The year was 2015 and Highland Mall was set to closing. For many in Austin, Texas that meant new beginnings. For many of us who spent our child hoods in the mall parking lot during Texas Relays Weekend it was sad.
Texas Relays Weekend in Austin, Texas is a celebration of not only athletics but also cars, family, and culture. You see, each year going back to when I was five years old the Highland Mall parking lot would filled with Donks and Slabs on that weekend. For those two days each year our moms wud drop us off to go see the shiny cars and have fun wit friends.
I new that once that mall closed there wud be a vaccuum of sorts. Who would be the leader the meet needed? How would every one organize? I decided to take it upon myself since I used to help organize Texas Heatwave back in the day. I new people wanted a new place to meet and show off they cars but also to be rewarded for they efforts in creating the moving art works. I decided to throw a Donk Contest. What was a great in simple idea in my mind turned out to be anything but simple.
From the getgo there was tremendous pushback from some of the Houston shot callers who did not agree with having a sponsored event and going more mainstream. I eventually risked my life to go around them in reach out to donk drivers directly. The Houston Slab community has always been great to work with too so many of them people were nuthin but supportive. I eventualy got about 20 cars confirmed for the show and more thinking about it.
As far as I know no one ever got permits to have the meet in the Highland Mall parking lot so I decided to move it to a more updated mall in Austin called The Domain. We looked at many areas to have the Donk Contest and the best spot was a two story parking garage next to Neiman Marcus store that was both wide enough for swangin and open for taller donks. We thought it was all set, but then I forgot about the world we live in.
It was at this point that I faced many hard ships that I had to overcame. The folks at this particular store next to the garage and the mall did not want us there. Keep in mind this is an public place. They brought police and security to close the entire garage down. We were forced to move it last minute to another location and still had about 15 cars compete. We faced similar set backs in 2017 but were able to have the contest in a parking garage at the Domain without a lot of issues although I did have to yell at some folks to make it happen.
What I learned from all of this is to never give up and to keep working hard. For the 2018 Donk Contest we have already hired a team to help us make it the best car show Austin, Texas has ever seen. We are working hard to create a family friendly cultural event to celebrate vehicles.
More information will be released in early 2018 regards the Donk Contest.
