Cruisin’ MainStreet planned for Friday, May 17; cars, food, fun
Page 4 • Wednesday, May 8, 2019 • The Hammonton Gazette
CRUISIN’, from Page 1
would flock to the downtown
streets every Friday night to so-
cialize and show off their vintage
automobiles.
“Twenty-six years ago, it was
held as an event to draw people to
the downtown when it was at its
very worst condition. And the
event today is kind of a celebration
of the progress over the years. The
backdrop is now that we’re cele-
brating the event. Twenty-six years
ago, the event was all they had to
draw people to the downtown.
They had to almost create a back-
drop,” MainStreet Hammonton
Executive Director Cassie Iacov-
elli said.
For one night only, downtown
Hammonton will revert back to
that evergreen era for another fun-
filled and family friendly Cruisin
MainStreet, featuring several au-
thentic activities of the ‘50s, such
as a bubble gum bubble-blowing
and hula hoop contest, a sound-
track of timeless rock-and-roll
music and, of course, a fleet of
classic cars that will line each side
of Bellevue Avenue and a portion
of Egg Harbor Road.
Resident Angela Donio is the
chair of MainStreet Hammonton
Cruisin’ MainStreet event commit-
tee, and has been a driving force
behind perpetuating the event ever
since its inception. As someone
who fondly remembers life during
the ‘50s, Donio said organizing
Cruisin’ MainStreet every year
brings back many of those cher-
ished memories.
“People are nostalgic for some
reason about the ‘50s ... It wasn’t
perfect, but we thought it was at
the time. I guess it was an easier
time for us,” Donio said.
Iacovelli said that despite the
dedicated efforts of volunteers like
Donio, her fellow MainStreet
Hammonton volunteers and vol-
unteers from the Cruisin’ Classics
Auto Club, the annual success of
Cruisin’ MainStreet is ultimately
dictated by weather. Last year, the
event was postponed due to rain,
followed by a postponement on
the ensuing rain date and two more
cancellations when MainStreet
Hammonton attempted to move
the event to September. However,
Donio has decades of experience
in planning the event and has
learned to take the occasional rain-
outs in stride.
“It’s disappointing. People like
to have these things, and I think
people look forward to it in the
spring as something to do. But you
can’t get upset because you can’t
control the weather. I’ve been
doing it long enough to know that.
Early on, I would get really upset,”
Donio said.
The members of Cruisin’ Clas-
sics Auto Club are also hoping for
a rain-free evening on May 17. Ac-
cording to the club’s president
Tony Sceia, on a clear day, so
many classic cars will line the
streets of downtown Hammonton
that people will often have to show
up bright and early just to claim a
spot to park their vehicle.
“On a good night where it’s nice
weather, the suns out, we could
probably get between 150 and 200
cars down Bellevue Avenue—
keeping in mind they’re going to
be going across all the side streets,
all the open parking lots. They
may go all the way down to [Vet-
erans Memorial Park]. It just de-
pends on who can get out there;
it’s first come, first serve … We set
up in the afternoon around 2 o’-
clock, but I know that people get
there and drop their cars off at 6:30
to 7 o’clock in the morning on
Bellevue Avenue to get their spot,”
Sceia said.
Regardless of the number of
cars that are on display during
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