Big Lots car show goes on after leader’s COVID death

In this 2011 file photo, Sid Mastrangelo pulls his 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air into the Ocala Drive-In as other classic cars were already parked in front of the big screen. This was during the grand re-opening of the theater, which is on South Pine Avenue in Ocala. Mastrangelo organized a monthly car show in southwest Marion for years. He has died of COVID-19, so now his show will go on under different leadership.

Sid Mastrangelo – husband, father, business owner, outreach volunteer and longtime organizer of car shows at the Big Lots parking lot on west State Road 200 – died from the effects of COVID-19. But the car show that he so loved is continuing down the road, just with different drivers.

Mastrangelo, 64, organized the Big Lots car shows for 15 years with his wife of 36 years, Debbie, and several car lover friends. His legacy of goodwill will live on, as fellow car buffs continue to stage the Big Lots shows.

“Sid loved to put on the car shows,” Debbie Mastrangelo said. Her husband died on Christmas Day following a two-week bout with COVID-19.

A handyman from up North

Sid Mastrangelo, a native of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, moved to Fort Lauderdale when he was 22. The couple married in 1984. They have a daughter, Elaine Bringle (Brent), and two beloved grandchildren.

Sid Mastrangelo died at age 64.

Sid and Debbie Mastrangelo moved to Dunnellon in 1991. He worked in several positions in the automotive trade and served as a home health CNA.

He was known to many west Marion residents for his “Sid’s Painting and Repair” house painting and handyman service, which he operated for about 20 years.

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He was active with his church and spent time setting up and painting a youth center in the Florida Highlands. Mastrangelo also volunteered with Hospice of Marion County and was a dog walker with the Humane Society of Marion County, Debbie Mastrangelo said.

The show goes on

The car gatherings typically featured a DJ, raffle and charitable canned good collection to benefit the Salvation Army and Interfaith Emergency Services, according to former participants.

Sid and Debbie Mastrangelo ran the Big Lots parking lot car shows for years. The shows will go on under different leadership now that Sid has died of COVID-19.

Oak Run resident Dave Michael showed his 1951 Chevrolet Club Coupe in the SR 200 shows for a number of years. He also knew Sid Mastrangelo through his house painting business and called him a “good man.”

Al and Kathy Brooks, friends of Sid Mastrangelo and Big Lots Show participants for about eight years with their 1977 Ford Maverick, will continue to host the Big Lots show.

Katherine E. Ackerman

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