History of C&CR

The first season of Cars and Coffee Rockford was 2019. It was the fall of 2018 when Pastor Mike Thomas of Zion Lutheran Church saw a car show on cable. As a Katie's Cup Board member, he thought that the Rockford Public School Parking lot would be a great spot for a cars and coffee show. Mike went online and looked for car groups in the area. He instant messaged five different groups and only one responded, Curt Kellerman. Curt ran the Rockford IL Car Shows and Cruises Facebook page and met Mike at Katie's Cup.  They made plans for 2019.  Curt became the Car & Coffee Rockford Coordinator and was known as the "Car Guy", with great support from his wife Beth and son Cameron. Mike became known as the "Coffee Guy" and the Cars & Coffee Rockford grew between 2019-2023 from 72 to 288 cars a show and from 223 to 640 spectators a car show by 2023. Curt wanted us to be "free to particiapte and free to spectate", which is done by having great sponsors who support our community building efforts. When Curt stepped down in 2023, Anna Struven became the Coordinator and became the "Car Gal".