Robertsdale Car Show & Chili Cook-Off Returns Nov. 14 to Power a Growing Golden Bear Band

ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — A fundraiser that its organizers once thought might be a one-time experiment is coming back bigger. The Robertsdale Band Boosters Club will hold the second annual Robertsdale Car Show & Chili Cook-Off from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14, at Robertsdale High School, with every dollar raised going to the school’s Golden Bear Band, a program that has grown to nearly 240 students and is closing in on its 80th birthday.

Spectators get in free. The day will include a car show, a chili competition, live music, food trucks, vendors, concessions and a free Kidz Zone sponsored by 3 Circle Church, where children can play on inflatables and games. Members of the RHS Key Club will paint faces, and the Robertsdale Color Guard will run a car wash in front of the school. For $10, visitors can buy a wristband that includes chili samples and a People’s Choice ballot ticket.

The event is hosted by the Robertsdale Band Boosters Club Inc., with Lynn’s Tire & Automotive serving as title sponsor. The cities of Robertsdale and Loxley are also sponsors.

A first year that outran every expectation

Valorey Salter, president of the booster club, said the inaugural show caught organizers by surprise. Planning had been done on a tight timeline, and she admitted she knew little about running a car show when she started. She turned to local car enthusiasts for guidance and, by her account, got some of the best advice she could have asked for.

The club planned for roughly 45 cars, plus perhaps a few dozen that might register on the morning of the show. More than 130 showed up.

“Our inaugural event was our ‘Field of Dreams’ moment, ‘build it and they will come.’ And they did,” Salter said.

She recalled rounding the corner and seeing show vehicles lined up along Fairground Road and on Highway 59 in both directions, all waiting to get in. Salter drove a utility vehicle across the lot to reach the students working registration and told them to let the older vehicles park first and finish their paperwork from their parking spaces, so drivers could shut off their engines rather than idle in line.

She had brought 80 extra registration packets, and even those were not enough to avoid some on-the-spot adjustments. The four judges, who had expected to need an hour to an hour and a half, spent close to four hours looking over the entries.

“Many guests walked up to me and said, ‘Robertsdale needed this,’ and ‘When is next year’s date?'” she said.

“Everybody, literally everybody that I spoke to, was like, ‘You’ve got to keep doing this every single year,'” Salter said.

She started planning the second edition the Monday after the first one ended, working in both compliments and constructive criticism from those who attended.

What’s new for the second Car Show & Chili Cook-Off

Organizers are preparing for 1,200 to 1,500 people this year and have made several changes based on what they learned:

• New car show categories: Best Hooptie, Kids’ Choice and Best Club Participation.
• More judges: Six judges are confirmed, with room for two more.
• Better logistics: Improved traffic flow, professional sound, a stage and digital voting.
• Chili Row: First responders will go head-to-head in the cook-off, a matchup Salter expects to be entertaining.
• Live music: A performance by Ella & the Sunday Sinners.
• Kidz Zone: Another addition is planned and will be announced on the event’s social media page.

Salter said keeping the children’s area free was intentional.

“Let’s build community. Let’s have something free. The economy’s hard,” she said. “People can just walk around and enjoy something. There’s something for everybody to do.”

“We want them to just come out and have a good time,” Salter said. “Band kids know how to have a good time and put on a good show.”

Longer term, she hopes the day grows into a larger fall festival on the high school campus along U.S. 59.

How to take part

Car owners are encouraged to register ahead of time. Same-day registration may move more slowly and could be unavailable if all spaces are taken. Nonprofit groups and volunteer first responders entering the chili cook-off can ask to have the entry fee waived. The club is still accepting sponsors. Vendor spots have already been filled and selected vendors notified, but interested vendors can contact the club to be placed on a waiting list in case an opening comes up.

Guest parking will be in the student parking lot nearest the water tower.

The car show is run entirely by volunteers, including the judges, and many of them do not have children in the band. Salter said anyone can get involved with the booster club, with or without a student in the program. The club welcomes help with photography, cooking, hauling equipment and making repairs, among other skills. People who cannot volunteer can still help by sharing the club’s social media posts or reaching out about other ways to give.

A family legacy in blue and gold

For Salter, the band is personal. A lifelong Robertsdale resident, she attended Robertsdale High School from kindergarten through 12th grade, graduating in 1998, and played saxophone in the Golden Bear Band. She remembers the band having between 190 and 215 members in her day.

Her youngest daughter later came through the same program, playing French horn and mellophone, serving as a section leader and earning spots in honor bands. She is the fourth generation of the family to graduate from Robertsdale High and now marches in her college’s band.

Salter got involved with the boosters in 2022, when that daughter was a freshman. She attended meetings and volunteered, and she said she saw gaps that her skills could help fill. She joined the executive board as secretary in fall 2024, later served as treasurer and now leads the club as president.

“It makes me feel proud to be from here and to be an alumni, and, you know, it feels even better to give back a program that helped to shape me when I was a teenager,” she said.

