It was a regular Saturday, it would be the 365th one in a row that we would head out to Old Town, I know you all got tired of us mentioning just how many times we made the trek to our adopted Home Town but I had to mention this one, one full year of Saturday’s. This one would be a warm fall day, a slight chance of rain and 100% chance for friends and great cars to assemble.

Lee was at the gate when we arrived, the Sun was shinning brightly and the clouds were very high and wispy. The stage was set for the day at Old Town. As we headed down the bricks of Deac Hundely Avenue as we passed the Haunted House the local ghouls were already looking for victims. Some of the tables on the street in front of Son on the Beach were already occupied. As we made the turn by the Clock we spotted Dave who was at the ready for registration. Steve Mc, K4SKM was already parked by the carport, Emil, KJ4GNH was chatting with him. Mark had his Nova North of the Mike Kelley shack. We made our way South towards Block 4. Bruce and Sandy would have their ‘63 Corvette just where they like it. Larry’s ‘41 Nash was the only other car at the end of Block 3. Once we made it to Block 4 we would situate ourselves and just relax for a while. This is what we usually forget to do. Even though we tell everyone that Old Town is a great place to relax too.
Miguel was the first to arrive after us in his ‘68 Fairlane. It wasn’t long before Dan Z would arrive in his Anglia and Ron S would back his 460 Powered ‘41 Packard coupe in to a spot just to the South of us.

We would take our first walk to the top of Trophy Row just after 2:00 to see who was in town and drop off the subscriptions to the readers. Bunny & Tom were in their place of honor. By now “Big John” would have a Chevelle parked in his spot. Roger would be out with him, The “Looney Bin” had it’s usual inhabitants. Bob the head Loon was in his GMC today, Cris and Larry were next to him in their VW. Bill L had his ‘55 Chevy across from them. Then I thought I was hearing things, it sounded like the “Beast” was coming around the corner, Frank, it’s new owner was piloting it into town. Allan directed him into a spot next to Mark’s latest noise maker the ‘71 Nova Pro-Street. Allan said, “Tonight our guests will know when we are lining up, when these two fire up.”

All of the “Redline Rodders” were in place, John had his double Nickel out, Karen and the Kids were back behind the staircase, Ben had cataracts taken off both eyes over the past few weeks. Good to have you all back! Darrell brought out his ‘66 LTD, Lynn arrived in her ‘49 Ford pickup. Then there were a bunch of cars that I hadn’t seen in a while or have never seen along the fence at the top of Block 1. A few coupes, a ‘40 Plymouth a ‘48 Studebaker, both were Pro-Street cars. Across from them was Morris in his ‘50 Ford, Bob & Jerri in their ’63 Corvair and Duffy in his T-Bucket. Back to Block 4, the cars kept rolling in, Gale would arrive in his ‘34 Ford, he said he was going to stay and Cruise tonight, first time out of all of the times he has come out on a Saturday.

“Red Racer” Ted would make it by 3:30 or so, he came a little early to do some programming on the OTAC repeater. Charlie would arrive to join us for dinner, he had been up North for a few weeks closing up a house for the winter. Good to have him back. Bill & Doris would arrive and we would have a chat on our way up to eat. Yes, being the creature of habit it was Flippers we were headed for, Joe & Kay would head for the Tex-Mex. Tom & Bunny would join us, Dave D was out in his “Mint julep” ‘57 Chevy by now, Richard was across from him in his ‘67 El Camino. Angie would take good care of us all at Flippers, John would stop by as did Gina and Trish. While dinning the cars kept rolling in. It was evident that there were some first timers out with us today, even after directions were given to them they went the wrong way and passed by us in the parking lot. Oh well, it happens. John & Janice, Gene & Diane and Don & Pat would arrive in the ‘48 Chevy Pickup, ‘28 Studebaker and the ‘39 Chevy to join in with Glen who was parked across from us would roll down the bricks just before we would head back to Block 4.

On the way back Block 1 was at Capacity and Block 2 was nearing it as well, Bert & Ernie would now have their ‘66 Comet parked near the stage. The under the stairs bunch now included Pablo, Nilda along with a grandchild, Nancy, “Scooter”, I mean Lori and Lynn. I stopped for a few minutes to chat with Mike Singer, KJ4GNI, in the “Blue Room”. The night was beautiful, the rain must have fallen elsewhere because we sure were not experiencing any. The crowd was growing, I was amazed at the number of people I talked with that had never been to Old Town but they heard about it and just had to come tonight. All of the ones I talked with said they would be back. Tommy, the keyboard player made his way to Block 4, he was on the trail of a vintage Pontiac. It turned out to be a Chevy, he was impressed by the number of cars and people out. He usually doesn’t get too far away from the stage when playing at Old Town.

I heard that Ed, WB8BHL and Dave, WB4EWS, arrived just as we were leaving the Cruise route. Sorry I missed them, they’ll be back, Ed says he is going to get his Mustang that he has been working on for the past 6 years completed soon. We were sorry to learn that Bob, KS4PW, Dave’s father passed away during the week. The rest of the night was spent spinning the yarns for the fabric of the latest nostalgia.
 

Esther would stop by just after 8:20, with the Flag Winners, the Cruise Staff would direct the November "Cruiser of the Month", Bunny Jaggers in her '68 Ford Fairlane 500 on to the Cruise Route followed by Tom, her proud husband in his '66 Chevelle then the rest of the Cruisers out of their parking spots into the line up, Chrisanne & Dave 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" would give the safety announcements, played the National Anthem, "Wolfman Jack", then proclaimed, "It's the Saturday Nite Cruise", for tonight's running of this tradition. The Cruisers made their way to the "Bricks" of "Deac Hundley Avenue", Mike announced the Flag Winners as the rest of the 232 cars in cruise 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", 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 and the entire Cruise Staff and fellow Cruisers for making our Saturday in "Town" a fun and safe one.

Newsletter #268 is on sale, still only $2
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See you all "Out There"