“ Ya Gotta know where to Go….The FUN Starts Here….” “Just like that, a cruise nite is gone!” Cruise night’s are a privilege. Yes they are. Think not…think again. This is a tale of 2 cruise nite events. Both established for more than a little while. One came to be, then died. The other got put together, and then got taken away in a blink of an eye. Then the first one rose up from the ashes so to speak like the mythical Phoenix. I am touching on this subject as the cruise night scene in the Mid-South begins to taper off a little. There still are a good number to go to, so don’t sit home! Get your car out of the garage and drive there today. The 1st cruise I referenced was one of the original in Middle Tennessee…the Bay Yard Burger Cruise in every Saturday night in Franklin. It had humble beginnings as most cruise nites do, with a few folks “meeting up” at a sport to talk cars and get some chow. No different here. The cruise grew quickly based on word of mouth advertising. Before you knew it 200, 300 plus cars on a Saturday nite at the local drive in. Folks came from near and far to have fun with their cars. It went strong for a couple of years, seeing spin off cruises in other towns start to pop up too. Next thing we knew the cruise was moving. Headed to a mall for more room. Was there for a little while and then it moved across town again. Participation fell off to almost zero and it died. A lot of people were upset and didn’t understand why it died. Some know why now, but that isn't important now. Fact is it died. South of Franklin TN, in Coffee County the Manchester “Cruisin Downtown Style” cruise-in took off. Grew a little more each month. Year to year got better too. The group of folks putting the cruise on knew what the “car guys & gals” liked and took care of business. They were making plans to make the cruise even bigger with some great planning. BAM!!! City Elections took place and a new Mayor and council members get elected.
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GEARHEAD GAZZETTE 2012
BAM!!! New Mayor says no more cruising downtown. No rhyme or reason, just no more cruising downtown. Just like that, a 200 car cruise nite is gone! Did you ever cruise at Manchester? If you didn’t you missed a good one! The good news on this one is the fine folks who put on the Manchester Downtown cruise have come up with a different location away from downtown and are re-building the cruise nite. Get out an support them…please Back to Franklin TN. Through a lot of hard work by some gearheads and some smart thinking by the manager of the Back Yard Burger, the Franklin “BYB” Cruise is back on every Saturday Nite. The attendance is good! Everybody’s happy. Could it disappear again? You Bet!! We Gearhead cruise our rides at locations that we don’t own. We go to a big parking lot or similar type area and hang out. When we get tired we leave. Here’s some advice on keeping that cruise nite going: > Clean up after yourself. Don’t leave trash and junk on the ground…throw it in the can. Did somebody next to you leave their trash because they’re a pig? Please pick it up this time and feel free to kick their ass when they come back next week. >Thank the cruise nite host. They don’t have to let you cruise there. It’s a privilege. Pretty easy huh?? For Clarification: Going forward starting with this issue, you wont see a “month” listed on the issue cover or contents page. I am switching over to a number for each issue. The Volume # will remain and then we’ll use a number designating the issue. Example: this month shows as Volume 12 – Issue #7. 12 being the number of years published and the issue # for the latest edition. It should be easier to keep track of, as I try but don’t always get each issue out at the same time each month. We’ll still post the new issues under the CURRENT ISSUE button on the website and the Back issues will be listed in order for your reference.
Jimmy B.
“the fun starts here”….