It was the 4th of July, Fireworks were scheduled to go off around 9:00 PM in many places. Lot’s of Families would spend the day in the various parks and attractions. We chose to head to our “Home Town” even though there wasn’t going to be the smell of explosives or fire in the sky. Linda & I were both on day 2 of kicking the smoking habit and weren’t quite sure if we should be in a social situation. Anyway we would arrive at our usual time. Lee would be at the gate and after we made our turn by the Clock, Dave was at the Cruise Office to register all of the arrivals. Bob would have his GMC in the “Looney Bin”, Bill would be out in his ’46 Plymouth and John was just down from him in his ’57 Chevy. Emil, KJ4GNH already had his “High School Flame” in a spot as well as Tom & Bunny were lined up with their ‘66 Malibu. Our old Dart puked as I shut it off, I guess the humidity, and temperature along with the fact that we had to stop at every light on the way out, the AC would cause a bit of a heating problem. I guess I need to get an overflow for it.

Gary would stop by several times and we would wait a while before taking our first walk up “Trophy Row”. Bill & Doris would stop by for a visit, Graham, G4HFG would come in over the radio and Steve Mc, K4SKM called to say that his Corvair had broke down almost to Old Town. He was waiting for the Tow Truck to take him home. Terry, KT4ROD was on his way out to join us at dinner time, “Red Racer” Ted, KE4TTE would be coming for the 4:00 get together as well. The Rain started to fall, earlier today the weatherman said that the chance of rain was less than 10%. Well, I guess we were in that area for about an hour or so, rain at this time of the day will always cause our numbers to be a little lower and the spectator crowd to be a bit smaller. Those of us that come out “Rain or Shine” like to call it a “Free Rinse”.

Mike & Miguel would bring their Fairlanes to Block 4. Tom would bring out his ‘68 Mustang, Lorrie would have her ‘Cuda, Don & Tara would be out in his Camaro and Steve from Sanford would join our ranks with his Red & Black VW Super Beetle.

Tony, K4AVD, would call in from Wisconsin to let us know that it was time to head out for Dinner. That was good timing, Charlie had just joined us and was ready to eat as well. This would be our first real visit with the Cruisers as we would make our way up to Flippers. A 1954 Military Jeep would find a spot to park next to Dave D that would have his “Mint Julep” ‘57 Chevy under the car port. Mark’s F350 with the Flag on it was next to the Kelly’s shed, Rich was at his post in the shed, his El Camino should be out next week. Mark's “Beast” was right behind it, Then Bob’s SS396 Chevelle, his name didn't appear properly as a flag winner because at the last minute I changed the font size and it bumped him off the page, sorry Bob. Then it was Nick & Francine's ‘32 Ford Coupe. George would join them later in his ‘56 Olds. Ray Ray was out by now and he was parked opposite the “Redline Rodders” who were out in full force today. John had the “Double Nickel Express” in his parking spot. Bob M. Would be out in his ‘65 Ambassador. Karen & the Kids would be behind the stairs. Pablo & Nilda would be under them as that group started to grow. Lynn would have her ‘49 Ford Pickup out tonight, Darrell had his ‘66 LTD in a place that I am not used to seeing it in. Once we arrived at Flippers, Tiana would come out to serve us. John and the rest of the staff would also come out to bid us a good afternoon. Tony was getting his “Tex-Mex Express” ready for a banquet of 200 people this evening but he was still serving the “Regulars” that now frequent his establishment. As we dinned the Cruisers kept rolling in. The top Blocks would be filling up. It would be time for us to head back to the cars, the Group would split up a bit, Linda & I would stop to see Brian & Donna at the Leather Shop and Bruce at the Gold Hut. Then back to “Trophy Row” to see who else arrived. The band was setting up on stage, Mike Singer was in Town and I managed to have a little chat with him along with Dave & Dawn at “Out Of This World Embroidery”. The first photo I took today was on the way back to block 4 after we ate it was of Doug’s ‘60 Mercury. He would end up down in Block 4 near the “Beer Tent”. Doc & Suzanne would make it out in the “Tater Truck”. Bill & Josh would be in the ‘74 Duster, Cindy joined them about the time Mike & Linda arrived in their ‘71 SS454 Malibu. I knew the rain was done for the day now, Mike won’t let it rain on that car.

I hate to make excuses but the rest of the evening is a little sketchy to me, I am thinking it might be withdrawal from the 50 year habit that I am trying to break. I wasn’t sure that it was going to be this hard of a task but it sure is. Linda is having about the same trouble as I am with it. We would both like to thank all of you who have given us encouragement in this endeavor. Hopefully the “Edge” should wear off soon, please.

Anyway the rest of the night would be spent with the Myth’s and legends of the cars and the people that lined the street this evening. This event, in this place has nearly 20 years of it’s own history that is quite interesting. I have been fortunate to document some of that history with photos and the printed word but only for the last 6 or so years. Linda & I both hope to continue this for as long as we can. It just wouldn’t be a Saturday if we weren’t at Old Town. We have had to cut our Cruising by one day this year, we are very sad that we haven’t been able to see our fiends in Saint Cloud on a Thursday night.

I hope that we will get to see all of you out for the first anniversary of “Rock at The Clock” / The “Duke” Davis Wednesday Memorial Cruise-In, is Wednesday the 8th Of July, that’s right, next week. I know this will appear in the paper the night of the event but the on line readers get a chance to read it before it comes out in print.
 

Just after 8:20 Esther stopped by with the "Flag Winners". The Cruise Staff would start to direct the Cruisers out of their parking spots into the line up, about 15 minutes early tonight. The "Cruiser of the Month" would break down on his way to Old Town so tonight's Cruise would be lead by Mark Dupre's F350 with a large flag in the bed then Bill Hunter's "Marine Tribute" Ranger pickup followed by a 1950's Military Jeep. Mesha would bring them to Block 4 that becomes the staging area for Old Town's signature event. The rest of the cars from the top 3 Blocks would join in behind them. Mike Singer, KJ4GNI, who had been at the controls of the "Blue Room" all day, playing a mix of nostalgic music and radio "Jingles", explained that tonight Old Town came to a complete stop, noise wise for the safety announcements, and the National Anthem, "Wolfman Jack", then proclaimed, "It's the Saturday Nite Cruise", for this the 994th running of this tradition. The Cars were then re started and the Cruisers made their way to the "Bricks" of "Deac Hundley Avenue", Mike announced the Flag Winners as the rest of the 144 cars in parade formation cruised past, delighting a very 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", Tex Mex Express & "Flippers" just to name a few. Thank you to Allan, Ron, Gary,  Lee, Dave, Esther, Vic, Nikki, CJ, Mesha, Chrisanne, Deputy Asa, Uncle Sam and the entire Cruise Staff and fellow Cruisers for making our 345th consecutive Saturday a fun and safe one.

Get well Joe Rodhouse we all miss you!

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See you all "Out There"