October 20th

It seems as of late that we are the only ones of our group of "Regulars" that make this pilgrimage to our favorite "International Event". With the 80% chance of rain , actually falling in Central Florida all morning tonight might be a very small Cruise. With Neighborhood "Garage Sales" on the "Honey Do" lists and a few cars in the shop for various reasons our little Corvair would be joined later by the, just after 5:00 group, of "Regulars" like Mark in his T-Bucket, Bob in his '68 Chevelle, Nick & Fran in the 5 Window coupe, Don & Tara in one or more cars, Don in his '69 Camaro and Doc & Suzanne. Anyway we arrived a little earlier than normal, the stop at the fabric shop on the way in didn't take as long as expected. So, just after 1:00 we arrived at the Gate, we were met by Lee with his welcoming smile. As we made the turn to head down the bricks we couldn't help but notice the streets we full of kids. Bratt was at the end of Block 1 to sign us in, our normal route was disrupted by all of the foot traffic so we would head to our turn on the opposite side of the bricks.

As we made the turn by the Bull we spotted Roger with his '71 'Vette in it's place of honor. "Big John" had his GT 350 on the corner. Bob was out in his GMC along with Cris & Larry with their '65 Mustang in the "Looney Bin". There was also a great looking '71 Mustang Mach1 convertible.  Their first time to the Cruise from Spring Hill. Welcome. Cris came down to visit with us for a while, we were in block 4 all by ourselves for most of the day. We headed to dinner a little early and walked Cris back to the "Looney Bin". Bob was visiting with "Big John", Mark R also joined in. Bob signed autographs. On our trip up we would stop and chat with, Tony & Marianne, Russ & Phyllis, John & Terri John was in his "Decade of Cruising" spot with the "Double Nickel Express". Karen and the kids were in their spot by the stairs. Ralph was spotted near the stage. Not too many cars out yet but most of the regulars were in place including Emil in his '48 Ford and Shane in his '57 Chevy parked next to him near the top of Block 1. Jane took great care of us as usual, except they were out of Turkey, I guess the 2000 students that were in town took a toll on their inventory of food. Greg stopped to visit for a while, KI4GJS, T-Rod would join us near the end of our meal for a beer. We spotted Bobby G in his '54 Chevy arrive along with a few more of the "Regulars" before T-Rod would walk back to the car with us. Ted, KE4TTE, called on the radio and said he would come out to join us for the evening. We ran into Bill & Doris on one of the many trips up and back to the upper blocks. It would be a while before any more cars would arrive. The night was beautiful. We even had a chance to greet Jasmine, Allan's Cruising dog and visit with Nikki at the Cruise office. Graham, G4HFG, from Oldham, near Manchester, England checked in over the radio for his "Color" report on the days events, as he does every week. Doc & Suzanne brought out her "New" '72 Mustang Mach 1. Dane, the fourth generation to drive the old "Tater Truck" brought it out.

It was then quite a busy night once the Sun went down. The spectator crowd out numbered the cars tonight. A big crowd for sure. Charlie came down to us for his newsletter tonight. It was a great night with old friends and the new ones that we made tonight. Jim & Craig, "The Dukes" were set up on their corner.

Nikki stopped by with the "Flag Winners" just after 8:20. October, "Cruiser of the Month", Roger Poff in his '71 Corvette, would be led to Block 4, that becomes the staging area at this time, by Bratt, Lee, Gary & Dave. Followed by the rest of the cars from the top 3 blocks. Chris who had been playing a mix of Nostalgic music and radio spots, got word that we were ready to Cruise, he then gave the safety announcements, played the "Recorded Live" at Old Town version of the National Anthem, "Wolfman Jack" proclaimed, "It's the Saturday Nite Cruise", right on time, for this the 904th running of this tradition. Bratt & Lee escorted the '71 Corvette followed by the rest of the 146 cars, rolling up the bricks of "Deac Hundley Avenue", delighting an extremely 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.

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.

James  Butler*
  1967  Pontiac  Firebird

Bob  Burke 
  1972  GMC  Pick Up

Emil  Horlwitz 
  1948  Ford   

Robert  Gawlowski*
  1954  Chevrolet  Bel Air

Slade  Stotler 
  1972  Pontiac  Ventura

Keith  Oravsky 
  1952  Ford   

Sammy  Roman 
  1967  Cadillac   

Bob  Shannon 
  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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©2K7 Stephen Lynn Butler All rights reserved

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