|
Navigation
Visitors
|
|
|
September 8th
With a few of our "Regulars" out of town
it was just the 2 Corvairs that headed out to Old Town today, Mike &
Kristen in their '64 convertible would be just a few moments behind us
in our '61 Coupe on 192 West. The skies looked
like they may have a little rain in them, the weatherman said we
shouldn't have any rain. Well, let's just say we did have a "Free Rinse"
today at one time or another. Lee greeted us with that welcoming smile,
he had news that Ron was doing fine and might be out tonight. Bratt was
at her post registering the arrivals as usual. We made the turn at the
Clock to make our way to "Trophy Row", Bob had his Green GMC in the
"Looney Bin". Joe's '55 Ford under the canopy. Richard stopped us on the
way down, he is now a Saturday Nite Cruiser, traded the Monte Carlo off
on a '67 El Camino and would spend a few hours at the "Mike Kelly's
Cruise News" building. Becky & Doug were setting with Kathy under the
stairs. Roger & Company along with Bill L had the end of Block 3
occupied. Kathy opened the gate and we crossed over "Florida Plaza" to
our spots behind "Black Market Minerals". John KG4BFJ, dropped the gate
at Block 4 for us. He came to spend the day with us.
Bill & Doris stopped by for a visit. Graham, G4HFG, came
in over the radio from Manchester , England for his weekly report. At
this time the gloomy skies were keeping some away. Ron Hood called with
some sad information about Scott Robertson, the son and brother to our
friends and sponsors, the Robertson Family, at "Magnolia Square" in
Saint Cloud. He was fatally injured in a 4 Wheeler accident yesterday. I
called Chris to verify this news and sent our condolences to the family.
This is news that I hate to report. Now onto the days activities. James
had his '67 Firebird in Block 3, John B had the 'Vette out. Tony &
Marianne were in their '71 Monte Carlo, Bob in his '41 Buick, Steve in
his Pantera, John in the "Double Nickel Express". Emil had his "High
School Flame" out Shane had his '57 Chevy parked next to it. Mike & Mark
had their 'Vettes across from the "Looney Bin". They were down a little
closer to Ken & Charlene while they are the "Cruiser of the Month".
Over the past few weeks we, in Block 4 have had people
come up to the Gate at Florida Plaza and ask us "where do we park the
cars we want to sell?" Tonight I overheard a few spectators make the
statement, "I thought this was a Car Show then a Cruise on the streets,
it looks more like a used car lot." This gives the spectators the
impression that they can "Kick" the tires and get in and out of our
cars. I even had a spectator, tonight, tell me that all these cars are
"For Sale" and he could get in and out of my car if he wanted too, then
asked me where my sign was.
Old Town realizes that many of the Cruisers like to build
a car up just the way they like it, then another project catches their
eye, now they would like to sell the "Dream Car" they just completed or
now that you have owned that '55 Chevy, you want the T-Bird convertible
but the budget says you can only have one or two maybe three "Cruisers"
but that T-Bird would make number four, something has to go. Old Town
provides a "Uniform" For Sale sign that you can display during the day,
that is to be taken down when we all hit the "Bricks". It's not nice to
go to a "Show" and see a car with a half of dozen hand made, with a
crayon or magic marker, "For Sale" signs. It is my opinion that
this is being abused, not by everyone but it seems to be enough
that the public is getting this impression. Cruisers, we have all been
to car shows that we have one fee to enter our cars and another fee if
our cars are for sale. The parking is a bit different at most of those
shows. The "Car Corral" is usually in an unpaved field. The "show cars"
get the prime spots. I hate to have to bring these things up but after a
so called "Cruiser" came in tonight, with a dealer tag on his car,
claiming it was a 1972, in fact it was a 1973 model year car, lying to
registration about this and even being argumentative, because it
manufactured in October of 1972 that "Overseas" it would be a 1972. This
dealer, a registered Cruiser at sometime or another just wanted to get
exposure and sell his car. The fact is that even overseas the next model
year is premiered in August and sold as the next years models, the same
that it is here! You don't even have to be a car enthusiast to know this
information, the TV advertising tells that story. Do they really think
the Regulars or the Cruise Staff is that stupid? I know any one of our
cars might be for sale if the right offer was made, these offers
don't usually even require a "For Sale" sign, just the desire of someone
else, then asking you another question. Let's not turn our Cruise into a
"Used Car Lot". It is a lot more fun than that. It's about the
friendships that are forged and the sense of family that it creates.
