A
merican Graffiti: the ultimate cruising film, and director George Lucas’ homage to the Saturday nights of his own youth in small town California. Cars and cruising the main drag began in Southern California, and soon became the tradition in every town across North America, so it’s nothing new – and has largely faded away as a collective pastime. But Winnipeg – as with so many of its other little nuances and traditions – has made Sunday Night Cruise Nights another of its famous “things.” Today’s tradition grew out of a resurgence that may have its roots in the Ginakes family of Pony Corral notoriety, and the regular summertime car shows that have migrated from the restaurant’s former Fort Richmond location, to the downtown location, to the present day gatherings at the chain’s Grant Park lot. They began 24 years ago when owner Peter Ginakes – always a car guy himself;
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“cars are my addiction”, he laughs – was approached by the Manitoba Street Rod Association to organize a gathering, which became an annual Victoria Day weekend event dubbed The City Light Cruise. “We started with a swap meet at Polo Park,” he explains, “and then began the
parade – with a police escort – to our Fort Richmond location.” That “loosely formal” event begat the next, before taking its present-day form and location. “All of it, though, goes back to how I got into it,” emphasizes Ginakes,
“You make friends with people over the hoods of these cars,” he says,“and so when you’re out cruising,you look for certain cars because you know the people who own them.” Glen Sytnyk, Winnipeg realtor, car buff
SUMMER 2012 |
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