What a day at Old Town, 414 Cars would
register to take that trip up the bricks of "Deac Hundley Ave," at 8:30,
what a great crowd to wind up another year of Cruising at Old Town on a
Saturday night. That means we have a chance to come back out here 52
more times next year with the 18th Anniversary the first Saturday of
June!
We arrived at Old Town just about 1:30, Gary was at the
gate, he said he sent the Grinch back to his mountain top. Bratt greeted
us at her regular post. With a heart felt Happy New Year. We made our
turn by the clock onto "Trophy Row" Joe & Allan were there with big
smiles on their faces. Roger & Sue along with James in his '67 Firebird
were parked in their favorite spots. Gary & Kathy's Fairlane was just
where they like it. We crossed over Florida Plaza to settle into our
spot behind "Black Market Minerals". Graham, G4HFG from Oldham, England
had already been in contact with us, he wanted a blow by blow account of
the events today. Tony, K4AVD and our August "Cruiser of the Month" was
also connected to the HAM repeater to "Cruise" with us via the radio.
Wayne, VE3CEZ, from Spring Hill, Florida along with Ian, G4ZPZ and Sue,
2E1SUE from Manchester, England were in town chatting with us on the
radio as well.
When we went to visit the top 3 Blocks our little Corvair
was the only car in Block 4, we chatted with all of the Regulars that
were in place. Cris & Larry were just outside the "Looney Bin". John had
a Chevelle out instead of the "Double Nickel". Bob & Marge were in the
their '41 Buick. Ralph & Shirley were under the steps. Darrell was out
in his '66 Galaxie 500 parked by a Fairlane 500, Gary & Helena were in
their '66 Galaxie up by "Old Town Chippy". At the moment it was filling
up very slowly. We headed back to our car and as we approached Block 4
we had been joined by 5 more Corvairs and 2 Edsels. Bill & Doris stopped
by, they met up with Jody, who finally brought out her '66 Corvair
coupe. Don had his red '64 convertible next to it. Then Ed & Sarah had
their '62 Coupe parked by Evelyn's '64 Coupe brought out by Steve Mc,
K4SKM. Ed was next with his '64 convertible by our '61 Coupe. It was
Jeff & Dan with the '59 Edsels just down from us. Now the entire Trophy
row started to fill up and it was time to head up for dinner at
"Flippers". We of course visited with the latest arrivals on the way up,
including the "Drop your Top Gang". Ron & Renee joined us for Dinner,
Jane took great care of us as usual, Tony & Graham wished her well over
the Radio. John & Terry had good news about Tony De, he was looking good
and coming along well. While we were still at dinner the cars flowed in,
Nick in his '32 Coupe, Bob in the Camaro along with Marje, Mark in his
T-Bucket. I mean the cars were really rolling in. Pep & Nancy were out
with Lin on the Patio as well.
On our way back down to the cars there were even more
arrivals to chat with. We ran in to Jennifer that was in "Town" visiting
with all. When we got down to Block 4, the cars were all the way around
the corner and 3 rows deep behind "Kids Town". Ted, KE4TTE came out to
join us tonight. Don & Tara were out in the 'Vette & 'Cuda, Doc &
Suzanne were out in the "Tater Truck" he even spotted another '30 Chevy
pick up the bricks. Tonight there were a lot of cars that have never
been out to Old Town or not in a while. Bill, N2WFU and Virginia, W2VEJ
stopped by on the motorcycle, he tried to make it out in the '29
Mercedes today. Problem is, complications during a startup, after a long
time setting, caused the demise of the beloved old car. It's charred
remains were hauled away by the insurance company this morning, a total
loss. We will all miss that car, but not as much as Trevor will. There
were several more HAM's from the Mid-West that stopped by, I forget the
calls but they had heard us talking on the Radio and wanted to check it
out. With this many people in town was it was very hard to keep track of
everyone. The Tourist crowd was larger than normal. A few less locals,
they are probably tourists somewhere else this holiday weekend. "The
Dukes" were set up on their corner singing to a very large crowd.
Nikki stopped by with the "Flag Winners"
just after 8:30. A while after Mike Colletta in
his '61 Corvette, December's "Cruiser
of the Month" was led to block 4 that becomes the staging area at this
time, by Bratt, Gary, Dave & Lee.
She had to direct the full 3 Blocks of cars off "Deac Hundley Ave, they
needed to be merged into the line up so the massive crowd of spectators
would have a place to watch from, then the rest of the
cars from the top 3 blocks. By now Jennifer Johnston was in the Blue Room and got word that we were ready to Cruise,
she then
gave the safety announcements, played the National Anthem, "Wolfman Jack" proclaimed, "It's the
Saturday Nite Cruise", right on time, for this the
914th running of this tradition. Bratt & Lee escorted
the '61 Corvette driven by Mike, followed by Mark in his Corvette. Then the rest of the
414 cars,
rolled up the bricks of "Deac Hundley Avenue",
delighting an extremely large crowd of spectators, tonight they were
several rows deep on both sides "Rain or Shine" every Saturday
night of the year, there is nothing quite like it for the "Cruisers",
especially during the Christmas season, 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 "General Store", the "A&W", "Tags With Class", "Wound and Around", Pepsi, Roberts Brothers,
Race Depot & "Flippers" just to
name a few. Thank you to, Allan, Joe, Ron, Lee, Bratt, Gary, Dave, Shawn, Nikki and the entire Cruise Staff and fellow Cruisers for
making this our 266th consecutive Saturday a fun and
safe one. Mike Singer, Get Well! We all miss you.
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