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According to Shannon and Kathy O’Hare, Sunday’s Obtainium Cup Contraptor’s Rally was the last time the event will be held at Mare Island. So in a way, it was an end of an era.

Emphasis on the word, “era.”

Vallejo showed off its creative, imaginative and steampunk side at the ninth annual event, putting on display contraptions and vehicles that seemed to be sprung from the minds of Tim Burton, Thomas Edison, Willy Wonka and Walt Disney.

Steampunk, often described as a subgenre of science fiction incorporating retrofuturistic technology and aesthetics inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery, was all over the place on Mare Island, taken over by hats with goggles, pocketwatches, aprons, bustles, canes, cloaks and compasses.

Also being shown off were vehicles like the Neverwas Haul, the Queen of Scotch, the Crock around the Clock, the Fire Buggy, the Gentlemen’s Tricycle and many, many more.

It was a perfect setting after the COVID pandemic robbed the steampunk crowd of the popular event for the last two years.

“This is just a great chance for artists to come together and show off their pieces,” said Kathy O’Hare. “And people have so many new pieces to show off because there has been a three-year hiatus. The best part of the event is seeing all the big reactions from kids and adults. It makes me cry. It’s such a great family-friendly event. I mean you get to play with robots and monkeys!”

Stuffed animals were being shot out of cannons as Caroline Miller with the Flaming Lotus Girls kept screaming out with joy, “It never gets old! It never gets old! I’ve been doing this for 10 years and it never gets old!”

Ken Mochel of Obtainium Works helped out building the robots that fought each other and often broke apart (on purpose and by design). Mochel said the base and electronics of the robots were built over the period of three eight-hour Sundays. The robots were built out of leftover scrap including trash cans, parts of vacuum cleaners and anything else ready and available at the Obtainium Works headquarters on Pennsylvaina Street. The electronics took about six weeks to put together. The robots were remote controlled by Mochel and others.

Mochel enjoys the creative process so much that he drives from San Jose to be a part of the event.

“This is so much fun. I mean, I can’t do this kind of stuff at work,” Mochel said, with a laugh.

One of the busiest people Sunday was Shannon O’ Hare, who fought off a recent injury to put the event together. He was constantly running around to make sure all the contestants of the rally and parade were lined up in order.

“I’ve enjoyed that I’ve survived this far,” Shannon O’Hare said, with a laugh. “I have been impressed that there are this many people here today.”

O’Hare soaked in the sight of so many faces lit up when glancing at the contraptions and vehicles for the first time — what he calls “the money shot.”

“That’s the joy and why we do it,” he said. “Seeing people interacting and having a lot of fun. If people come see our event, interact with us, have a lot of fun, hopefully they will come home and build something.”

One of the vehicles was the “Humpbacks of Notre Dame” — put together by Dawn Thomas, Robert Van De Walle and the team that previously won the Obtainium Cup in 2029 with Wheels of Dharma. This year’s vehicle and presentation had a message to it — protecting the environment.

“This took lots and lots of man hours to build,” Van De Walle said. “We did a lot of welding and fabricating. But we’re also here to promote climate change and that we need to stop driving and start using our legs and muscles or else we’re going to end up like the Hunchback of Notre Dame.”

Peter Wagner was also part of the rally to promote what was titled, “World’s Biggest Bitcoin.” The device, with its eight-foot wheel, is able to run on sand and water. Wagner brought a dozen of what he calls, “whymscycles (pronounced whim cycles), although he says he has over 70 at home.

This year’s event was more of a parade than a race, with part of the course featuring stops to perform tasks such as playing a game of croquet with characters from “Alice in Wonderland.”

Vallejo Mayor Robert McConnell, former Mayor Bob Sampayan, Vallejo City Councilmember Katy Miessner and Sherry Pruitt of VCAT Radio judged the contraptions and vehicles.

The grand prize winner of the 2022 Obtainium Cup eventually went to Valerie and Michael Nelson of Magical Moonshine Puppetry.

The event was the last one to be held at Mare Island (previous events had been held near Alden Park) but the O’Hares said moving forward the event will continue closer to their home.

“We have our shop right behind the old Times-Herald building (on Pennsylvania Street),” said Shannon O’Hare. “We want to do other events there. We want to focus on our neighborhood. It will make life so much easier on us.”

Getting involved, says Kathy O’Hare, is easy enough.

“Start with a bicycle. Decorate that bicycle. Then dress up in some kind of costume to go along with it. Go to thrift stores and flea markets and you’ll find parts that won’t cost you anything. Be unique.”

“I mean, we did it, if we can do this you can pull it off, too!” said Shannon O’Hare.

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