PICKENS — Local residents are invited to get their hot rods, boats, motorcycles and even mopeds ready for the first-ever “Redneck Car Show” hosted by Pickens Rescue 7 on Saturday at the Pickens Flea Market, located two miles west of Pickens on S.C. 183.

The event is looking for entries, and now is the time to start signing up.

“You can really enter anything to the show, and if it doesn’t have a motor, you can enter it free,” Rescue 7 Chief Tommy Smith said.

The car show is an event designed to raise funds to go toward special training and other community events for the squad, such as the Halloween family fun night held each year at the squad’s station.

The Pickens squad has offered a safe place for kids and their families to visit during the city of Pickens’ annual Trick or Treat On Main each year. Volunteers prepare decorations, funnel cakes, fried oreos, popcorn and candy bags for the kids. There is never a cost to families.

“The event keeps getting bigger and bigger each year, and we are in need of support for it and other things we do for Pickens and surrounding areas,” Smith said.

To help raise funds to help finance training and other events, the squad has scheduled its first “Redneck Car Show.”

“It will be more than just a car show — there will be a live band and music throughout the day,” Smith said. “There will be cars, trucks, ATVs, motorcycles, tractors and lots more to see and do for both adults and kids. Local vendors are also invited to participate in the show and offer their items to the public.”

There are many ways to join and show your support for the lifesaving work the squad does in the area. Vendor spaces are $25, while cars, truck or boat entries are $15, motorcycle or moped entries are $10 and motor-less entries are allowed in the show for free.

“Any donations that anyone can make will be accepted and appreciated and they are tax-deductible,” Smith said.

For more information, call Smith at (864) 878-3752 or (864) 230-6071, event coordinator George Hines at (864) 360-7601 or squad secretary/treasurer Joey Barnett at (864) 361-8602.