Just over a week ago I decided to see if I could get some friends from High school to get together and cruise town like we did back then just for something different to do. I decided to make a post on Facebook and see how many would be interested. It took off and spread like wildfire. I decided to make it an official event post on Facebook and in a week I have 526 people interested or going. This don't count a couple hundred other people outside of Facebook that says they are coming. It turns out that I have a huge response from the baby boomer generation and X generation both. It has gotten the Mayors attention and talked to him about it. He is all for it and many businesses are getting involved with letting people use their lots to turn around or just sit and talk. Even the local paper just contacted me and wanting to do an interview later today. Not sure what the paper expects because I didn't do much other than make an event post on Facebook.

I made it for all ages and any vehicle just like it was then. Old cars are encouraged but it is not about that, Just show up in what you have and cruise town. It is funny because the young generation is confused on how it works. They keep asking me where we meet at. I just keep telling them to show up and drive back and forth and that they will understand when they get there. I have lots of people telling me that they are doing Chinese fire drills and all kinds of fun things. Looks like there is another group forming to take a detour and take a lap through a local assisted living business for the people there to see.

I post this just to say that I feel more people in small towns should do this. It has been very simple for me to organize because it was a simple event post on Facebook. I did talk to 4 business to be sure we could use their lot to turn around but other than that, everyone has jumped onboard and added things themselves. It takes place this Saturday night so I will let you know how well it turns out. If even half of the people show up that say they are, it will be the biggest cruise night this town has ever seen. I highly encourage any of you in a smaller town to do this. It is a good way to actually USE your car and not just go to a car show.

For an example of what I have done here is a link to the event. Just don't click on the going or interested or share it if you are not near here. Would like to keep accurate numbers on the local level. https://www.facebook.com/events/3253...tive_tab=about

 

Pretty cool Eric.

when i wasgrowing up we would cruise thru the center of town, which had a nice loop to follow around and then back thru to mcdonalds or the next shopping plaza just a little further down the road. It was great because you always ran into friends either in the center, cruising, or in the mcdonalds or plaza parking lot.

unfortunetly over the years thetraffic pattern has been changed to make some routes 1 way and adding several stop signs on what were thru roads. Now trying to cruise that same route is a bit of a PITA...

 

Many of the small towns in South Dakota have been doing the cruise main street this summer. Young drivers needed instruction. As teenagers my wife and her group couls easily put a 100 miles on the car

 

Cruise nights are pretty popular here in Oklahoma with one or more on any given weekend.

 

If this event becomes a smash hit you could thank a Brazilian people.

 

Good for you. You looked at a, seeming small, trip down memory lane with your bud and it has become a "thing". A good thing.

Have fun and be safe...

 

OHHH YEAHHH! We look forward to seeing pics.

 

remind me again, how many is a brazilian??

 

A beaucoup bunch!😺 I like the idea.

Funny though- I rode into town tonite to get a bite to eat (I am tired of cooking, dammit) and rode by the old K Mart parking lot where we used to hang out (K Mart now closed). About a dozen vehicles and 20 or so kids hanging out, with 5 police vehicles corralling them.

Some things never, ever change.

 

Yep, The new always seems to make way for the old...even if in an updated form.

 

Speaking of cruise night...circa 1969 -1971...We had about a 2 mile, or so, run from McDonalds to a big mall. Well big at the time. If I had a dollar for the miles I drove on that run...I'd be a rich man. If we got bored with that we would hit one of the nearby towns and invade their cruise run. I was driving a '65 GTO. I don't know what we were thinking back then but, I had a 6" shock extensions at the rear and 150# air shocks. It really didn't look bad but, it rode like rocks stuffed in the shocks. LOL!. Looked like a stripper in stilettoes (Not that I would know, of course. Heard it from a friend). Pretty tough of the front brakes and tires.

I had the hood off so many times, changing out points and manifold / carb configurations, I removed the hinges and went with Hood Pins on all 4 corners.

Yes sir'ree buddy. Those were the days.

 

We all did the cruises, even in big cities. In the 50s and 60s, we cruised between identical drive-ins (same owner) about 8 miles apart ...from Minneapolis, across the Mississippi, to St. Paul, and back. Round trip took 40 minutes to an hour depending on cruise volume. We met lots of people and saw incredible rods.

The Car Craft cruises in St. Paul were a spectacle in the 90s and 00s.

No way to bring those back now. Today, its mostly the small towns such as yours, Eric, that are tolerant enough to enjoy that renaissance.

 

This event has taken off far beyond anything I could have imagined. I don't think anyone in town was not talking about it this morning when I went. On Facebook there are 611 people interested or going and many of the interested people have told me they will be there. I know of over 100 people going that are not even on Facebook. There are many businesses that have jumped in and are supporting this event also. There are cars that have been parked for the past 20 years that people are digging out of the garages and getting going just for this event. The X generation is going to be far outnumbered by the baby boomers and I really love that! The Baby Boomers are going to show us X generation how it was supposed to be done and we will all show the Millennials the fun they missed out on. I plan to have a video posted in the next couple days.

 

Look forward to the video

 

WHAT A NIGHT! Here is what the local paper has already posted. I am going to bed!
https://www.thebraziltimes.com/story...f8qMD8r4wzgm2Y

 

Thats great! Good clean fun. That is a big part of owning a classic and it just shows how popular the hobby is and brings you back to a much more simple time compared to today. Just shows how eager people are to get back some sort of normalcy. Good for you and everyone involved.

 

We have a "Home Town Hero" award here for people who try to make a positive difference in local lifestyle. If they have one in Brazil, Indiana I nominate Eric for it!🤘

 

Looks like you might have to do a monthly event.

