February 16th, 2008
What a beautiful day! The Chamber of
Commerce must have ordered this weather, bright sunshine, near 80
degrees. It was a perfect day, we were headed to Old Town following
Steve Mc, K4SKM in his '64 Corvair convertible, that was making it's way
to this event for the first time, finally this 2 year project for his
wife Cheryl was ready to Cruise. It was just after 1:30 when we pulled
up to Lee, with that great smile on his face. Bratt was in front of the
"Grim Haunted House" as usual to register us. As we rounded the Clock,
Bob Burke walked past us, I then spotted "Big John" out with his GT350
on the corner. The "Sun T's" were out in force in block 2. Roger & Sue
and the Block 3 bunch were in place. Shane in his '57 Chevy was with
them. Gary pointed out to us that the "Lil' Darlin" sign was on the
maintenance building, it was in storage for 13 years. Kathy who
was setting by the Fairlane XL convertible opened the gate for us. We
backed our old Ranchero in to it's favorite spot in Block 4, Steve Mc
parked right next to us. Things were set for another great day in
"Town".
We headed up "Trophy Row" to see who was out before us.
Well, the top 2 Blocks were quite full, the "Looney Bin" was
populated with most of the regular Loons, including Bob and his GMC,
Cris and Larry. Many of the "Redline Rodders" were in place as was John
in his "Decade of Cruising" spot, of course Bob & Marge had their '41
Buick next to him. Darrell had his Galaxie just where he liked it, Ralph
& Shirley were already under the stairs and Karen & Family were behind
them. Bob had his Black '63 Corvair behind the English store, Bill
had his vintage Ford pickup near the top of Block 1 as did Morris have
his "Second 50" Ford parked. We made our way back down to our car
visiting with all of the latest arrivals, spotted a 1930's Auburn, it
was a Retro-Restored, Hot Rod. Great looking car with most of it's
original lines maintained. Bill & Doris met us as we crossed Florida
Plaza, they stayed for a while and chatted, Bill is doing great, just 4
weeks after the heart surgery, we are so glad to see him back on the
beat. Dan would bring his "Easter Egg" '41 Willys to Block 4 followed by
Jeff in his '59 Edsel. Then this '58 Rambler American Sport, 2 Door,
with an automatic transmission, would park next to us. Another one of my
personal favorites. Richard was proud of it and mentioned that his wife
drove it to work often. There were more than 100 cars in "Town" by 3:00.
Graham, G4HFG from Oldham, England would check in with us over the radio
just before we headed to "Flippers" for dinner. I think he should buy
that Rambler. he and Carole would look good in it when they are "State
Side".
Linda & I headed up "Trophy Row" for dinner and even more
of the "Regulars" were in place, Quintino was out visiting with the
"Loon's", yes his dad Brian was with him, Mark R, "Big John", Steve,
Barry and Jim R, who was out in his GTO was under the stairs by the
"Looney Bin". Allan was chatting with Ralph & the gang, that now
included Bert & "Ernie", under the other set of steps on Block 2.
"Shout" the band was setting up on stage. Mike with his 'Vette, Mark, in
his Super Stock Savoy, Ken and Charlene in their Camaro were parked
across from their favorite spots. Just as we were crossing Deac Hundley
Avenue, John arrived in his '57 Chevy. There had to be over 200 cars by
now. We dinned alfresco as usual, tonight it was just Linda & I, well,
Graham, G4HFG and T Rod, KI4GJS was with us over the radio getting
commentary on tonight's event. While Jane was taking good care of us the
cars just kept coming into "Town" Nick & Fran in the '32 Ford was
spotted, Bob in his Z-28 as well, along with just about everyone else
that we would see on a Saturday. Tonight was going to be a big Cruise.
On our way back to the car, Linda took the time to interview Lee for her
feature, while she was doing that Tommy arrived in a '62 Chevy, Ron &
Rose were out in the Coupe and convertible. It was really hard to get
back to the car, stopping to chat with everyone, Richard was in the
Cruise News Office, next to it was this '34 Peirce Arrow, Golden Arrow,
a great Retro-Rod. Dave had his Mercedes out tonight. Mark was hanging
out with Nick & Fran, Nick has been working on his Chevelle all week. We
should see it out next week. We didn't even stop long at the car, we
just headed around to the back, Joe was out in the T-Bird, we stopped to
visit a minute with Roberta, Winston was chatting with Vic behind the
Beer Tent. Gary & Wanda were out in their '55 Chevy. Most of the area
was filling up behind "Kids Town". Neil & Elaine had both of their '62
British Sports cars out. Rodger was in his Triumph. The list goes on and
on.
Finally after that walk about we sat for a while. The
spectator crowd was extremely large, even with a few other big car
events going on in nearby towns. You know like the race at Daytona. Bill
had his Parisienne across from us. Larry had the "ITZA40" up in Block 2.
Members of the Owensboro Kentucky Club stopped by, Butch & Jennifer
stopped for a short chat. Don M had his 'Vette out. Kevin, KM4FSU, his
wife Lindsey and two nephews Carson & Jack were around somewhere, they
went for a late dinner at "Kool Kats" where the service was great, even
Bob stopped by to see if they were doing OK and would make it to the
Boulevards to watch the Cruise. Beau and his dad, Mark who were out in
the '31 Model A Tudor Street Rod, came down to visit, after a while he
and Linda went around to some of the cars that he was asking about. We
found Tom & Chris along with Doug & Trish in the "Back 40". The rest of
the night was a bit of a blur like it gets with all of the activity.
Sarah stopped by
with the "Flag Winners" just after 8:20 Joe & Debbie
Taylor February's "Sweetheart Cruisers of the Month", Debbie in the
Daisy Duke '74 Roadrunner with Joe driving the "General Lee" '68 Charger
followed by the rest of the cars from the top 2 blocks of "Trophy Row", was led to
block 4 that becomes the staging area at this time, by Bratt, Gary, Dave
& Lee. Allan who had been checking in on the Auto announcer all day
along with all of his other duties made his way to to "Trophy Row" to
guide the cruisers into the line up. Butch Johnston was at the controls
in the "Blue Room", got word that we were ready to Cruise,
he
gave the safety announcements, played the National Anthem, "Wolfman Jack" proclaimed, "It's the
Saturday Nite Cruise", right on time, for this the
921st running of this tradition. Bratt & Lee escorted the
the "Sweetheart Cruisers" in those great Mopars up the even
side of "Deac Hundley Avenue", followed by the rest of the 333 cars,
delighting a near capacity crowd of
spectators, many rows deep on both sides of the Avenue, "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 "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, Nikki and the entire Cruise Staff and fellow Cruisers for
making this our 273rd consecutive Saturday a fun and
safe one. Get Well, Mike Singer, we all miss you!
Thank you to Old Town and Butch for the "Plug" over
Old Town Radio tonight.
On to the Flag Winners
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