Navigation

G

February 9th, 2008

More than 800 cars on display today at Old Town, "Eckler's, Super Chevy Show" that was already into it's 3rd day occupied most of "Trophy Row" and most other paved parking spots since the first days end on Thursday. Linda & I spent Friday & Saturday morning  at the 62nd Annual Hamcation(sm) at the Orange County fairgrounds knowing that there would be a very big crowd in our favorite Saturday haunt. Anyway we arrived at 3:00PM a few hours later than normal and many of the late model Chevrolets had left for the day. Gary & Dave were at the gate, even though they looked very beat but they still had very warm smiles and friendly greetings. Bratt was at her post for registration, she commented that there were almost 500 Chevy's in the show. The streets were at capacity with spectators and Chevy show entrants. What a sight! The "Regulars" had the top two blocks and way up to the top of the Northern rides. I got lucky and managed to get a recently vacated  spot just around the corner from the Cruise office, next to Louie Z's "Decade of Cruising" parking spot". The next 45 minutes was very hectic finding everyone waiting for the Newsletter, Bill & Doris along with Stan. Whew! Most of the Block 1 & 2 Regulars were just where they liked it.

I must say that the staff was holding up well with all of the activity especially due to the fact that this was the 3rd day of this event with one more to follow. Tony, K4AVD, called in over the radio from his "Snowbound" home up in Wisconsin, he and Sharon, WB4ACE our "Cruiser of the Month" from last August wanted to say hello to all and to remind us it was time to go eat. Mike, N4HHA was on his way out to join us at "Flippers", Laura, KI4ZJX was on her way down from "Hamcation(sm)" so they Radioed their orders into us, we relayed them to Jane who took great care of us as usual, Thank You. The cars continued to arrive as we were on the Patio, most of the regulars had already eaten by the time we left. T Rod, KI4GJS, with his camera, arrived while we were making our way back down to the car. Joe & Kay backed into Louie's spot next to us with their '72 Camaro. Dave & Arlene backed into their spot in the '57 Chevy. Mark had his Chevelle next to Nick's '32 Ford, Bob was across the street in his '71 Camaro Z-28. Emil was near his favorite spot in his "Ol' High School Flame", Cris & Larry were out in the Mustang. It was busy, busy, busy. The 1958 King Midget was probably the most unusual car out today, anyone remember it? I did, I used to have one many years ago.

The rest of the night was spent watching all of the cars roll by, we were going to just relax but we made many more trips around Old Town, there were a lot of cars that we had never seen, more "Snowbird" regulars like Larry in his "ITZA40", John in his Dodge, Dick in his '36 Ford, Neil & Elaine in the Triumph. Behind "Kid's Town" were many more of the "Regulars". Doug & Trish in their Bronco and the Camaro. He sold the Bronco again! This time to a couple from Miami that plan on getting married in it next week. Roberta was very busy taking care of the beverage needs of this enormous crowd of people as they strolled Block 4. Jeff brought out his Edsel fresh from the paint shop, Dan Z rode out with him. It was a veritable "Who's Who" for Old Town tonight. Kevin, KM4FSU, Dennis, KI4YRK, from Tallahassee and Roger, Kevin's dad, from Ft Walton Beach area, came out to join us. They had been in town for "Hamcation(sm)" and came down to check out the Cruise, Roger just became a HAM today, congratulations. Then Ted, KE4TTE, who had came out a little earlier introduced them to "Meat on a Stick". The night flew by! It was soon time to get ready to Cruise.

Sarah stopped by with the "Flag Winners" just after 8:15  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 Roscoe P Cultraine in his Hazard County Police Car, 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 the controls of 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 920th 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 409 cars, delighting a 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. Tonight Laura, KI4ZJX and T Rod, KI4GJS rode in the back of "Elvira" taking photos and waving at the crowd. Check out his photos and "Rear View Mirror" story, on line.

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 272nd consecutive Saturday a fun and safe one. Get Well, Mike Singer, we all miss you!

Kudos to the "Cruise Staff" for all of the hard work this long weekend. Thank You, and a job well done.

Even with the participation of Advertisers and Sponsors this site and printed version of "Steve Butler's Cruise-In News" is costly to maintain. If you enjoy this e-zine please donate.
Any or all donations gratefully accepted.