I called Emil. KJ4GNH, who was in his “High School Flame” waiting in line on the frontage road to be let in. The Odd side of Deac Hundley Avenue was lined with 26 Edsels, This would be one of the largest Edsel events at old town in some time. They have been visiting the brick streets of Old Town, for 20 years now, Lets hope we see them for another 20. We would arrive at our regular time. Lee would be at the gate. We would follow Bob in his Pro-Street ’64 Chevelle SS The streets were very busy with spectators and Cruisers alike. As we made that turn by the clock we had to wait for visitors to move out of the street. Dave was there to register us. Mark’s Nova was in place and the “Looney Bin” was near capacity. It looked like it was going to be a very busy night. Steve Mc: K4SkM was wiping down the ‘64 Corvair in a spot next to the carport. Emil was waiting for us in Block 4 in his ‘48 Ford.

We would chat with folks as they walked by and asked about the cars, then Bunny would arrive in her ‘68 Fairlane and Tom was following her in his ‘66 Malibu. Jim & Joy were riding with them. Once they parked and greetings were exchanged Linda & I would head to the top of Trophy Row for our first visit. By now Mark R was out wandering around. “Big John” would have the Cyclone in his spot. Cris & Larry were in the “Tweety” VW. John P was out by now in his ‘57 Chevy and the Redline Rodders were in place. Karen and the Kids were behind the stairs and Darrell’s LTD was beside them. Across from the “Breeze” was Bill A in his ‘63 Pontiac, who is headed back Tuesday. Fellow Canadians Steve & Carol in the ‘67 Barracuda and Larry in his “ITZA40” coupe. John, Sandy and Dawn were in the ‘55 Chevy trapped amongst them. Dawn is headed back to NJ next week. She’ll be missed. 2 out of 3 Amigos were in place, Duffy was in spot 1 and Bill was along the fence. Lyn was next to the stage with her ‘49 Ford Pickup and SkÜter was visiting with them and Pablo & Nilda. Glen, K1GHS had his ’VW next to them. It wouldn’t be long before Bert & Laverne would add their ‘66 Comet to the Mix. Members of the band were already in town and had started to set up. Nikki was back on duty, Allan was at his post by the Kellys shed. Richard was in town with his ‘67 El Camino and ready to man his post.

Once we were back at the car, Tom would arrive in “our ‘Cuda” and take a spot next to Tom. Ron S would be out in a pair of his cars. Dan Z and Liz would ride with them.. Gina was getting the “Beer Tent” setup, today she might actually have a few customers, the last few weeks it was too cold for a cold beverage. We would all take it easy for a while before it would be time to head out for dinner, the day was already passing quickly. We spotted Jeff who’s ‘59 Edsel was on the bricks along with Dave & Nancy who brought out the ‘59 Citation Convertible. I was good to see that the Edsel club had such a good turn out.

Now the rest of the day became a blur. While eating alfresco, Ed, WB8BHL, Laura, NO4OO, Larry, WA3PGL and Linda, KA3BRP would join us. John would take great care of the 9 of us at the table. The cars kept a commin’, heck, we even spotted Neil & Elaine in their ‘62 Silver Cloud arrive. Doc & Suzanne in the “Tater Truck” would arrive. Kay would have all 3 of her cars in their place of honor, Nick who is still waiting to get his coup back on the road brought out her Camaro. The walk back would take a while, the top 2 Blocks were at capacity, Ray Ray would take his place near John P. Bob would have his ancient Buick in his parking spot. “Red Racer” Ted, KE4TTE would be out taking his pictures, over 300 to look at when you go on line. The “Winter Haven” Gang would show up and park the ‘56 Merc pickup, the ’57 Chevy pickup the ’53 Ford pickup the ’65 Plymouth, the ’65 El Camino and the ‘54 Chevy Bel Air near the bottom of Block 3. Gale was the only one from his bunch that came out, he was in his ‘34 Ford and parked across from us. The “3 Stooges” Moe, Cigar Bob in his ‘36 Ford, Curley, or should I say “Bo”, in his ‘70 Monte Carlo and Larry, I mean John in his ‘66 Mustang would cross over Florida Plaza just after 6:30. The cars would continue to come onto “trophy Row” and make their way back around to the other side of “Kids Town” until the gate was closed at 8:00. Yeah there were some that tried to sneak in and others that were leaving as the Cruise was headed towards them in the opposite direction. I guess it was a few that don’t know the lay of the land so to speak.

The blur continued, the hundreds of familiar faces and the thousands of new ones to remember. Again our “Home Town” was a melding pot of peoples from all countries all with the commonality. The love of the classic Automobile. And the legends and stories they all bring forward. The legacy of the technological advances and the chance to see some of the cars that they had only seen in the movies or old Television shows. We continue to enjoy our twice weekly visits to meet these travelers that make their way to our town.

Esther would stop by with the flag winners just after 8:20, the Cruise Staff would direct Kay Bridges our March 2010 Cruiser of the Month in her "Razz" Corvette, followed by Joe in her "Mini Razz" Opel GT and Nick driving her Camaro, who were then followed by the 26 Edsels that had been encamped on the bricks all day, then the rest of the Cruisers out of their parking spots into the line up, 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, radio "Jingles"  gave 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 270 cars in cruise formation cruised past, delighting a large crowd of cheering spectators along both sides of the Avenue. "Rain or Shine" or even Snow, 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 #283 is on sale, still only $2
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See you all "Out There"