Rescheduled Spring Jam packs Richmond County Airport

Hundreds of cars, trucks, motorcycles and more filled the Richmond County Airport lawn for the eighth annual Spring Jam last Saturday.

After postponing the event last Spring due to forecasted thunderstorms, the rescheduled Spring Jam brought hundreds of spectators to the airport with rows of vehicles of varying in model, age and rarity on display.

“It’s a pretty good turnout since we had to reschedule it. We’re getting close to what we normally get when we do it in May. Luckily, we have a pretty good online presence over the years. We built it up through Instagram and Facebook, and of course networking with other shows. It wasn’t super difficult to restructure it after I had to put it off,” said James White, event organizer.

White said what makes Spring Jam different is its unique mix of vehicles on display. While other cars shows focus on particular eras, makes or models, the Spring Jam accepted all comers. One row could begin with a new model performance Corvette, primed and ready for the racetrack, and just a few cars down feature a rare 1960s Ford Ranchero or custom motorcycle.

“With me, I’ve been a car guy all of my life. I was raised in a family of drag racers. I like a multitude of things. My thing is minitrucks, but if I had unlimited funds I would have more than just minitrucks. I go to all kinds of events, not just minitruck events, so I reach out and network with people of all styles of vehicles. Some people only like one thing, and that’s the only kind of shows they go to. I’m not that way, and that’s what helped us be a little bit more diversified in the cars we have,” White said.

White credited Spring Jam’s online following for making the event a success. He keeps his online community active with regular events such as bimonthly cookouts, and travel as a group to other car shows. He also thanked Richmond County, and the Richmond County Tourism Authority for their continued support, especially when it comes to navigating the red tape of hosting an event outside an active airport.

“[Richmond County Manager Bryan Land] is the way we got in here the first year, and he has been really good to us, as has Richmond County tourism and all of our sponsors as well … There are too many to remember right now. We have a club, Earthbound, and a lot of those people help me. My son helps me and my youngest daughter helps me,” White said. “She’s walking around selling 50-50 raffle tickets now. That Money we give away to Hamlet Red Ram Christmas Charity that they do at Hamlet Middle School. I never really felt like it wouldn’t be a success. We’ve been doing it a long time. The only thing you worry about whether it’s the event date or the alternate date is the weather. So far, we’ve been blessed with good weather, except in May, so we moved it to June. Then it didn’t rain the day of the show, but sometimes the forecast hurts you more than the weather does.”