It was the cold, not the coronavirus, that led to lower attendance at this year's St. Pat's Hot Rod Show & Cruise-In.
That was the consensus among a dozen or so of the attendees who were interviewed, and they all said they enjoyed the event. It featured older and newer hot rods as well as several food vendors and was held at Ice Cream 4 Ice Cream, the drive-through ice cream shop just off U.S. 54 in Eugene.
"I talked to a lot of people who were going to come, but didn't because of the weather," said Dwayne Thompson, who came with his wife, Cathy. They brought their 1971 gold Chevrolet Chevelle, which was Cathy's first car and has since been restored.
Greg and Taris Tellman, the owners of Ice Cream 4 Ice Cream, organized the event. They held the event for the first time last year, when it drew some 1,000 people and 200 cars, Greg Tellman said.
The drive-through ice cream shop also holds regular community sales, craft sales and - on the last Sunday of each month - car shows.
This year's Hot Rod Show appeared to have a fraction of last year's, but the food vendors were doing business and people were enjoying ice cream in the 40-degree weather. In addition to Ice Cream 4 Ice Cream, the ice cream novelty food truck Roscoe's Ice Cream Truck was at the event.
Another vendor was Fireknife Grill, which plans to be a regular at Ice Cream 4 Ice Cream. Owned by Ikaika Horgrow, the food truck features a variety of foods, from American to Polynesian to fusion dishes.
Two customers, Charlie Ward and Pat Cheney, are former Hawaii residents who made the drive from the Lake of the Ozarks area just to try the food.
Cheney heard about the food truck from her doctor, who said he saw Horgrow perform a fire dance.
Ward ordered the teriyaki beef with rice.
"When you're from a region, you like your food," she said.
The car cruise is mainly just for fun, Greg Tellman said, but it did feature a "People's Choice" award that will be determined through a Facebook poll.
Some attendees said they're already tired of people talking about the cororavirus, which they thought was overblown.
Kaylee Herzberg, of Jefferson City, was there with her brother, Kole Herzberg, and their friends, who brought various cars to put on display. Kaylee Herzberg brought her orange 2014 Mustang GT.
"I don't know why people are so freaked out with this virus. They're taking it to a whole 'nother level," she said.