photo by: John Young

Marvin Pine, left, of Lawrence and Steve McManus, of Topeka, check out a 1932 Ford Highboy Roadster owned by David Bunker, of Lawrence, at the Rev It Up Hot Rod Hullabaloo car show held Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015, in South Park.

On most days, Steve Chronister keeps himself busy tending to patients’ dentures and crowns at his Topeka dentistry practice. After business hours, though, the “Smile Doctor,” as he’s advertised online, is more likely to tinker with an old car than an old tooth.

The longtime automotive enthusiast is once again spearheading South Park’s eighth annual Rev it Up! car show, slated for 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 24. Aside from Chronister’s beloved hot rods, visitors to this year’s event will also be treated to a free concert from Grammy-nominated Lawrence native Chuck Mead and his band The Grassy Knoll Boys at 1:30 p.m.

“He hasn’t been back to Lawrence for several years for any kind of concert, so we’re really excited that he’s coming to town to do this fundraiser for us,” Chronister said.

As in previous cycles of the event, this year’s Rev it Up! will benefit the Ballard Center, with car exhibitors’ registration fees, T-shirt sales and sponsor money all going toward the local nonprofit’s early education services for low-income families.

Chronister hopes to raise about $20,000 at this year’s show, which will also feature a handful of food trucks, a beer garden, more live music from Kansas City’s The Culprits and an awards ceremony.

And, of course, the cars. Chronister expects about 300 — including the usual “classic antiques and old-school street rides,” plus a few motorcycles, race cars, “rat rods” and everything in between — to descend upon South Park the day of the event.

It’s a labor of love for Chronister and his own family, who for years have dug into their own pockets to organize and stage the show. Chronister’s grown children usually help out the day of the event, but Michelle, his wife and fellow hot rod aficionado, shoulders the bulk of the work with Steve.

At the moment, she’s busy restoring a 1959 Pontiac Star Chief — a “top-of-the-line Pontiac back in the day,” Chronister said — to its original glory. The project is time-consuming, and likely won’t be finished until the 2017 show, but it’s been an “amazing process” to watch so far, he said.

That’s the beauty of Rev it Up!, Chronister added. An average Joe might casually admire the aesthetics of a sleek, shined-up hot rod. But a car buff like Chronister will recognize the “blood, sweat and tears people put into these things,” he said.

“Most of the cars we get are done by the individuals themselves. Every now and then, somebody will bring a car that they had a hot-rod shop make for them, but the cool thing is, the vast majority of these cars are a labor of love and a work of art to a large degree,” Chronister said. “A lot of them take years and years to make.”

Rev it Up!, from initial planning stages to the day of the show, usually takes up a good six months of the year for Chronister and his wife. Every year, he tells himself, “I’m never, ever, ever going to do this again,” Chronister said, but every year, he keeps coming back to the project.

There are probably easier ways to give back to one’s community, he said, but writing a check isn’t nearly as much fun.