Today was very unusual for me, I told Linda to stay home. She was just about to get over the cold that had been giving her grief over the past few days and I thought that today’s cold weather would have not been a good idea to set in for the whole day.

I would arrive just about the same time as I always do. Lee was at the gate, soaking up the sunshine trying to stay warm. The streets were very busy with guests from out of town, to most of them this 52 degrees is not cold but for us Floridians we are freezing. The “Die Hard” weren’t about to let the cold weather keep them from coming out to play today.

Dave was at the far end of the registration area, in the Sun. Bruce and Sandy would have their “Split Window” coupe just where they like it in Block 3. Block 4 had one inhabitant, a ’48 Fat Fendered Ford, “High School Flame” it’s driver Emil, KJ4GNH, was no where to be seen. I hypothesized that it was Charlie that came by, in his Mini Cooper and abducted him. It wasn’t too long before Miguel would arrive in his ‘68 Fairlane and take his favorite spot on the South side of the Beer Tent. Standing in the Sun was the order of the day. Terry, KT4ROD would check in over the radio, Graham, G4HFG from Oldham would also check in early to see what was going on. Tom & Bunny would arrive in her ‘68 Fairlane and park next to Emil, We would all huddle around the open hood to get some heat of the engine. Bill & Doris would stop by before I would make my way to the top of “Trophy Row”.

On that first excursion the parking spots were empty and I had to continue explaining where Linda was. Mark’s Nova was in his favorite spot, Bob was in the “Looney Bin” as was Bill in his ’46 Plymouth and Big John was on the corner in the ’64 Vette, Roger was out with him today. Karen and the kids were behind the stairs keeping warm. Darrell would be parked next to them and Bob would be next to him in his ‘40 Buick, the Rambler had been sold so it is back to one of his favorites. There weren’t many in Block one except for the 3 Amigos. The “Bleacher Gang” were still not out. This part of the day was deceptionaly Sunny. There wasn’t much heat and the wind was very cutting. The Flywheelers Park, Flivvers would arrive and take the spots along the East fence line of Block 4. This is their annual get together that they have at old Town. Always a great display of the very early iron. This year there weren’t as many model T’ s but there was a great ‘42 Chevy, now you do not see them very often.

I would head out a little early for dinner as no one was going to be joining me this evening. They chose “Kool Kats” this evening. I would go for my standby, “Flippers”. Angie would wait on me. John & Rich would join me after a bit as I was at a table inside. We would visit with the rest of the staff there. John, Gina and Mike. Larry WA3PGL was headed to Disney to pick up Linda, KA3BRP after work and they would stop by for a Pizza on the way home. Graham would be back on the radio, coming through the 442.1 repeater right here in Old Town. John remarked on how clear it was and that most of the time the cell phone doesn’t even work across the parking lot and here I was talking to England on a little hand held radio. Great stuff and a fun hobby as well. It is so cool that a bunch of us have tied it into our “Cruising”. Ian, K4ZPZ and Scott his son stopped in for a few minutes, they picked up some radio gear that is going over to Palm Bay. We all would take advantage of the warm staying a bit longer than usual but then it was time to venture out into the cold. The Sun was still shinning so we could jump into puddles of Sun on the way back. Bert & Laverne were now out in their ‘66 Comet wagon. The rest of the “Redline Rodders” were now in place, Richard would have his El Camino across from the Mike Kelly’s shack that he was working in. Tom & Lori was in town with their ‘Cuda and Neil & Elaine would arrive in their Silver Cloud Rolls Royce. Did I mention it was Cold?

About 5:00 or so the Budweiser trailers were spotted heading towards the back parking lot. That’s right the Clydesdales would be making their annual visit to our little “Home Town”. It does take a while to get these beautiful creatures hooked up and ready to perform and they are big enough to pretty much get their own way. I was talking with a couple from Columbia Missouri that try not to miss any appearances that the Clydesdales make. They have seen them all over the US and they just happened to be in Florida for this one. Just after 7:00 they were staged and ready to make their way on to Deac Hundley Ave from Trophy Row. You should have seen them, especially after Mike Singer started to play their music at Cruise Level. It was like they were dancing. They would pause a while by the Tropical Breeze and the stage and make their way out of town. See, you just never know what you might see at Old Town. The spectator crowd was huge by now and there were a lot of late arrivals as far as the Cruisers went. On a day that I thought we might only see a hundred cars we had nearly 200. It is “Show Bird” season and they would be some of the ones that made it out earlier, Like Dick & Gert in their ‘36 Ford from Maine. John & Sandy in their ‘55 Chevy from New Jersey, a few of our perennial cruisers. We’ll have more of them in the coming weeks, like Bill & Lyle from Canada. They make this their “Home Town” way from home. The next weeks weather will be very cold an inclement for those of us that live here. Big Mike was even able to park his SS454 Malibu next to Mark tonight, Bob & Nick didn’t make it out tonight. I don’t blame them, I should have stayed home, weather wise but I don’t miss a Saturday!
 

Esther would stop by just after 8:20, with the Flag Winners, the Cruise Staff would direct Derrick Wood in his '64 Corvette, January 2010 Cruiser of the Month, who was then followed by the rest of the Cruisers out of their parking spots into the line up, Dave,  Mesha & Chris 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, radio "Jingles" and a few "Seasonal Songs" would give the safety announcements, have a special Guest sing the National Anthem, 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 168 cars in cruise 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", Kool Kats, 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 #274 is on sale, still only $2
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See you all "Out There"