We were a little later than usual getting to our parking spot on Trophy Row having spent time in the office with Tracy. It has been decided that for the near future Wednesday Cruisers will not cruise the bricks unless it is a special event that will be publicized in advance. We have to pull together for a little while and make concessions if we want our Cruise-In and entertainment to continue on a Wednesday.

Stan & Maryann already had their '05 Escape parked and so did Bill & Doris in their '87 Chevy S-10, Steve parked our '67 Dodge Dart 270 in place and Gary brought his '07 HHR Sherrod from block 3. Then it was time to head to Flippers were Ron took care of us until John came on duty and relieved him, Pat & Joe followed us onto the patio they spend their winters in Davenport and their summers in Massachusetts. While we were eating Laura NO400 checked in to let us know she had the Firebird running but she was delayed by an accident en route. John drove by in his '57 Chevy 210, Tom, Bunny, Jim & Joy arrived in her '68 Fairlane, Lori wound down her window so we could see her wave as she drove by in her '06 Dodge Charger, Ray brought out his '05 F150 aka '29 Studebaker, Pablo & Nilda were in their '96 Taurus and Lynn was in her '49 Ford Pickup.

Once we got back to Trophy Row Dave arrived in his '83 Grand Marquis, we welcomed Bill back from Canada in his '63 Parisienne and were introduced to Heather, Laura arrived in her '98 Firebird, Rosemary & Dan arrived in her 2000 Mustang Convertible and the three of them went in search of food. Richard parked his '99 Neon north of the stage and headed for work. Regular Saturday Nite Snowbird Cruisers Bill & Carrollyn brought their '59 Pontiac out for the first time to our “Rock at the Clock” event, John arrived in his '55 Chevy Bel Air Sandy stayed home to get some errands done. Gayle brought out his '34 Ford Coupe, Dale was in his '27 Ford, Gene arrived in his '61 Ford P/U, Bert, Ernie, Mitchell & Granma were in the "Elvis Tribute" PT Cruiser, Fred brought out his '61 Corvair he has to go back to Michigan for a couple of weeks but then he will be back. Vinny joined us in his '04 Dakota, Nancy brought her in laws Bob & Shirley out in the '91 Mustang Convertible, Greg & Carol were in the '40 Ford, Glen parked his '65 VW next to us, Jerry & Judy made it out in their '86 Fiero GT, Frank was out in his '68 Corvette, Tony & Marianne came out to hear the Dukes their '71 Monte Carlo "Black Beauty" stayed home. Sam was in his '06 Mustang, Juan arrived in his '66 VW Notchback, followed by Juan in his newly acquired '76 Right Hand Drive Mini 1000, he is certainly braver than me I would not like to drive an original style RHD Mini on US roads but I was never a fan of the Mini when I lived in the UK. Wilson & Luz arrived next in their '57 Chevy, Ken & Wanda arrived in their '78 "Indy Pace Car" Corvette our last and late arrival was Franklyn & his sister Eleonor in his '62 Dodge Lancer GT bringing the total number of cruiser cars to 34.

As the cars arrived so did the spectators and there were many regulars who arrived with their chairs to enjoy the entertainment, some were disappointed when they first arrived that Dwight would not be on stage but my observation was that everyone seemed to enjoy “The Dukes” the ladies were doing their dancing and many couples joined in, you could see people singing along, clapping their hands and tapping their feet. It also made a difference that the weather was co operating, it was a beautiful evening jackets were donned after sun down but it was nowhere near the cold we have had to endure the last few weeks. Some of our Snowbirds have been chastised for leaving the “doors” open and letting the northern cold into Florida but others assured us that they made sure the “doors” were shut tight and that the word has been passed on to those on their way down to do the same. Yes, we have our “in house” jokes it is all part of socializing.

Anyway I digress, the Dukes started their first set at 6:00 pm to 6:30 pm, then 7:00 pm to 7:45 pm and their final set started about 8:15 pm until 9:00 pm, they are flexible and will adjust their sets to accommodate their audience but this will be their basic schedule.

Tracy was initiated into the selling of 50/50 tickets with Bunny and caught on very quickly, even though the same number of pink and green tickets were sold more pink ones were drawn, just an observation. Brian Cross a spectator from South Illinois had the winning ticket for the $71 jackpot. Steve awarded Cruiser of the week to cruiser #312 John Foster in his '55 Chevy Bel Air. Cruiser #67 Sue Demetruis was not present so the Cruise A Matic goes up to $50 next week. The case of oil donated by Valvoline was greatly appreciated by cruiser #96 Bill Ash.

Thank You to Old Town for inviting us out every week, to the Old Town Merchants Association for sponsoring “A Tribute to the King”, to Out of This World Embroidery/Custom Tags, The Old Town General Store, Knives & Things, Toy Time, Electronic Town, The Gold Hut, Kandlestiks, Wound ‘N Around and Old Town Leather, Valvoline, to Tracy Old Town’s Events Director who brings us the “Rock at the Clock” event to Gary & Dave our volunteer Staff and to all of the Spectators and Cruisers with or without their cars, who come out “Rain or Shine, Hot or Cold” to make this a great evening in our “Home Town”.

See you all Next Week “Same Time, Same Place”


It was good to have "The Dukes" back on our stage!

Newsletter #277 is on sale, still only $2

See you all "Out There"