Scoop the Loop back again: Annual event brings fun, funds downtown

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This year’s Scoop the Loop promises to be the biggest and best one yet with a new car show added to the mix, organizers said.

The fifth annual Scoop the Loop event will be from 7 to 11 p.m. Aug. 27 in downtown Seymour.

Current and former residents of all ages along with their families are expected to meet downtown to relive the days when cruising wasn’t just something to do. For many kids, it was the only thing to do.

Lifelong Seymour resident Erin Hays helped resurrect the local tradition in 2011 by posting a comment on social media, asking if anyone wanted to scoop the loop one last time. He didn’t expect the huge response and support he received from the nearly 500 people who showed up.

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The following year, Larry McDonald, owner of This Old Guitar Music Store in downtown Seymour, jumped on board to help make Scoop the Loop an annual event. Thousands of people are expected to turn out this year, he said.

McDonald now gets all of the appropriate approvals and permits from the city for Scoop the Loop, organizes live music, promotes the event and designs and sells event T-shirts, which are on sale at the music store. He also helps with cleanup afterward.

This year, live music will be presented by local musicians Jordan Richart, Molly Hayes and This Old Guitar Band at One Chamber Square. Also, Big Red and A&W root beer floats will be sold to raise money for Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 108’s Cops and Kids program.

Several downtown businesses will be open during Scoop the Loop, including Larrison’s Diner, Bullwinkle’s Family Restaurant, Rails Craft Brew and Eatery, Mi Casa Mexican Restaurante, The Townhouse Cafe, 13th Floor Music and Accessories, Artistic Impressions frame shop and art gallery, Chillicen frozen treats, Fizzle ‘n’ Drizzle retro candy and drinks and Java Joint coffee shop.

The FOP also is a part of the first Pre-Scoop Cruise-In and Car Show fundraiser from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday in the Robertson and Walnut Street parking lots.

Sponsored by This Old Guitar Music Store and the Seymour Area Cruisers car club, the show is expected to attract upwards of 200 vehicles of all makes and models. All proceeds from the car show will benefit Cops and Kids.

McDonald said he has worked with the FOP in the past to raise money and decided a car show during Scoop the Loop weekend would be a good fundraiser.

C.J. Foster, president of FOP Lodge 108 in Seymour, hopes the car show is successful and becomes an annual fundraiser for the Cops and Kids program, formerly called Shop with a Cop.

Preregistration for the show is from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Seymour Police Department, 205 N. Ewing St. The first 50 entries will receive a free dash plaque. After 5 p.m., entries will be handled at the FOP tent in the Robertson Parking Lot behind Peace Lutheran Church.

Cost to enter a vehicle is $10. There is no charge for admission to the show.

Judging will be at 7 p.m., and 14 trophies will be awarded at 8 p.m.

All entrants are eligible to win door prizes.

“We have over 200 prizes to give away,” Foster said.

There also will be a 50/50 raffle and a silent auction for a Corvette sign and a guitar autographed by Seymour native John Mellencamp.

McDonald said he supports Scoop the Loop because it’s a way of bringing people downtown. It also brings money to local gas stations and other restaurants, he said.

“I love it when people get out of their cars and go into the downtown businesses and support them,” he said. “I look forward to the day when these empty buildings have businesses in them.”

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Fifth annual Scoop the Loop

When: 7 to 11 p.m. Aug. 27

Where: Downtown Seymour

Featuring live music at One Chamber Square from Jordan Richart, Molly Hayes and This Old Guitar Band. Big Red and A&W Root Beer floats will be sold as a fundraiser.

Pre-Scoop Cruise-in and Car Show to benefit Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 108’s Cops and Kids program

When: 5 to 8 p.m. Friday

Where: Robertson and Walnut Street parking lots in downtown Seymour

Cost: $10 to enter a vehicle; admission is free

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