It was Saturday so that meant it was yet another run up the “Parkway” to Old Town. Steve Mc, K4SKM would call on the 210 repeater as he made his way closer to our rendezvous point in his ‘29 Model A. We backed our ‘67 Dart out a little earlier than usual, Mike, N4HHA, was stuck at the Airport so he would not be joining in as usual. Steve would catch up with us just before the turn off of the “Parkway”.

Lee was at the gate with that Welcoming smile of his, the streets were bustling with people. We would make the turn at the clock, Dave would register us and instead of turning right, we turned left and took a temporary parking spot across from the “Looney Bin” next to displaced Louie in his Cheeta, see Linda’s article on why this happened. Emil, KJ4GNH, was in a spot, that he wouldn’t call his own, just down from “Roger Ranger” in his ‘‘59 Edsel, Bob, in his ‘71 Z-28, Nick in his '32 Ford Coupe and Mark in the "Beast", with his “High School Flame”. Steve Mc would park next to us. Bob would have his ‘72 GMC in the “Looney Bin”, Larry would have his Mustang by the dumpster just outside of it.

Block 3 started off with a “Registration Tent” or the Eckler’s show and a trailer from the Classic Camaro Of Central Florida club. Then it was their “Show Cars” the rest of the way down and around. Not sure where they all learned to park but it was a mess.
 

Linda & I would take a walk to the top of “Trophy Row”, Ron would have his ‘61 Caddy, James would have his ‘67 Firebird, John in his ‘53 Mercury and Fred in his ‘57 Pontiac would be just South of the stage, across the street many of the "Redline Rodders" were in place, Ben, Karen and the Kids were behind the stage, Bert & “Ernie” were out in their ’66 Comet, Ken was already in the Three Amigos parking area with his Camaro. Rich & Doug had the ‘67 ElCamino across from them, Don R had his “Eleanor” next to the fence and Ron would have his ’41 Packard, Dan in his ’41 Willys and Jeff in his ’59 Edsel were in the North overflow parking. John had his '57 Chevy North of the stage, Darrell had his LTD and Steve & Carol were nearby in their Camaro up there as well. It was early and the regulars were pouring in. It wouldn't be long before parking would be behind the A&W. Charlie was out and visiting with Emil. Once we were back at the car we would venture into the depths of the Eckler’s show, Block 4 was full of cars and vendors as was the grass parking lot and there were hundreds of these Classic Chevy’s of all years and colors, wrapped all of the way around “Kid’s Town” even Don & Tara had their ‘77 Trans-Am next to a Camaro, these cars were included in the show as well. As we were making our way back to our car we would run into Bill & Doris near the bottom of Block 4. By now Graham, G4HFG, from Oldham, England and Ian, G4ZPZ from Manchester, England would come in over the 3.1 repeater as would locals, Ed, WB8BHL, Terry, KT4ROD and Sherman W2FLA visiting from the Catskill mountains.

We would stay by the car until it was time to head out to “Flippers” for dinner. Cruisers were not used to us being parked in this spot we were in today. So they could find us for their newsletters. Allan and the Cruise Staff were very busy coordinating the days events and the cars kept coming in. Bob would roll his ‘40 Buick into the lot and take his “Decade” parking spot. By now a few of the Show cars were leaving and it was time for the 4 of us to head out for dinner.

Flippers was a busy place and had been all day. Gina would take care of us while we dinned alfresco. The Cruisers kept rolling into “Town” and the early crowd was coming to eat.

