August 2021
Poway Cruises at the Madam Mechanic Car Show and Poway Americana Festival 8/22/2021
We had a wonderful day at the Poway Americana Festival last Sunday! Most of the festival was held on Midland Road, but the car show was in the California Coast Credit union parking lot. Joyce and I got there a little after 6:00a. The Poway Chamber of Commerce President Mike Leland’s crew had already blocked off the show area for us. We touched bases quickly with the crew from the Chamber, then started working on the setup. Normally this event is produced by Karen and Eldon Dunn, owner/operators of Poway Transmission, but could not be there this year so they asked me for help. We were ready to start checking participants in by around 7:00a. My wife, Joyce, and fellow Cruiser Linda Bryan, handled all the checking cars in, passing out ballots, collecting ballots, and counting votes. Chuck Kramer, Walter Borra, and Jerry Reed handled the gate and kept the general public looking for parking at bay.
The weather was a little “iffy” early, with very cloudy skies, and cool temps and a little drizzle. Participants began arriving early, around 6:30, but by 8:30 we only had maybe 12 cars parked. Then, BAM!, cars began arriving. By 9:00 we had 23-24 cars parked, with a few stragglers arriving as late as 9:45. Eventually we had 29 cars parked. Of the 29 cars, 17 where Poway Cruisers. Outstanding!
While the public looked over the classics and hot rods, participants spent the day walking the festival finding lots of venders hawking all kinds of cool stuff, and lots of food. There was also a band stand adjacent to the car show that had live music, dancing, and spirit performances all day. I think the band changed 2 or 3 times. Even the Cheer Squad for the San Diego Gulls hockey team, and the Poway High Titans Cheer Squad made the rounds. Fun stuff!
The weather held, it stayed cool, but not chilly so was very comfortable. Voting for Show Favorite started almost immediately. I did not count the number of ballots, but I think there’s around 260. When all the dust was settled, votes tallied, the car voted favorite of the show was a really nice red 1960 Chevrolet Corvette Roadster belonging to Gary & Sharon Wood of Poway. We conducted the award presentation right at 3:00p, and by 3:30p the parking lot was empty.
In addition to sharing our classics and hot rods with the public, we also shared the adjacent area with the Poway Division of the San Diego Sheriff’s Department, and the Poway Fire Department. Cool!
Altogether, a very enjoyable day. Pictures Follow.
George Cowman
Event Coordinator
Poway Cruisers Car Club
Poway Cruisers as Guests of the Heartbeat Classics Car Club at Cruisin Grand August 20, 2021
Friday evening, August 20th, we enjoyed attending Cruisin Grand in Escondido as invited guests of the Heartbeat Classics Car Club, the featured club that evening. We had reserved parking on South Broadway with them. In addition to the usual event activities, the Heartbeat Classics hosted a picnic dinner for their members and invited guests (us!) catered by Jersey Mikes! The Heartbeats provided 4 different sandwich choices, all kinds of chips, side dishes, and condiments with 2nds and 3rd for anyone that wanted them. Our members contributed by bringing sweets to share.
We had 9 cars and 16 members representing the club: Sam & Brenda Grinceri in their ’57 Oldsmobile, Jay & Kathy Christopher in their ’39 Ford Coupe, Bill & Peggy Troop in her ’68 Mustang GT/CS, Bill Avery in his ’66 Ford Ranchero, Steven Bauman and his ’67 Mustang Coupe, Gerald & Mickey DeSoto and their ’65 Falcon Convertible, Todd & Deb Barrett in the ’69 Camaro RS/SS pace Car, Rick & Paula Carlson in their ’74 Ford Grand Torino, and George & Joyce Cowman in their ’37 Buick Special Coupe.
It was a very enjoyable evening. A big THANK YOU to Roscoe Tanner and the whole Heartbeat Classics Car Club for including us in their special evening. Here’s some pictures from the evening:
Dear Fellow Poway Cruisers,
We have some fun events coming up in the next couple of weeks:
This Thursday, August 19th, is our Members Meeting and the Hamburger Factory, Midland Rd here in Poway. Be there by 5:00p for an hour of socializing and food, 6:00p for the business stuff. Lots of things to talk about and plan.
Friday evening, August 20th, from 4:00p to 8:00p, we’ll be enjoying Cruisin Grand in Escondido with the Heartbeat Classics Car Club, the featured club that evening. As when we were the featured club, we’ll have reserved parking on South Broadway. In addition to the usual event activities, the Heartbeat Classics are hosting a picnic dinner for their members and invited guests (us!). Our contribution is to bring something sweet to share, like cookies or cupcakes. We do need to let them know how many of us will attend, so please let me know ASAP if you plan to participate. So Far, I’ve only got 6 cars confirmed, so if you plan to join us I need to know today! It should be a very enjoyable evening.
Here’s a couple of pictures from our evening on July 2nd:
