March 10th

Wow! What a beautiful day. Several of our "Regulars" went to Inverness to the Nature Coast Corvair Clubs Show. We, in our "61 Corvair were on our way to Old Town for the 224th Saturday in a row with a "New" Cruiser following. Mike (N4HHA) and daughter Kristen taking the '64 Corvair convertible to this event for the first time. They met us at the "Top of the Hill" on Carol Street, well it isn't really a hill we just call it that, where a few of us will congregate so that we can caravan out. Tony & Sharon in "Lucy" were in Inverness with Gary & Wanda, Ed & Evelyn, Steve & Cheryl along with a few others.

We arrived at the gate just after 1:45, Ron greeted us with that smile of his and we made our way down to the next stop. Bratt was back at her post this week. The odd side of the street was occupied with about 20 Edsels or so.  The "Rollercoaster Riders" were in town as well, they will be VIP's in the Cruise tonight. We made our way to block 4, it was open for us today, shortly after we positioned our cars, I saw George  in his '53 Plymouth Cranbrook rolling to the gate, then behind me I heard, Linda & Son, Justin yelling to get my attention, of course Gizmo the "Cruisin Dog" was with them, later even daughter Shelly joined them. They had been regulars both at Old Town and the Thursday Nite Cruise until they moved over to Palm Bay. Then Bill, who moved to the Carolinas walked up and said hello, seemed like old home week so far. Dan & Liz were out in the Orange Willys Coupe. Then Ron & Rene eased that big Caddy convertible to block 4 and parked next to Dan.

Linda & I went out to deliver the newsletters and talked with many of the "Regulars" that were in the spots they like. The "Redline Rodders" were in their spots. A few without cars but they were there. At the top of block 1 was the old "Tomato Can" brought out by Ben Franklin's son, Kevin, in his honor. He has decided to keep the '29 and sell the '40 Ford instead. Good seeing them as well as that great old '29 Ford.

It was time to go and get Mike and Kristen to go to lunch, without "Tony the Timer" it was just another thing to keep track of. We then headed up to, you guessed it, "Flippers" for our Saturday treat. Ted, (KE4TTE) friend and fellow Amateur Radio operator, non Cruiser, for now, was going to join us for the meal. As we were walking across the bricks at about 4:00 we noticed that even the outside of "Flippers" was full, it was the Rollercoaster Riders filling the inside and all of the tables outside. We did manage to get a table. With our small group tonight it was just easier. Ted, who seemed to be on Ian time, joined us a bit after we ordered. Jane, who was extremely busy, still managed to take very good care of us and got the lingering riders up from the table to facilitate the very long line of people waiting to get into eat. On the way back down to our cars Ted decided to see what the Cruise was all about. He began to go into "sensory overload" as he called it, almost immediately, he always hears us talking about the Cruise but he was now experiencing it as a guided spectator. We all kept walking down to look at the cars and ran in to Neil & Elaine, they had both of their classic British Cars and the family with them. Roger rolled his '53 MG to the area behind the rollercoaster, Roger in his Chevy was back there with Larry in his Ford. Ron was next to Bob's '36 Ford in his '64 Corvair. I just don't have the room to go on with all that I spotted and talked with. You may be able to tell that almost everyone was out tonight. Of course, Graham, (G4HFG) from Manchester England, was coming in over the radio wanting all of the details of tonight's event. The streets were filled, cheek to cheek with spectators. A very busy night in "Town". "The Dukes", in new shirts embroidered by Rene, I might add, were set up and drawing a large crowd on the corner behind us in front of "Black Hills Minerals", singing their usual harmony.

I would like to thank all of you that subscribe and donate to this publication on a Saturday Night, it sure helps. Bill and Doris stopped by earlier with their story and more orders for Friday and Saturday Dash Cards and a nice donation from Dave, a Friday Night Cruiser, Thank You!

Just after 8:15 the Edsels were staged in block 4, Gary & Bratt led Tara Bush, in her Nova, "Cruiser of the Month" for March to head the Cruise. Then the Rollercoaster Riders in convertibles were staged behind the Edsel Club. Nikki made here way through the crowd to get us the "Flag Winners" list. Mike Singer who had been playing his usual mix over "Old Town Radio" all evening gave the safety announcements, played the National Anthem right on time. "Wolfman Jack" proclaimed "It's the Saturday Nite Cruise". The lead cars made that turn by "Kids Town" onto the bricks of "Deac Hundley Blvd." followed by 309 more, for this the 872nd running of this Central Florida tradition.

Thank you time. I know I do this every week, it needs to be said. I wish I could thank every one individually that makes this event work, so I will do it now, THANK YOU! I will mention Old Town, the Merchants association, the Sponsors, the Cruise Staff, the spectators and our fellow cruisers for another great day in "Town"

Roger  Poff 
  1971  Chevrolet  Corvette

Chris  Davis 
  1967  Chevrolet II   

Bow  Whiting 
  1947  Plymouth   

Greg  Fee 
  1960  Chevrolet  El Cameno

Don & Leona  Lutz*
  1965  Rambler  Ambassador

Robert  Plunkett 
  1932  Zimmer   

Paul  Robinson 
  1934  Coupe   

Here are the Photos.

Click on any photo for a larger view.

 872/224/39
 
 

All content and Photography, unless otherwise noted
©2K7 Stephen Lynn Butler All rights reserved

Hosted at YUIOP Internet Services
Kissimmee, Florida USA