By Rosa Dixon
What happens when you bring 250 car enthusiasts from across the country to Humboldt County for a week? You fill hotel rooms, restaurants, coffee shops and local businesses, introduce hundreds of new visitors to our incredible community, and put an estimated quarter of a million dollars directly into our local economy.
And that's exactly what happened when Humboldt Made partnered with Overcrest Productions to bring the Lost Coast Rally to Humboldt this October.
Overcrest isn't your typical car club. Founded by Kris Clewell and his team, Overcrest brings together people who love old cars, incredible roads and the adventures that happen along the way. Participants apply to join, and many drive thousands of miles across the country in cars that most people wouldn't dream of taking on a road trip.
As Kris explained, "An old car you care about will put you on roads you didn't know existed and through towns you never had a reason to visit until you were in them, and it will introduce you to people."
And Humboldt was exactly the kind of place they were looking for. The winding roads of the Lost Coast, the redwoods, the rugged coastline and the feeling of being tucked away behind the Redwood Curtain made Humboldt the perfect destination.
But what I loved most about this event wasn't just the cars. It was watching our community come together to welcome these visitors.
The group rented out the historic Samoa Cookhouse for an incredible opening night dinner catered by Blackberry Bramble, gathered at Trinidad Harbor for registration and dinner at Seascape, and spent their final evening at the former Humboldt Bay Social Club, which we are bringing back to life as the new Humboldt Made Landing.
Imagine a hundred beautiful vintage cars parked along the runway, a movie playing inside the hangar, Sammy's BBQ serving dinner, and hundreds of people from around the country discovering a little piece of Humboldt they never knew existed. It was pretty magical!
Kris shared something that really stuck with me: "We've done this in a lot of places. This is the first time a city was behind us so strongly. It felt good."
That kind of welcome doesn't happen by accident. Swan Asbury and the City of Eureka jumped in to help make this event possible. Local businesses, restaurants, volunteers and community members all played a part.
And the economic impact was incredible. We estimate that the event brought approximately $250,000 in direct spending to Humboldt County. That's money going straight into our hotels, restaurants, coffee shops, stores, and locally owned businesses.
Now let's talk about heads in beds! With over 250 visitors staying in Humboldt for five to six nights, that's an estimated 1,000 room nights. Think about what that means for our local hotels, restaurants, coffee shops and businesses. These visitors weren't just passing through. They were staying here, spending money here and experiencing everything Humboldt has to offer.
This is exactly the kind of tourism we should be working to attract. Events that bring people here for multiple days, fill hotel rooms during the week and put real dollars directly into our community. And with the Humboldt Made Landing becoming a home for hosting and recruiting more events like this, we're just getting started. Let's do more of this!
For Humboldt Made, this event represents something even bigger. The new Humboldt Made Landing, formerly the Humboldt Bay Social Club, is becoming a home for exactly this kind of opportunity. Our vision is to use this incredible space to attract and host more events that bring people to Humboldt, fill our hotels, support our businesses and introduce visitors to everything that makes this place special.
We're talking about events that don't just bring people together for a day, but bring visitors here for several days or a full week, encouraging them to explore, shop, eat and experience Humboldt.
Kris described our community beautifully: "Everyone we met was making something. Pie, boats, coffee, signs, chocolate. We're dirty fingernails people, and it turns out so is Humboldt, with better scenery."
I couldn't agree more. This is what Choose Humboldt is all about. It's about recognizing what makes our community extraordinary and finding creative ways to share it with the world while making sure our local businesses benefit.
To Kris, the Overcrest team, the City of Eureka and everyone who helped make this event happen, thank you.
And to the next group looking for an unforgettable destination, we have a pretty incredible place we'd love to show you.
Welcome to Humboldt!