The fourth annual Cruisin' Michigan Avenue event will be held this weekend on U.S.-12 through multiple cities between Dearborn and Wayne.
The July 9 event kicks off tomorrow just south of Michigan Avenue, with a fund-raiser for Dearborn Firefighters Burn Drive from 6-9 p.m. at the Automotive Hall of Fame. Anyone can pay $15 to enter their vehicle in a car show during this charity kick-off party, which will also feature entertainment and raffles.
“People can come to dunk a firefighter or me in the dunk tank,” said Don Nicholson, who began the Don Nicholson Charity Car Shows about a decade ago.
Car show entries are not limited to classic models, Nicholson said, saying if the owners love their vehicle, “we'll have a class for it.” Since the Automotive Hall of Fame is donating the site, and his Don Nicholson Enterprises organization is donating its time, he said, only being reimbursed for the trophies it is awarding for car show categories, “this is truly a charity fund-raiser, nobody's getting a paycheck out of it.
“And even the trophies we manufacture ourselves, so instead of the trophies costing $20-30, we're only charging the fire department only $7-9,” Nicholson said.
The cruise itself will run between noon-9 p.m. Saturday, though Nicholson said that the cruising has already been taking place for a couple days. The turnarounds are left up to each motorist's preference, he said, who can drive a short distance or along the entire route if they choose.
Just how far the cruisers drive will depend on how many businesses along the route get involved in the event, according to Nicholson. The more businesses are seen to be doing something out front, he said, the longer cruisers will cruise.
“I noticed that cars were turning around at Kroger before they actually reached the west downtown of Dearborn, and that is what happens unless stores show they want the business,” Nicholson said. “What it takes is for everybody involved.”
The reason why Don Nicholson Enterprises promotes and organizes the cruise, he said, was to bring attention to the businesses along Michigan Avenue, which is why motorists will not be seeing vendors trying to sell in front of the businesses that operate there year round. The hope is that the environment will encourage people to have lunch at a restaurant or a beer at a bar during the cruise, Nicholson said.
“We come out and talk to each individual business for free on what they can do for the cruise,” Nicholson said. “We have an official program for the cruise that they can pass out for free.
“We have not yet filled the four cities. We want to keep growing the cruise, and once traffic gets to the point where it can't keep on moving, that's when we'll move out either into Ypsilanti or Detroit, depending on what seems best at that time,” Nicholson said.
One business Nicholson wanted particularly to thank was Village Ford, he said, because without its support as a major sponsor, “we would not have made year four.” Village Ford will be erecting bleacher seats, and hosting The Mustang Owners Club of Southeastern Michigan on its car lot.
Another major activity spot Saturday during the cruise will be in Dearborn Heights, Nicholson said, the third annual Emergency Response Vehicle Show at the Dearborn Heights Justice Center. The show will feature police cars, ambulances and fire trucks, and some of those fire trucks will be antique, “cool-looking.”
At 5 p.m., Inkster Police Lt. Matt Allen will lead a procession of police motorcycles to escort emergency vehicles at 5 p.m. out of the Dearborn Heights Justice Center lot, with lights and sirens. The parade of emergency vehicles will head east through Dearborn, and move out to Wayne before returning to the Justice Center lot. The 20-35 motorcycles that help protect the cruisers are volunteers from other cities such as Royal Oak, Rochester Hills and Farmington, Nicholson said, and “it's so cool watching them going down Michigan side-by-side.”
Inkster will be holding its annual music festival, the Inkster Summer Music Fest. The official Cruisin' Michigan Avenue band, “Six-Foot Poles” will be playing classic rock at the Avenue Sports Grill in Wayne. Demmer Ford in Wayne will be hosting the SVT group.
For further information on the cruise, go to the website or call Nicholson at (734) 658-5296.
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