Anyone who wondered why Sheri Goldstrom was selected to be among the first to receive the Helene Award hasn’t been a sick friend to whose bedside she has rushed or benefited from her generosity to charities, or attended one of the car shows she organizes to raise money for those charities.
A feature of the inaugural Las Vegas Concours d’Elegance was the presentation of the first Helene Awards, which are named in honor of Helene Rother Ackernecht, the first woman employed as a car designer at General Motors. The first Helenes, awarded for their excellence in the automotive industry, went to Goldstrom, to automotive photographer Michael Furman and to the ArtCenter College of Design.
Goldstrom is a youngish-looking grandmother who among other duties manages the Nostalgia Street Rod Museum founded by her parents in Las Vegas.
She also organizes car shows, including one held indoors when the temperatures in Las Vegas hits the triple digits.
The Goldstrom’s Classic Car Show is held annually on the Saturday immediately after the SEMA Show’s run in Las Vegas, and ends up being a mini-version of that show but free and open to the public, though with T-shirt sales and raffles, and with car owners making contributions to Teen Challenge, Pawtastic Friends and the University of Nevada Las Vegas rodeo team.
The show also provides visitors the opportunity, and without the usual admission charge, to explore the many huge exhibition halls of the Nostalgia Street Rod museum.