We did make our way up to "Flippers" for dinner, Ted,
KE4TTE, would join us, Jane took great care of us as usual. The first of
only two "Free Rinses" fell from the sky about 5:30. I had several phone
calls to find out how the weather was. We spotted Dan Z in his
"Grinster" arrive along with a few other "Regulars". On the way back to
Block 4, "The Sevilles" were setting up at the main stage. I
stopped up to see Mike Singer in the "Blue Room" he looked great and
said he was having a "Good Day". The treatments continue. We wished him
our best. Ralph & Shirley along with Bert & "Ernie" and the family from
Indiana were all set for the nights entertainment. "The Dukes" had
started to draw a large crowd on their corner. Joe & Harriett joined us
in Block 4. The weather cleared up after another light sprinkle and the night was
turning beautiful. Others that I spotted were Doug & Trish in their
GM's. Bob in his '36 Ford and "Bo" in his Corvair parked across from us.
Bob & Marge were in their '68 Chevelle, Nick & Francine in the 5 Window
'32 Ford. Mark managed to get his T-Bucket out of the box and park by
us. It was one of those great nights with good friends.
Nikki stopped by with the
"Flag Winners" just after 8:20. Mark wasn't by his T-Bucket, I
asked Nikki to let me give the Flag to him, he had never won one yet, I
wanted to have some fun. As he was walking back down to his car, he saw
me waiving it and started to say, "You got another one?". I was acting
like I did, then walked up to him and told him, NO!, you did! At first
he didn't believe me. The "Cruiser of the Month",
Ken
& Charlene Paparella in their '68 Camaro RS, would be 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, got word
that we were ready to Cruise, he then gave the safety announcements,
played the
National Anthem,
"Wolfman Jack" proclaimed, "It's the Saturday Nite Cruise", right on time, for this the
898th running of this tradition. Osceola's finest and
Allan would escort the '68 Camaro followed by the rest of the 167 cars, rolling up the bricks of "Deac Hundley Avenue", delighting,
what turned out to be a very large crowd of spectators,
"Rain or Shine" every Saturday night of the year, there is nothing quite like it for the "Cruisers" and it is always a treat for 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",
the "A&W", "Tags With Class", "Wound and Around", & "Flippers" just to
name a few. Thank you to Joe, Gary, Lee, Bratt, Dave, Ron, Nikki, Miguel
and Ben along with the entire
Cruise Staff and our fellow Cruisers for making this our 250th 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.
Congratulations to the Checkered Flag Winners!
.gif)
Click here for the
complete listing to date for 2005
Click here for the
complete listing to date for 2006
Click here for the
complete listing to date for 2007
Bill
Zinssar *
1972
Pantera
Lana
Warren
1969
Chevrolet
Camaro
James
Butler *
1967
Pontiac
Firebird
Mark
Dupree
1923
Ford
T-Bucket
Ron
Arrowsmith
1966
Chevrolet
Corvette
Joe
Johnson
1966
Pontiac
GTO
Hunter
Garrett
1972
Chevrolet
Corvette
Kathy
Reilly
1972
Volkswagen
Bug
* Registered Cruisers at "Mustang Mike's" Saint Cloud
Thursday Nite Cruise-In.
**Disqualified, Cruiser left property before flags were awarded.
***First Time Cruiser!
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"
| Cruise # |
Our
Consecutive |
Allan |
Mike
Consecutive |
|
898 |
250 |
11 |
26 |
|
|
|
.jpg)
_small.jpg)
_small.jpg)
.jpg)