On our way back to the cars we would chat with the newest arrivals, Mike & Mark had joined Ken. Doug was standing by the El Camino holding the hood open, Linda wondered if he was the new stick to hold It open. Bill would have moved his ‘63 Parisienne next to the bleachers, Larry & Karen weren’t far away in “ ITZA40”. Lynn had arrived in her  ‘49 Ford pickup, Don & Jackie had their Mustang near the stage. Mike Singer, KJ4GNI was at the controls of the “Blue Room”, the Lu White Combo was setting up on stage. Once we were back we spotted “The Dukes” wandering around, they would set up on the corner a little early tonight. Tom & Chris would be in their place of honor by now. Many of the Show participants were now tearing down and leaving Old Town, most would leave the tents and trailers in the parking spots and the “Trailer Queens” were being loaded into their trailers and many covered their cars up so no one could see them. I guess they just don’t get it. What the Saturday Nite Cruise is all about. Good thing they only come once a year. It seems as though many don’t play well with others. The displaced “Regulars”, once they knew that the Eckler’s show had gone against the wishes of Old Town had stayed instead of just going home because of the chaos began traversing from temporary spots to the vacated spots in Block 3 and 4 and behind “Kid’s Town”. Just before dark, Ted, KE4TTE would arrive to take some photos.

Linda & I would once again make a trip to the area that the “Show” was still partially set up in, to find other “Regulars”. Laura, NO4OO would arrive as we made this journey. All of the bunch from the overflow area were now near  Roberta the "Beer Lady" along with Ray in his Little Deuce Coupe. Tony & Donna had arrived in their Mustang, Steve & Amanda had their ‘newly primmered ‘56 Chevy in the “Show” but were staying to Cruise. Bob was out in his ‘36 Ford, “Bo” in his ‘70 Monte Carlo and John was with them in his Mustang convertible. On our way back to meet up with Laura, Jeff, KC2BIZ and Heather, that came out for the first time to Old Town. “The Dukes” were already singing to a very large crowd on their corner. A bit of a sensorary overload for Jeff and Heather but they had a great time, the cars and the people helped Jeff forget about the pain of the Taser hit he took in training earlier today. They now wish they would have come out before, they are moving to Madison Wisconsin in March for a position in Law Enforcement. Heather hopes to talk her Uncle who is helping them move to come out on the 28th before pulling out the next day for the Cold Country.

Then Michelle the PE Teacher from Deerfield Elementary School in Poinciana, the “Armadillo Queen” arrived looking for a ride in the parade. Deerfield Elementary School crown’s a Queen in what they like to call “Armadillo Day” instead of Ground Hog Day. The last hour flies by as the crowd makes their way to Deac Hundley to view the parade.

Linda would go over to Esther to get the "Flag Winners" just after 8:20. The Cruise Staff would start to direct the Cruisers out of their parking spots into the line up starting with The February 2009 "Cruiser of the Month" Tom Balmer & Chris would pull his '72 Vette it from it's place of honor for the first time during their reign, (Remember Cruisers, stay in your parking spot until you are directed out by a Cruise Staff member, you know the ones with the flashlights and the blinking vests. This practice has been brought back to all Blocks of “Trophy Row” it is no longer a “Free For All”), they were led by Dave & Lee  followed Mark in his Corvette with Michelle, the "Armadillo Queen", then the rest of the cars from the top 3 Blocks to block 4 that becomes the "Staging Area" for Old Town's signature event. Mike Singer, KJ4GNI, who had been at the controls of the "Blue Room", playing a mix of nostalgic music and radio "Jingles", gave the safety announcements, played the National Anthem, "Wolfman Jack" proclaimed, "It's the Saturday Nite Cruise", for this the 973rd running of this tradition. The Cruisers made their way to the "Bricks" of "Deac Hundley Avenue", we would have Jeff and Heather riding with us. Mike announced the Flag Winners as the rest of the 326+ cars in parade formation cruised past, delighting an extremely large crowd of cheering spectators along 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", "Out of this World Embroidery", "Wound 'N Around", Pepsi, Roberts Brothers, the Pearl Factory, the Gold Hut, the "Tropical Breeze" & "Flippers" just to name a few. Thank you to Allan, Ron, Gary,  Lee, Dave, Esther, Miguel, CJ, Mesha, Chrisanne and the entire Cruise Staff and fellow Cruisers for making our 324th consecutive Saturday a fun and safe one.

Get well soon, Joe Rodhouse we all miss you. Bob & Marge Melendy, our thoughts are with you.

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See you all "Out There"