“Our volunteers are the bread and butter of our booster club,” Salter said. “Every parent is automatically a band booster. Whether they donate 5 minutes or 1,000 hours, each of them have a special place in my heart — past and present. I can’t thank them enough, and I owe them every bit of gratitude.”

Those volunteers serve meals, staff the medical tent, chaperone trips and work the concession stand. Others haul instruments, drive trucks and trailers, build props and fix equipment, and some grill and tailgate at competitions while students get ready to perform.

Salter said she has tried to build a culture where volunteers feel heard and no one outranks anyone else because of a title.

“I don’t care about a title. I’ve told people you can call me the janitor because I clean this place up,” she said. “I want everybody to have fun and enjoy it while they’re here because these years don’t last.”

From 77 members to one of the region’s largest bands

The Golden Bear Band was established in 1948 and will mark its 80th anniversary in 2028. The program went through several difficult transitional years and had just 77 members in 2017. Today, enrollment is nearing 240 students, the largest band in school history and one of the biggest marching bands in South Alabama.

In 2025, the band won Grand Champion and posted the highest scores of the day at the White Sands Marching Contest, a first for the school. A new, state-of-the-art band room opened last year.

“There’s no doubt these kids have set the bar high,” Salter said. “They did the work. We just answered the call, and this year is no different.”

She credits community support and strong music programs in the elementary and middle schools for the band’s growth. The booster club also supports the band program at Central Baldwin Middle School, which feeds into the high school. Salter said she has even met spectators with no personal tie to the school who traveled specifically to watch the Golden Bear Band perform.

The band is entering a new chapter under Band Director Drew Ellis, who is in his first year at Robertsdale. Salter said welcoming him “has been an honor and a privilege.”

Ellis said he has been struck by the students’ dedication, the boosters’ commitment and the community’s pride in the program.

“My goal is to build on that foundation, continuing to raise the standard of musical excellence while creating an environment where students develop leadership, discipline, confidence and a sense of belonging,” he said.

He said the car show helps pay for instruments, equipment, travel and performance opportunities, and helps keep the annual fees charged to band members down.

“We’re excited about the second annual Car Show & Chili Cook-Off and grateful for the community’s continued support of the Golden Bear Band,” Ellis said.

Where the money goes

The booster club helps pay for transportation to football games and competitions, uniforms, instruments, support staff and instructors, sheet music, competition fees and educational experiences. This year, the Indoor Winter Guard has the chance to compete at the World Championship in Dayton, Ohio, and its members are raising money to make the trip.

Salter noted that costs reach well beyond the marching field. Students take music classes throughout the school day, including those who never march or perform on stage, and quality instruments are long-term investments.

“That one school-owned $40,000 instrument can be played by hundreds of students per year and that instrument lasts 40-50 years, impacting the lives of thousands of students for generations,” she said.

She pointed to the University of Alabama’s Million Dollar Band as an illustration of what a top program can require. While she would happily accept a budget like that, she said the club’s real goal is to support the band and ease the burden on families.

Day-to-day needs matter, too. During summer band camp, the boosters organize lunch and dinner for students and staff, often feeding more than 250 people at a time. Community members have donated bottled water, snacks, pickles, popsicles, fans, tents and electrolyte drinks to help students get through long, hot rehearsals.

“You never know what a child may be going through outside of band,” Salter said. “As a booster club, our job is to fundraise, but it is so much more than that.”

“The sacrifice of volunteering some time selling nachos in the concession stand is way better than sacrificing a student’s music education,” she said.

Looking ahead, Salter wants the program ready for big-ticket needs, including replacing band uniforms, a cost that will run into the tens of thousands of dollars when the current set wears out. She also wants students to have the chance to compete at the highest levels and travel to major events.

“I want to see this band program thrive in such a way that even the kids can see that their opportunities are endless, to march in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, to compete at the highest level not just within our local area, but beyond,” she said. “They can do it with the right tools and right support. That’s my legacy.”

School and community leaders weigh in

Robertsdale High School Principal William White said fundraisers fill gaps that the school’s budget cannot.

“Fundraisers like this help provide resources and opportunities that go beyond what a typical school budget can offer,” White said. “They also demonstrate to our students that our community values their hard work and is invested in their success.”

“We are grateful for everyone who continues to invest their time, energy and resources into our Golden Bear Band,” he said. “Events like this are a reminder of what makes our school and community special.”

Loxley Mayor Richard Teal said his city’s sponsorship reflects a belief that neighboring communities share a stake in local students.

“Supporting our local students and schools is an investment in the future of our entire community,” Teal said. “When we come together to support programs that provide opportunities for our young people, we are showing them that they have a community behind them that believes in their potential and wants to see them succeed.”

For anyone still deciding whether to come out on Nov. 14, Salter kept her pitch short.

“Come see what we have built,” she said. “Prepare to be entertained.”