Lions and Pistons and Rods, Oh My! Huge Event at Sussex Village Park

Straight off the heels of , the Sussex Lions Club is hosting its annual Piston & Rod Show at on Saturday, and per usual, it's for a great cause.

The community event is kicked off at 7 a.m. with an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast at the Lions Open Air Shelter in the park, followed by a slew of family-friendly activities, including a competition between area firefighters.

“Basically, the firefighters in the area are going to compete to extract dummies out of crashed vehicles,” said organizer Rick Vodicka. “It’s a great competition. The dummies even have sensors in them so you can determine how much damage they take before being pulled to safety.”

Firefighters from , Hartland, Merton and Lisbon will be fighting neck and neck for the title starting around 9 a.m., but that’s not even the main attraction. Vodicka says the show averages between 250 and 300 cars, pickups, motorcycles and semis, hence the title, “The Piston and Rod Show.”

And while the event is raising money for a great cause, it doesn’t cost a cent to tour the car show. The Lions Club is raising money by charging just $4 for the endless pancake breakfast. They’ll also have food and beer for sale in the afternoon, and raffle prizes throughout the day.

“Like always, all the profits are going toward the Lions Club,” Vodicka said. “This is just one of our annual fundraisers we hold. We have the golf outing, we have and we have the car show. The number of people asking for help from the club isn’t shrinking, so this is just another fundraiser to help the community.”

And the Sussex Lions Club has certainly helped the community. According to their website, the organization has raised more than $1.2 million, and more than $800,000 of that has .

Between the pancake breakfast, hundreds of unique cars, cash prizes, raffles, a swap meet, and most importantly, the beer, Vodicka is just hoping for some decent weather.

“We always pick a time in August because, we figured it never rains in August,” Vodicka said. “Well, two of the five years we’ve held the show, it’s rained. I don’t understand this!”

However, Sussex shouldn’t be worried. According to The Weather Channel, the event should see sunny skies and temperatures around 73 degrees.