By Don Steen
Staff Writer n reporter@psci.net
Spencer County was teeming with antique automobiles last week as the 79th Revival AAA Glidden Tour cruised from Rockport’s Lincoln Pioneer Village to the Santa Claus Museum and Santa’s Lodge. Somewhere around 140 participated, some in groups, some going at their own pace. Members of the tour weren’t hard to spot. There wasn’t a single car built after 1943 between them.
The bulk of the tour’s Spencer County excursion took place Wednesday, September 10. The tour itself began on September 7. Previous stops included Lincoln’s boyhood home in Kentucky, Henderson’s Audubon Museum and Nature Center and the Evansville Wartime Museum.
Participants hailed from all over the continent. Vintage cars made the journey from both coasts, most of the states in between and at least two from the Canadian province of Alberta. According to organizer Jeff Stumb, 90% of the auto enthusiasts on the tour had never been to Rockport or Santa Claus before.
With more than a hundred cars involved, some more than a century old, it goes without saying that there was the occasional breakdown. Even with good maintenance and replacement parts, many of those cars had already put quite a few miles on the odometer to make it here. Fortunately, the tour was sponsored by Triple AAA, which kept a tow truck following along ready to help repair or transport any stranded vehicle.
Stumb noted there were six breakdowns on the first day alone, but all vehicles were successfully restored to working condition.
There was a lot of history in the air on Wednesday. Santa Claus himself got to squeeze behind the wheel of a 1919 Model T at the Santa Claus Museum.
The tour was well timed, as it coincided with the 90th anniversary of both the Lincoln Pioneer Village and the Santa Claus Statue, events which filled their environs with cars from the early 20th Century. Indeed, the Lincoln Pioneer Village was almost as bustling in the fall of 2025 as it was during its first year of operation.
“This has been the biggest thing we’ve had here,” observed LPV Director Nancy Kaiser. “Probably since 1935.”
Featured Photo: Mr. and Mrs. Claus take a seat in a 1919 Model T, one of several antique automobiles to journey across Spencer County last week. In addition to the Santa Claus Museum, the tour filled Rockport City Park to check out Lincoln Pioneer Village.
