Cruise to Claremore

The Route 66 Cruisers 5th annual Car and Motorcycle Show will be held September 28-29, 2012.

The flame throwing competition is a favorite for many at the Route 66 Cruisers Car and Motorcycle Show.

For the last century, Americans have had a love affair with the open road and a fascination with the vehicles that drive on it. In celebration of this fact, the Route 66 Cruisers are proud to present their 5th annual Car and Motorcycle Show, September 28-29 at the heart of Rogers County’s “Great American Highway” in Claremore.

    The party kicks off at noon on Friday at Claremore’s B&B Theater, which will be featuring the Faith Granger film “Deuce of Spades,” a film filled with hot rod references and nostalgia. Meanwhile, Ne-Mar Center will strike up festivities with live music at 3 p.m., featuring local rockabilly band Kelli Lynn and the Skillet Lickers, followed by the cruise in at 6 p.m., where car and motorcycle show participants will cruise north on historic Route 66 to Totem Pole Park near Foyil and enjoy free hamburgers and hot dogs provided by Akdar Shrine. By the time ­cruisers make their way back to Ne-Mar Center at dusk, the atmosphere will be ­perfect for a flame throwing ­competition.

    Brian Hodges of the Route 66 Cruisers describes the flame throwing competition as one of the highlights of the event for him. “In a flame throwing ­competition, the owner of the vehicle has set the vehicle up where flames come out of a tail pipe – something from the 1950s rarely seen now, only in movies like ‘American Graffiti,’” he says. “There aren’t many places where you can do this legally and have fun.”

    The Friday night cruise may go out in a blaze of glory, but the fire is by no means out for the Route 66 Cruisers Car and Motorcycle Show. Events pick up again at 7 a.m. the next morning at Claremore Lake, where ­automobiles and motorcycles will be on display, competing for $100 cash prizes to be awarded at 4 p.m. in categories like Best Ford, GM, Mopar, Rat Rod, Best Paint, and Best of Show, as well as a $50 award for Distance. Also awarded will be three trophies per class in over 50 classes. Throughout the day, a total of cash and prizes worth $1,000 will be given out.

    The Route 66 Cruisers Car and Motorcycle Show is designed to be a fun event for the whole family, with arts and crafts and food vendors on site and activities for the children, including a Jupiter Jump and visits with the Fire Department, who will have vehicles on site for the kids to look at, and the Rogers County Sheriff’s Office, whose representative will talk to the children about safety. Music for the day will be provided by Claremore’s own Bill Holden and the Night Hawks. Holden, who is famous for playing with Tony Orlando in Branson and who is renowned for his Bill Orbison imitations, will debut a song ­written especially in honor of the Rat Rods at the car show and will create a retro 50s and 60s ­atmosphere for those strolling around the lake.

    Claremore Lake is easy to find – from downtown Claremore, go north on Highway 66 (Lynn Riggs Boulevard) to Blue Starr Drive and then east for two miles. Dwayne Caldwell, ­president of the Route 66 Cruisers, reports that moving the event to Claremore Lake a couple of years ago and changing the date to September turned out to be the best decisions the club ever made. “The feedback we’ve had tells us this is a great location, with the grass and trees and beautiful scenery around the lake,” says Caldwell. “And the weather is cooler this time of year as well.” Caldwell reports that attendance has grown dramatically since the location and date change, with ­visitors from places as far away as Arizona in attendance. “The word is getting out,” he says. “This has become more than just a small town car show.”

    But no matter how big the Route 66 Cruisers Car and Motorcycle Show gets, they haven’t forgotten the reasons for starting this event. As always, ­proceeds from the event go to the Shriner’s Transportation Fund, which finances the transportation of local children to Shriner’s Hospital. For more information, visit the Route 66 Cruiser website at www.route66cruisersok.org.

For more information, contact

Route 66 Cruisers

(918) 284-5186

www.route66cruisersok.org