusiasm, and offered to help him in any way possible. At the time, Easter Seals had a board member by the name of Bob Casey who was the president of the local Classic Chevys car club. To expand the event’s income possibilities, I told Chuck we should do a classic car show in conjunction with the dance. He loved the idea and I set up a meeting between the three of us. The roots of the first Hot August Nights were starting to sprout.
Chuck had planned to do his dance in early August. After meeting with Bob Casey, it was agreed that the Classic Chevy’s would put on a show and shine the day of the dance. All proceeds would go to Easter Seals. Later in this meeting the most significant part of the Hot August Nights story takes place. I mentioned to Chuck and Bob that for the first time our Easter Seals softball tournament committee invited teams from outside of the Reno-Sparks area. We ended up attracting teams from Sacramento, Carson, Lake Tahoe, Redding, Chico, Stockton and other cities. Because of our new strategy, that year we had our most successful tournament to date. We found the softball teams loved the magic of Reno. They enjoyed the neon Reno Arch, 24-hour drinking, casinos, parties, and so on. I believed that car clubs from outside of Reno might feel the same way.
Their demographics were very similar. I knew the Reno Rodeo, the Reno Air Races, and even the Reno Balloon Races were bringing in tourists from out of state. In the past, most car clubs did their own local events. Remember, in 1986 special events were not prevalent like they are now. Today, most communities use special events to attract tourists and create new revenue. In 1986, public special events were mainly for locals. I suggested reaching out to neighboring cities and states. If we had the response we had seen with our softball tournament, we could be successful. We would name the Classic Chevys the sponsoring host car club. Bob agreed to the concept, Chuck loved the idea and we set out to create the biggest car and entertainment event we could.
The roots were getting deeper. Chuck was a realtor and not a trained special event coordinator. But, he was eager to learn and dreamed of helping to build a fabulous event. In a matter of days, we had gone from a local dance to a regional car show and major entertainment event. At least, in theory! Chuck, Bob and myself, soon learned the horrendous task we had in front of us. I gave Chuck and Bob, a crash course on raising production money, sponsors, venues, permits, volunteers, marketing, public relations, and everything else we needed for this crazy new event. So much to do, and not a lot of time!
I knew we could never do this alone, so I sent Chuck and Bob on what would be several sales calls. First, we needed to sell Reno on the concept and vision. If we were successful with that, we would tackle the car enthusiasts next. We knew we needed the support and expertise of some of Reno’s finest marketing professionals and associated businesses. It was a monumental task, but would help set the framework for years to come. Chuck and so many others were true professionals. Together we formed a remarkable team and got the job done. Reno’s Hot August Nights became a reality and was created in about four months. To the amazement of many, year #1 HAN was a resounding success. Although, very small compared to today’s mammoth event, we all felt a sense of pride and accomplishment. It was very apparent Hot August Nights had a real future.
I would be remiss if I did not mention a few of those tireless, amazing individuals from that inaugural year. Along with Chuck Rose, Bob Casey, and Jim McClain, came superstar Willie Davidson, Coors New West Distributing; the creative driving force along with Greg Revet, RSCVA; Rick White, Harrah’s; Susan Hill, Reno News Bureau; Bob Ordonez, KCBN/KRNO radio; Jim Herzig, KOLO TV; Bill Katen, Washoe County Parks; Norm Nielson, Club Cal-Neva and Nevada Bell; Phil Glover, A&W; the Reno Police Department, the Reno Chamber of Commerce, Jackie Hagger, Skip Lipman, Harry Parsons, Accountant; Marven Murphy, Attorney; John Green, Reno Gazette-Journal; Bob Allen, Lawlor Events Center; hundreds of volunteers and countless other people I missed in this list. Without these fully dedicated people, Hot August Nights would never have come to life.
The last bit of trivia is, how did the event name come to be? The answer is, drum roll please, we were having one of our countless, and I do stress countless, meetings. It was held at Coors New West Distributing, our very first real sponsor. When the event name topic came up on the agenda, Willie Davidson chimed in and said, ‘Hey guys think about this, in August I had planned on doing a concert series at Rancho San Rafael Park (the county park that would become home to our very first show and shine). But now I’m scrapping that to do this event. I was going to call it Hot August Nights in honor of my favorite Neil Diamond album.’ The group collectively said hmmm, voted, and the rest is history.
Following the event, the Easter Society of Northern Nevada received the very first of many, many donations that Hot August Nights has given to the Northern Nevada non-profit community.”
James Webster says
Harry: In that draft, I spelled Willie Davison name wrong. Sorry!!!