Car Show Ends Summer on a High Note

With perfect weather and one of the biggest crowds of the summer, the Lemont Legends Cruise Nights ended another successful season of their downtown shows.

Hundreds of antique cars and motorcycles lined Main Street and the surrounding area Wednesday, Aug. 25, for the finale of the Chamber of Commerce's 11th annual series of cruise nights.

Chamber president David Bartz said he was pleased with the turnout of both cars and spectators this summer.

"The turnout has been great, especially considering we were rained out three of the nights," Bartz said. "We had more than 300 cars at half the shows, which is really a great showing."

Cruise Nights began June 2 and were held every Wednesday this summer. Specific themes were assigned to each week to designate the type of vehicles that would be shown. Themes included "Emergency Vehicles," "Pro Street," "Custom Truck" and "Sports Car/Muscle Car."

This year, Bartz said, the chamber worked hard to make the event more family friendly by putting on special activities and live music. The chamber also held weekly raffles, and enlisted several local restaurants to provide food.

"The first goal is always to put on a good car show that the community can be proud of," he said. "The more successful the car show is, the more people we bring into Lemont."

Several local organizations volunteered at the event each week, including the Lemont Classic Car Club, the Lemont Area Historical Society, Firefighters Union #3966 and the Lemont Lions Club. Sponsors included Lemont Township, Nick's Tavern, Franciscan Village and Oak Lawn Harley-Davidson, which sold motorcycles throughout the summer.

Larry Johnson, a lifetime car enthusiast and resident of Lemont, has participated in the event since it began more than a decade ago. Having so many members of the community come together for the event, he said, makes the Lemont Cruise Nights particularly special, he said.

"Being a resident and being able to be a part of this whole thing is really wonderful," he said. "People have a lot of fun here."

Johnson said he hopes the event continues to grow, bringing even more cars and vendors into the downtown area.

"This town really needs this for the economy," he said. "Business thrives, a lot of food gets sold—it all works down here."

Marlene Miciunas, this year's Cruise Nights committee chair, said the chamber's board of directors are already planning the event for next summer

"This has been going on for ten years now, and we're always looking for ways to make it bigger and better," she said. "It's a great event for the chamber and it's a great event for the town."

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