Viewfinder: Three-year-old wowed by weekend car show

Published 12:03 am Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Charlie Massey, 3, plays in the driver’s seat of John Milton’s 1974 MG-B while Charlie’s grandmother Theresa Graves tells him not to touch things at Mississippi’s English Motoring Club’s car show in the bluff. (Sam Gause/The Natchez Democrat)

Charlie Massey, 3, plays in the driver’s seat of John Milton’s 1974 MG-B while Charlie’s grandmother Theresa Graves tells him not to touch things at Mississippi’s English Motoring Club’s car show in the bluff. (Sam Gause/The Natchez Democrat)

Car enthusiasts of the Miss-Lou rolled on to the bluff last weekend for the Mississippi English Motoring Club’s car show.

Featuring Austin Healeys, Jaguars, Rolls Royces, and even a McLaren, plenty of excitement was available for gear heads and car aficionados.

But few in attendance were more excited than 3-year-old Charlie Massey.

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“He has been trying to get into everything,” said Miranda Graves, Charlie’s mother. “He is a handful.”

Charlie was running from car to car putting his hand on the side panels and checking to see if the door handles were locked.

“He used to love to play in his grandfather’s (Gene Graves) old Thunderbird,” said Theresa Graves, Charlie’s grandmother.

So when John Milton allowed Charlie to sit in his 1974 MGB Charlie took full advantage of the opportunity.

He quickly took hold of the car’s steering wheel and then moved his hands to the vehicle’s various knobs.

Upon seeing Charlie pull and twist anything within his reach inside the vintage automobile his grandmother reacted.

“Don’t touch that,” Theresa Graves said, “You’re going to get a spanking.”

Milton was unfazed by the 3-year-old’s antics though.

“It’s fun,” he said. “You have to have a sense of humor.”

Milton was just happy to be a part of the car show. He only recently became the owner of his car in April.

The Natchez native, now living in Pearl, decided to get a MGB because he had one when he was in school at South Natchez High School in the 1970s.

Even though Charlie was not bothering Milton, he was quickly snatched out of the car by his mother.

“He’s a wild one,” she said. “But I like that he’s curious.”

 

Miranda Graves holds her son, Charlie Massey, at the car show. (Sam Gause/The Natchez Democrat)

Miranda Graves holds her son, Charlie Massey, at the car show. (Sam Gause/The Natchez Democrat)