Hundreds of local residents and out-of-town visitors attended the inaugural George DeSantis Memorial Car Show at the Cainsville Community Centre on Saturday, September 6, 2025.
DeSantis, who served as a local auto technician in the Brantford-Brant area for several decades, was a wealth of knowledge.
Known for his unwavering dedication to the automotive industry, community and craftsmanship, he volunteered at many car events over the years, and surrounded himself with like-minded individuals along the way.
After passing away from cancer earlier this year on Monday, February 24 at 58, DeSantis’ friends, and family as well as members of the local car community, came together to organize the event in his honour and to raise funds for the Juravinski Cancer Centre.
“When George was sick he was at Juravinski and he always talked about how good they treated him down there,” said Scott Birkett, an organizer for the event and DeSantis’ long-time friend. “They had originally said he had two to six months to live, but two weeks later, he was gone. Before that, he said, ‘do me a favour, have a car show and donate all the money Juravinski, so here we are. He was just everybody’s buddy, he worked as a mechanic for somewhere close to 40 years and he just loved cars.”
On the day of the event, close to 200 vehicles of various makes, models and eras, were entered into the show including a 1947 International KB-3, a 2017 Subaru BRZ, a 1938 Dodge Coupe, 1959 Cadillac Model 62, 2021 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, and a 1957 Willys CJ3B.
DeSantis’ beloved 1969 Chevrolet Camaro, was also on display.
While the cars may have been the main attraction, many guests also entered to win one or more of the 30-plus raffle prizes, the 50/50, and several door prizes. Organizers also put on a pop chugging contest as well as spaghetti eating contest as it was DeSantis’ favourite meal.
Prior to the event, car enthusiasts were encouraged to submit a video to the virtual burnout contest and it was Phil Del Signore and his 1967 Pontiac Firebird that claimed the big win.
Towards the end of the show, organizers handed out several awards for Best GM, Best Mopar, Best Truck, Best 4×4, Best Hot Rod, Best Street and Strip, Best import, Best Ford, Best Paint and Best in Show.
Dan ‘Dannö’ Drouin, whose 1989 G20 Chevrolet Van boasts a custom airbrushed mural inspired by 1970s fantasy art, said he felt great when his “Blue Dragon” was awarded Best Paint.
“I’m kind of shocked,” he said. “There’s a lot of really nice cars here today that are polished and really catch your eye, but I know the mural and the graphics do stand out so I appreciate being acknowledged.”
Drouin, a long-time artist who’s been doing pinstriping for several decades now, said that himself and his airbrush artist friend “Skinny,” put in around 3,400 hours of work between the two of them to create the large murals on either side of his van.
When asked what he thought of the event, Drouin said he was happy to see it had such a great turn.
“For a first-year car show like this, I was shocked to see how many cars showed up… It’s amazing,” he said. “I got here at 9 a.m. and it was already half full which is great.”
Drouin said that while he didn’t know DeSantis personally, he was happy to show up and support the event.
“When I saw the Facebook page for this event and I read the write up on George, it was clear he was ingrained in the community,” he said. “It was just a beautiful day, it’s a nice venue and it’s great they’re giving back to the hospital because really, I don’t think I know a single person who hasn’t had some sort of interaction with Juravinski.”
In the end, Birkett said while the event was a lot of work to put on, he was happy to have been involved in honouring his friend.
“It’s pretty amazing to see everyone show up and support this,” he said. “There’s a lot of car clubs that we know and are a part of that all showed up and they came from all over so it means a lot.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
