Local residents remember cruising

By ROD ROWE
rod.rowe@goshennews.com

July 03, 2009 10:38 am

— Local organizers are planning a “Cruisin’ Goshen Reunion Night” tonight as part of First Friday activities in the downtown, recreating the activity many teenagers enjoyed during the 1970s and 1980s. The cruising is planned and encouraged on Main Street from 6 to 9 p.m. and hundreds of enthusiasts have said they plan to attend, according to comments on the event’s Facebook Web site.
This week The News asked residents if they cruised when they were younger, and if they had any cruising stories. Their responses follow:
Maureen Russell, Goshen — “I lived in Michigan on Lake Huron growing up. It was a big thing to cruise. It was fun. It will be a good thing to start up. I like the First Fridays activities. I guess I’ll see my first cruising in Goshen Friday.”
Dorothy Shirk, Goshen — “I cruised one year, when I was a freshman at Goshen College. They ended it in 1981 or -82. (It ended in the spring of 1986) We would put 12 people in a big car and drive around. It was the highlight of Goshen. There was not much going on in Goshen then.”
Sparky Tyrrell, Goshen — “The first time I ever heard of Goshen was when I worked in Steamboat Springs (Colo.) and skiers were there from Goshen. They complained about the cruising here. It was 1979. I grew up in Detroit, where they cruised on Telegraph and Woodward. It was one big party. It’s a good thing. This will be a lot of fun Friday.”
Gary Miller, Goshen — “We drove around town when I was younger, but we didn’t cruise. I know my dad did. Closing the left lane on Main Street killed it.”
Jean Scott, Goshen — “Yeah, I cruised. Three of us usually drove around in a little Reneault. I was always trying to lose weight and one night I had a head of cabbage I was snacking on. My friend flew around a corner and I lost the cabbage. It was rolling around in the back of her car, flying apart. We had a good time back then, cruising in the early 1970s. It was wall-to-wall cars and it was really fun. After it ended here, we had to go to Elkhart.”
Donna Cooper, Goshen — “Yes, I know I cruised. I would yell out the car window to other kids. We would come downtown and see our friends.”
Ed Powell, Goshen — “I remember cruising here as kids. I grew up at Stone Lake and graduated from Westview in 1981. It brought a lot of people to town on Friday and Saturday nights. You could stay uptown all night. It was a way to meet others and when we went to the drive-ins, they could benefit from the business. They could do something like that now.”
Fred Zinser, Goshen — “I remember it, but I wasn’t interested in it. I came to Goshen College in 1974 and it was the hot thing to do. But I didn’t like it. I saw the hazard if an emergency vehicle, like an ambulance, couldn’t get through. I didn’t do it.”
Wilma Branson, Goshen — “It was neat. I love it. We all did it. And my husband and I will be cruising this Friday in a 1959 T-Bird.”
Jean Ryan, Goshen — “We used to do it in Colorado, in the little town where I grew up. It was so much fun. But the experience — it was a social thing, go up the street a couple times and then stop and get a float.”