FeedsCruisin’ the avenue
Success prompts promise of 2nd Michigan Avenue cruise
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The rain cleared away and allowed for a successful Michigan Avenue cruise on SaturdayEarly morning thunderstorms could not hold off the first Cruisin’ Michigan event in western Wayne County.
“The rain did put a damper on things, but once it cleared up, everyone started coming back out,” said Don Nicholson, who coordinated the event.
The event was supposed to take place from noon to 8 p.m. on Saturday, but cruisers were out earlier and stayed later.
Nicholson said there were more than 100 cruisers along the roadway and in the parking areas along the route, which stretched from Dearborn to Wayne, at about 7 a.m. The rain forced them away during the later part of the morning, but they showed up in force later on in the day.
“They came, that’s what counts,” said Richard Story, a long-time Wayne resident who helped as a member as the Citizens Emergency Response Team (CERT). “It can be tough to get people out in this economy.”
Nicholson has promoted the show for about a year and worked with communities up and down Michigan Avenue. He said the idea behind the event was to bring more people into the communities and provide some economic stimulus to the historic roadway and in that he thought it was successful.
“The businesses that got the most out of it where the ones that had something going on,” he said. Inkster and downtown Wayne were probably the most successful portions of the event, he added, but he’s already received interest from merchants for the event next year.
In Inkster, the event was combined with the Summer Jazz Festival.
Downtown Wayne hosted a number of vendors as well as an open-air concert put on at the U.S. 12 bar and Grill. Patrick Currier, owner of Papa Romano’s in Wayne, hosted a car show in the lot at his restaurant, too, that brought in a number of unique vehicles.
“They came for the entertainment, they came for the cars,” Nicholson said. “It was a pretty good mix.”
Hal Hultman, chair of the Wayne 20/20 Committee as well as the Festival Commission, said he thought the event was a success, too.
“It was great to see so many people walking around the streets of downtown Wayne,” he said. “This is what Wayne could be.”
There were a few traffic issues as the day wore on, and someone tried to capitalize off the charitable nature of the event by selling boot-leg T-shirts, but Nicholson the event was, for the most part, a smooth one.
He said he hopes to get more businesses involved next time around, too.
“I am hoping we can rally the Dearborn restaurants and show them they can do the same as the Wayne downtown businesses did and have a very profitable day,” he said.
It looks like they’ll get their chance. Nicholson said he wants to bring back the event next year.
“We’re getting ready for July 11, 2009,” he said.
