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(Ben Tompkins/northeastNOW)
Local Fundraiser

Thomas Motors host Demo Derby, Grand Opening of new building

Jun 23, 2025 | 5:32 PM

Thomas Motors, the local Honda dealership in Melfort, hosted a demolition derby this past Friday.

The event was held in conjunction with the grand opening of their new power sports building, while also being used as a fundraiser for the Melfort Fire Department and Melfort Daycare.

New Power Sports Building. (Ben Tompkins/northeastNOW)

“It was awesome, I was overjoyed with how many people showed up, as best we could tell, there were somewhere between 1,200 and 1,300 people there. The fire department sold just under 800 hamburgers, translating to almost $8,000, so that was awesome for them, and I want to say the 50/50 was just under $5,000, so the daycare took home nearly $2,500,” explained Thomas Motors Sales Manager Jeremy Markwart.

“When we opened our new power sports building, we wanted to have a big event as a kickoff, and we have a couple of guys at the shop who do stock car racing and are interested in demolition derbies, so I guess it was just kind of meant to be.”

The event was free to attend, something Markwart believed was important and allowed such support.

The community was also able to support something that members of their staff deal with on the daily.

“We have a couple guys on staff who are fire department members, it’s a big part of their life, and they get calls when they’re at work, and they go every time. I guess it’s been near and dear to our hearts, and we see how passionate those guys are about it. We know that they’re a volunteer crew, and just for them to always have to step up and do it, we thought that was a deserving thing,” Markwart added.

“Overall, again an awesome show, you don’t see demolition derbies on asphalt too often, so that was really cool. The first two heats were a little quick, but the final made up for it, and it was awesome for people to sit fairly close, hear the cars, and see the carnage.”

(Ben Tompkins/northeastNOW)

The new power sports building has been up for a year now; however, there were renovations being done to the car building at the same time, and they wanted to wait until both were completed. That was finished in the fall, but a spring/summer event was more inclusive to draw a big crowd. The new building allows customers to see all the toys up close and personal.

Although a new building won’t be coming again next year, Markwart said the demo derby could be a recurring event.

Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On X @BenTompkins_8