July 21st

Saturday, 1:00PM, that must mean that it is time to head to Old Town. The weatherman gave us a 60% chance of rain today. Right now it was about 97 degrees with a heat index of 105 or so. We met up with Tony & Sharon in their '69 Ranchero and Mike & Kristen in the '64 Corvair convertible, we were in our '61 Corvair coupe. So far it didn't look like it was going to rain. Lee was at the gate when we arrived. Bratt was at the "Registration Station" near the Haunted House. Gary & Kathy were with her. As we made the turn by the Clock we could see that the car count was pretty low. "Big John" was out in a '57 Chevy. Bob had his GMC in the "Loony Bin". Larry & Cris were parked next to him in Cris' white Mustang. Bert & "Ernie" were next to them in their '66 Comet Wagon. Roger & Sue were out in the "Lucky 'Vette" and Gary & Kathy's Fairlane was in it's favorite spot. The 3 of us were headed for our favorite area behind "Black Market Minerals". Joe would stop for a chat and pick up the newsletter. A 1994 Ford Mustang Indy Pace Car was off loaded from it's trailer and parked in by the beer tent. I guess it was a special arrangement with the General Store. Great looking car, legend has it that it was snapped up from the dealer and went straight into a garage and placed on jack stands without even dealer prep. and remained there until just a very sort time ago. The car was obviously "New" and had the window sticker in place as well as the plastic on the seats and 9 miles on the odometer. Allan stopped to pickup his newsletter and chatted for a bit. We would spend the next hour or so catching up and visiting with anyone that stopped by. Jeff in his Edsel would pull in about 3:10 with Dan Z in his Corvair convertible and they parked down from us.

Tony was hungry so we headed for "Flippers", John, KG4BFJ, and his son Ed would join us on the walk up. I would be behind everyone as I dropped off Newsletters to John C, Bob & Marge, Ben & Karen and Darrell. Mike, Ken and Mark were in place near the top of Block 1, just down from Emil in his "Fat Fendered Ford" and Shane in his '57 Chevy. Jane was our server, by request and as usual took great care of us. Ted, KE4TTE, was not with us today, he was again fighting the "Heat Monster". Graham, G4HFG, from Manchester England checked in over the HAM radio as usual, While we were enjoying our meal the rain started, there were many regulars scrambling to get inside. We remained on the patio under the overhang. Butch & Jennifer were spotted rolling up to the gate in the "64 F-85 convertible. Looks like they were out to Cruise tonight. The rain didn't stop by the time we were done eating so it would be a very wet hike back to the cars.

Tonight we would all walk down the even side of "Deac Hundley Ave," there are more canopies covering the walkway. Lee was getting the "No Wake" signs ready to set out for tonight's event. The rain was very heavy and the temperature was down to 70 degrees. It was nice to cool off but the rain could stop any moment. The rest of the night would be spent under the overhang behind our cars. Not to many "Cruisers" were walking in the streets. The spectator crowd was a bit bigger than I figured it would be. Mark would not get his T-Bucket out of the trailer tonight. He comes over every week from Parrish to Cruise with us. Tonight he would be a spectator. Kristen and her friend Simone would be reading the latest "Harry Potter" installment most of the night. I think Nikki would also sneak a few pages in while in the office too.

Nikki  stopped by with the "Flag Winners" just after 8:00. The "Cruiser of the Month", Dave Lowe in his '67 Plymouth was being led to block 4, that becomes the staging area at this time, by Bratt, Lee & Dave. Followed by the rest of the cars from the top 3 blocks. Mike Singer, that had been playing his usual mix of nostalgic music and jingles along with the "Rain Songs", got word that we were ready to Cruise so he gave the safety announcements, played the National Anthem, "Wolfman Jack" proclaimed, "It's the Saturday Nite Cruise", right on time, for this the 891st running of this tradition, the cars then hit the bricks of "Deac Hundley Avenue", delighting the very wet crowd of spectators. There would be a total of 89 cars rolling by them on this Soggy Summer Night. Rain or Shine this Cruise goes on, always a treat for those of us in it as well as those watching it from the sidewalks and boulevards.

Thank you Old Town for letting us, the curators of this "Rolling Display of Automotive History", the cars that are the "Stars", to be their guests this evening. Thank you to the Old Town Merchants Association and the Sponsors of this event, Valvoline, Tags With Class, "Wound and Around", "Flippers" & the A&W to name a few. Thank you to Allan, Joe, Gary, Lee, Bratt, Kathy, Nikki, Ben, along with the entire Cruise Staff and our fellow Cruisers for making this our 243rd consecutive Saturday a fun and safe one.

On to the Flag Winners...

Tonight's random drawing winners that and received the coveted "Old Town Checkered Flag" along with $25 cash, A Case of Oil from Valvoline and a drink from the Tropical Breeze.

Roger  Puff 
  1971  Chevrolet  Corvette

Harold  Simmons 
  1967  Chevrolet  El Camino

Emil  Horwitz 
  1948  Ford   

Ray  Batmen 
  1956  Chevrolet  210

Dan  Zapico* **
  1963  Chevrolet  Corvair

Juan  Morales*
  1957  Chevrolet  Bel Air

Doug  Pitch 
  1968  Chevrolet  Pick Up

Mark  Inwood 
  1956  Chevrolet  210

On to the Photos... after this.

 Here are the Photos.
Click on any photo for a larger view.

Click on any photo for a larger view.

 See you all "Out there"

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