After a year layoff, the Santos Family Car Show returned to Downtown Alviso. More than 450 classic and modern cars parked along North First Street on Sept. 5. The space allowed people to view the cars while still staying socially distanced.
The car show is put on by the Santos family. Dick Santos was born and raised in Alviso. He says his family is happy to give back.
“The Santos family puts our own money into this car show to showcase the community of Alviso. It’s the best economy day for their restaurants. So, we fund it,” said Santos. “Then meantime, they have a raffle. Whatever proceeds come out that raffle goes to Alviso scholarships; Alviso Santa Program scholarships for needy children, basically low income, and so on.”
According to the Alviso Santa website, over $115,500 in scholarships were awarded to students in 2020. The scholarship program has distributed nearly $776,000 since the program’s inception in 2006. All of the scholarship winners are from Alviso and many of them attended either George Mayne Elementary School, Don Callejon School or Wilcox High School.
Shelly Gross’s daughter has received a scholarship for the last three years. She says, it’s a huge help.
“It takes the weight off a little bit. It’s very nice,” said Gross
Her daughter will graduate from Azusa Pacific this December with a degree in nursing. Gross says the extra money has made her daughter’s college studies that much easier.
“She’s had a lot of extra expenses besides just your typical tuition,” said Gross “They have special certifications, programs, that the nurses have to pay for outside of their tuition.”
Attendees at this year’s car show say the return to some sense of normalcy was nice. Daisy Montes, whose family runs the El Taco de Oro restaurant, says she’s happy to see the cars back on North First Street.
“It’s a really nice feeling. It feels like things are kind of getting back to somewhat normal. It’s great to see that people are actually coming out,” said Montes. “We weren’t sure what the turnout would be like, so it’s great to see people enjoying themselves with their little groups. [It] seems like everybody’s kind of distancing from what I can tell. So, it’s great to have them here.”
The Santos family has lived in Alviso for more than 100 years. The family started the Santos Family Car Show 15 years ago as a way of giving back to the community and they are happy to see how much it has grown since then.
“We started in a parking lot. 37 cars,” said Santos. “Now, 600 cars and thousands of people come.”