 

Some estimates are saying 600+ cars showed up. I could not be happier! Hundreds of kids were brought out and lined the streets to watch. Not a single accident and everyone stayed safe. So many happy faces! The Mayor come up to me and said it has to be an annual event now. Going to make a couple little changes for next year to make it a little better and with a short two hour pre show.

I made it open to ALL vehicles, not just old or show cars. I wanted it to be true cruising like back in the day. You bring what you have. If what you have is a family van then so be it. Some of the cars had not been on the road since high school in the early 90's.

 

Hiding in plain sight.

from the article ...jensen could not be located for comment!

 

LOL, They done the interview by phone and we did not know what each other looked like. Later I found where they tried to call me 3 times but I didn't hear it ring

 

A major positive that is developing from this cruise..... I have been contacted by several young kids that now are looking for older cars. There have even been some posts on Facebook where people my age are looking for cars now. My best friend has even got his 87 Monte Carlo SS Aerocoup out and going to start his LS swap that he has put off for the past 7 years.

I was bombarded with so many requests to do it again this year that I finely give in. I started the event post last night and already this morning have as many people going as last time. The event has been shared more times than last time as well. To be honest, I fear it is going to have a larger turnout than last time. That is what everyone is hoping for but I feel it will just be gridlock if it is any larger.

I think any of you in small towns that no longer do this should have an event like this. Make it open to all people and ages and any automobile new or old. Push it as a remember when event. If this helps get people excited about cars again it can't be a bad thing. Just be prepared for an enormous response.

None of my video turned out from the cruise night. I will be more prepared for the next cruise and get some video.

 

That is awesome!
Very happy to see not only that type of turn out, but the support as well.
Thats a GREAT thing you did there.

 

Don't overextend. It is ok to have a desire for something that doesn't happen often enough to suit people. That is MUCH better than too often, and no one comes. The rarity is the pull here, so don't overextend. A spring and a fall should be enough.

 

That is how I look at it. After this one I am only doing one a year. It has been 16 hours since I posted the new one and already have far more shares and people interested than I did last time in a week and a half. This new one has been shared 162 times already with 720 interested or going. Again, this don't count the people not on facebook.

 

We have a few "local" events in Michigan that have gotten so large that I don't participate. The Woodward Dream Cruise I have never gone to, because of how big it is. I'd rather not have the ol' girl sitting, idling in traffic. It's sister show / cruise, Back to the Bricks, that stretches from downtown Flint to Grand Blanc, I have driven thru a few times. Another show that I haven't been to with my car except for when the show was in its infancy in the late 90's, but have gone down to the park / judging area, is the Frankenmuth car show. All of these were cancelled this year, but there have been informal cruises.

I really enjoy the cruises. I like seeing other people's cars, and I also enjoy the head turns that the Starfire gets. 99% of people don't know what the hell it is!

 

https://www.thebraziltimes.com/story/2835605.html

 

Neat write up thanks for sharing.

Keith

 

Where are the videos?? Good job Eric!

 

My videos did not turn out. We are having another one tomorrow night and going to park for a while and take good video. Looks like this one is going to be even bigger than the last one. Our town is not big enough for the number of people that say they are coming. Not sure how it is going to go. Likely turn into a massive parking lot with nobody going anyplace. Will still be fun.

 

So, no more quaranteen, all clear! Hell yeah.

 

This really cool, Eric! So cool, too, that your Grandparents got involved and even were written up! Back in the day, we had a couple of informal cruises such as the one you've revived. Being Denver, CO, metro area, there wasn't a small town vibe. They were at South Broadway, between After the Fox (3.2 beer & live rock music for the under-21 crowd) on the north end, and Littleton Blvd on the south, and over on the west side of town on west Colfax Ave between Casa Bonita (yep, same CB as featured in South Park ) on the west end, and about I-25 on the east end. These were THE places to be on Friday and Saturday nights. Unfortunately, they both eventually evolved out of hand and were shut down by the local PD's using Jersey barriers, etc.. But SO MUCH fun! Thanks for the trip down Memory Lane!

 

Actually, the topic of the virus at this event was funny. There were hundreds of people at the meet up before the cruising started. Out of the hundreds of people there were only 3 people with masks and they were young people. The funny part was the older guys in their late 70's and 80's yelling at them telling them to take the mask off and relax. Those old guys were acting like teenagers again and really hooting and hollering. Made my day seeing them really enjoying their selves. Virus or no virus, those guys were having fun and nobody was going to stop them. My grandparents were there again, 90 and 91 years old. My grandfather made the comment that he was happy to see peoples faces.

Many people are begging me to plan another one next month but I am waiting till next fall now.

 

I still don't have good video but I will post some pictures that were sent to me.

 

Keep in mind, this was open to all vehicles just like back int he day. Whatever you have, drive it. That put a lot of new cars in with us.

 

The first one was well over 450 vehicles and this one was well over 600.

 

Um...200,000 and climbing. All clear?

 

Well, If anyone will get it from this event it would be me. I bet I had 100 people shake my hand and say thank you for doing this event.

 

This last one must be your wife's car Eric. Love the ******, Edsel and '59 Ford too. A stock pre war ****** is a very, very rare bird. Did it end up being grid lock like you feared? By the looks of it, it was OK.

 

Normal driving you could make a lap through town and back in 10 minutes and it took over an hour on the busiest time of this night. Our second lap took 40 minutes. After that we parked and watched. The entire town is begging for another one. I told them I am not doing it till next Spring but they want it now. It was not hard to do, just make a 20 minute event post on Facebook but they want me to do it. The local businesses said they had their best night of the entire year. Many of them that usually close by 5 stayed open till after 10:00 and done great. I am happy for them because some of them are really hurting right now.