Our annual local small town Heritage days parade and cruise-in

[moparedtn]

We attend most of the cruise-ins that happen over in town, typically one of them every month during warmer weather.
The last one of the season is in conjunction with the annual Heritage Days event. The cars do their own parade down through town, then park and the usual cruise-in festivities commence.

The difference with this one, however, is all the people that show up; a typical Heritage Days
is reported to bring in something like 40,000 people every year to our little town of maybe 5,500 or so!

A link to a ton of nice pics of all the cars last night:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2046164218739195&type=1&l=f74f615518
You'll notice mine is in there a bunch of times; Randy the photographer (his is the pretty deep blue early 70's Plymouth) likes the GTX a lot.
I must admit he does a great job of making her look prettier than she is.

 

[Car Nut]

Gorgeous, thanks for sharing!

 

[moparedtn]

Here's one from another photographer:

We be paradin'! All the cars in daylight in the parade can be found on facebook under the name "Sheldon Livesay".
For some reason, I can't get a clean link to them to post here. FB gives me some six line long link....

I'd had a really long day at this point, complete with some more not-so-good news from the doc and a long trip
to Knoxville and back, so it was nice to just get in the GTX and go be in this event. Even had a Freddy's steakburger,
who is one of the food vendors set up for the weekend.

I'm really starting to treasure this sort of thing. If anyone picks up anything in years to come from all my ramblings
on this very forum, I hope it's this (and pardon my French here):
1. Don't. Ever. *******. Give. Up.
NEVER.
2. Enjoy whatever it is you're doing and whoever you're doing it with.
If you don't, change something. Do it NOW. Time's a wasting. Trust me.

 

[moparedtn]

Gorgeous, thanks for sharing!

Much appreciated, my friend.

 

[moparedtn]

Brings up a question:
How do you all feel about having so many people around your car at an event like this?
The GTX was right in the thick of things:

I've never had it out amongst so many folks at once! Didn't faze me as much as you might think.

 

[burntorng70]

I love the exposure of my car at things like this, It is a different bunch of people than at a formal car show. A kid who might not have ever seen your GTX otherwise now has ignited a spark of interest because mom took him to the town festival. By the way, your car needs no help from any photographer to enhance its beauty.

 

[moparnation74]

Great pics and thanks for sharing!

 

[khryslerkid]

Thanks for sharing Ed, looks like a good time!

I'd like to move to that area some day. I've always loved it down there.

FB link works just fine...

 

[moparedtn]

I love the exposure of my car at things like this, It is a different bunch of people than at a formal car show. A kid who might not have ever seen your GTX otherwise now has ignited a spark of interest because mom took him to the town festival. By the way, your car needs no help from any photographer to enhance its beauty.

I agree and that happens a lot, where you overhear a kid say "cool car!" and hope that sticks with him later in life.
It was also quite comical to overhear some folks referring to it as a "Dodge".
Hey, they're in the neighborhood anyways...

We're not used to such high turnout at our monthly little cruise-ins and I was in a melancholy enough of a mood last night
so that folks were approaching and striking up conversations at will.
Met people from NC, NY (!) and KY there. Amazing, in our little town?
Car people are just the best.

 

[moparedtn]

Thanks for sharing Ed, looks like a good time!
I'd like to move to that area some day. I've always loved it down there.
FB link works just fine...
View attachment 666504

Conversely, I always enjoyed my visits to your fair state as well KK.
There's a lot of shared heritage there, not to mention the geologic similarities in the two regions.
I tell people I never met anyone from PA I didn't like.

 

[moparedtn]

Didn't get many responses to this question....
Brings up a question:
How do you all feel about having so many people around your car at an event like this?

 

[bearman]

i pray for that day to share my ride with everyone. my hopes are that some kid will look at it and say i want a hot rod when i grow up. whatever it maybe cause it was me 50 plus years ago when i saw my first hot rod and it has stayed with me forever maybe kinda like pay it forward. my 4 year granddaughter comes over and helps me with mine and always says papa can we go for a ride yet and all i can say is someday. that 64 will go to her when i'm gone

 

[moparedtn]

i pray for that day to share my ride with everyone. my hopes are that some kid will look at it and say i want a hot rod when i grow up. whatever it maybe cause it was me 50 plus years ago when i saw my first hot rod and it has stayed with me forever maybe kinda like pay it forward. my 4 year granddaughter comes over and helps me with mine and always says papa can we go for a ride yet and all i can say is someday. that 64 will go to her when i'm gone

Keep after it! A little task this week, a small bit there. Don't look at the big picture - bust it up into mini-projects you can accomplish as
time and finances allow.
Do that long enough and one day it'll occur to you that it's close and you'll be able to see light at the end of the tunnel.

 

[JB400]

Glad you had a good time.

 

[oldbee]

Didn't get many responses to this question....
Brings up a question:
How do you all feel about having so many people around your car at an event like this?

Well, when my paint&body gets done, I’m going to be a little nervous. Some of these “gawkers” are just a little too lackadaisical for me.

 

[moparedtn]

Well, when my paint&body gets done, I’m going to be a little nervous. Some of these “gawkers” are just a little too lackadaisical for me.

Yeah, sometimes with so many people gathering in such a confined area things can happen.
They're engrossed with visiting with others and sort of lose their bearings I think. I used to worry over such things
years ago with previous cars (and me being much younger, of course) and would stick with the car the whole event.
Now I find I can leave the GTX for periods of time and go do other things with the wife, who deserves it of course.

It helps a bit where we are now, too. I know some might bristle at the notion, but having lived in urban areas a goodly
portion of my life and now in a much more rural, southern part of the country, folks are a little more respectful of others'
property here as a general rule (not all people, of course, but generally speaking).
You gotta know a lot of that stuff is perception, though, and the fact I'm quite a bit longer in the tooth too.

I get to have some fun with folks at these gatherings, too.
I was leaning up against the front of the GTX, hood up, when a fella came by with his significant other. He circled the car,
peered inside, did the usual perusal, then paused again at the front of the car and gave me a look of slight disdain.
I gave him a slightly bemused, quizzical sort of look and he blurts out "better hope the owner don't come back and catch
you leanin' on his purty car!"
I jump up and look all around real quick in mock concern, then shoot him my best ****-eating grin.
His confused expression about killed me.
He then caught on - "awww, that'uns yours, ain't it?"
This kind of stuff is why I got back into this, right there. I had missed it so....