No harm in dreaming.
The husband-and-wife organizers of Cruisin’ Hines for vintage car buffs got playful with masks not only on their faces but also on the front of a 1926 Ford Model T they’re restoring.
If only those moves would ensure a safe way to hold the 10th annual Cruisin’ Hines, long scheduled for Aug. 23. Instead, the car show and parade are canceled, Don and Gayle Nicholson said.
“We’ve really battled with deciding whether to close or hold this event,” Don Nicholson said.
“We’ve been working with Wayne County Parks since April, trying to figure out ways to social distance and continue this,” he said. The couple has decades of experience with car shows, and what they saw recently convinced them it couldn't be done safely, Don said.
"I first learned the basics of car shows while working at Milan Dragway back in the late '80s then becoming the track photographer in 1992," he said. Yet, nothing prepared the couple for mixing vintage cars with COVID-19.
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Some have tried. At the eighth annual All American Wayne Road Cruise in Westland on June 20, officials asked cruisers to wear masks when in groups and to limit the number of cars in each parking lot to 40.
“Sadly, we didn't see many people following these rules,” Don said. Also, the Nicholsons attended recent impromptu cruise nights, “and we saw the same kind of behavior” — few masks, not much social distancing, he said.
Their decision this week coincides with Monday’s special meeting of the nonprofit Woodward Dream Cruise Inc. operating board, which voted unanimously — after delaying a decision at its June meeting — to cancel all official activities of the Dream Cruise. Monday’s vote follows resolutions passed weeks ago by Birmingham, Ferndale and Huntington Woods, saying they would not participate in the Dream Cruise, regardless of what the official board decided.
Although officials of the cities up and down the Dream Cruise route say they fully expect to see hordes of cruisers, they want to discourage anyone from outside of metro Detroit from coming here, said Michael Lary, Ferndale's special events director and president of the nonprofit Dream Cruise operating board.
"There was a lot of concern about having people come here from other parts of the country and even other countries," Lary said. "We just don't want to be part of the second wave" of COVID-19 cases, he said.
Still, the Dream Cruise page on Facebook's social media platform lists numerous posts of out-of-state cruise buffs, all vowing to come to Oakland County on the usual date — the third Saturday in August. Some even say they look forward to "an old-fashioned cruise" without the commercial involvement of car companies or merchandise tents.
But there's one thing they may miss, and which definitely won't be out on Woodward Avenue on Aug. 15, Lary said:
"No Porta-Johns — no facilities," he said.
Contact Bill Laitner: blaitner@freepress.com
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Car cruises disappear amid COVID-19 concerns - Detroit Free Press
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