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Cruisin' the River marks eighth year
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Joe Carbon of Poland, left, talks about his 2002 Corvette with Mike Yajich during Cruisin’ the River, which is sponsored by the Lowellville Business Association. The event takes place from 6 to 9 p.m. Mondays, or 5 to 8 p.m. Mondays on and after Labor Day.
By EMMALEE C. TORISK
LOWELLVILLE
Every Monday evening from May through October, weather permitting, gleaming hot rods, customs, classics, race cars and street machines roll into the village’s downtown.
They fill up nearly every inch of East Water Street and adjacent lots.
Dolly and Jim Shearer, both longtime members of New Castle, Pa.’s Rapid Tappets Car Club, can remember when just a handful of cars lined the street for Cruisin’ the River, which is sponsored by the Lowellville Business Association.
That was eight years ago. Typical turnout now is somewhere between 200 and 300 cars but frequently is higher on specialty nights, such as the annual turtle derby or the Halloween cruise.
“We’re the originals,” said Dolly Shearer, who added that the couple almost never misses the car cruise. “This is like coming home. It’s our cruising home.”
Al Smith, who calls himself the “cruise master,” is responsible for putting together the event, which draws participants and spectators from what he estimates to be a 100-mile radius.
Participation in the cruise isn’t limited to just classic cars, which are at least 25 years old, Smith said.
“If you spend $30,000 or $40,000 on a new car, we’re not going to deprive you of bringing your car and having people see it,” Smith said.
He added that reasons for attending the car cruise are as varied as the attendees themselves.
For example, some collectors just like to relax and show off their cars, cleaning them up all week just to get them dirty at the cruise, Smith said. Others simply enjoy the drive to Lowellville in their prized cars. Still others enjoy the friendships they’ve cultivated with fellow car aficionados after several years of attending.
“It’s like a big family here,” Smith said. “It’s like a reunion every week.”
The ideal setting — “a quaint little downtown area with the streets blocked off” — also contributes to the cruise’s popularity, said Lee Martell, who has served as disc jockey for the event since its start.
“We try to do things differently than other cruises,” Martell said. “[Eight] years later, we’re still here. We’re doing something right.”
Butch Rocca, who helps Smith organize the event, said Cruisin’ the River is much more than a car cruise — it’s a family night, and one that’s filled with food, dancing and games. There’s something for everybody, he said.
“I don’t care whether you like cars or not. You would have a good time there even if you didn’t know what a car was,” Rocca said. “At other cruises, you might be sitting in a lawn chair on hot pavement saying, ‘When can I go home?’ That’s not going to happen to you” at Cruisin’ the River.
Cruisin’ the River takes place 6 to 9 p.m. Mondays, or 5 to 8 p.m. Mondays on and after Labor Day. For information, visit www.lowellvillecarcruise.com.