We've posted the information for our 2008 Benefit Car show.  Make sure to print off a copy the Entry Form so you can read all about the details and get your entries in early.  Entry Form

Also, We've finally put together a list of car shows for the upcoming year and added them to our Events Calendar

Happy New Year to everyone.   I've been doing some cleaning up on the site and have moved the old news items to the Archive page, so if you are looking for something, it may be there.

Chili & Check Presentation this Week

On October 10th, the Berrien County Council For Children/Childrens Assessment Center Of Berrien County will have a Chili & Snack night for all the Michiana Cruisers. We will present them with the check also on that evening.

There was a large turnout of Michiana Cruisers at the Perri's Planet Auto cruise-in on Saturday.  Everyone was enjoying the 90 degree October weather.   Here are some pictures from the event:

Cruise-In this Saturday & Apple Festival Parade Pics

We received a flyer for a cruise-in at Perri's Planet Auto Group on Saturday, October 6th from 11am-3pm.  This is located in the former Bill Frank/Team Nissan dealership at 51176 S.R. 933 N. South Bend, IN.  MAP  The flyer says Food, Fun, Entertainment is provided. Weather permitting, if you want to go with us just meet us at Burger King that's right next to the Rural King Store in Niles. Come early to get a bite to eat at Burger King if you wish, but we will be leaving Burger King at10:30am to head for the cruise in.

Also, here are some pictures from last weekend's Apple Festival Parade:

Apple Festival Parade

Calling all Michiana Cruisers!!!!!  Saturday, September 29th is the Niles Apple Festival Parade.  The Michiana Cruisers have always participated in the parade and we are going to be in the parade once again this year. We are shooting to win a trophy again this year, but we need your help to make a large turnout of our member vehicles.

If you would like to be in the parade with the Michiana Cruisers this year, please meet no later than 10:30 a.m. on 2nd Street between Howard & Eagle. They will be taking a head count to see if we have enough people to win the trophy so everyone try to be there on time. We will be number 67 in the parade. The theme for this years parade is "Good Ole Days Of Festival". You can dress for the part if you wish but it`s not mandatory. Let`s fill the parade route with Michiana Cruisers just like we did the Apple Festival Car Show last year.

There were 20 members in attendance at last weekends Blueberry Festival Car Show.  Check out some of the pictures and a short video on our Past Car Shows page.

Enjoy the video and pictures from the 2007 Michiana Cruisers Benefit Car show on our Past Car Shows page.

The Michiana Cruisers would like to extend our biggest thanks to the following business, organizations, and people.  They have all made generous donations to the Michiana Cruisers and our Benefit Car Show this coming weekend.  As always, all proceeds from our club  and our car show are donated to the Berrien County Council for Children-Children's Assessment Center of Berrien County

Thank you again for all of your support and we encourage all of our members to patronize each of your businesses as much as possible!

The Michiana Cruisers Benefit car show will be held on July 22 from 9am-3pm at the McCoy Creek Park in Buchanan, MI. There is plenty of shade and a large pavilion with lots of picnic tables.  Club members should get their vehicles out, get them cleaned up, and bring them to the show...whether your car is finished or not.  All the club members will park their cars on the other side of the creek to make sure we have room for all of the participant cars. As always we need volunteers to help park cars and help with various other tasks. If everyone could help for an hour or two, it would give all our members time to look at the show cars also.  We have 4 or 5 other car clubs that have said they are coming to our show this year & a couple more that have said they are going to try to make it...so...we should have plenty of cars this year!

As always Michiana Cruisers club cars & trucks WILL NOT BE JUDGED as we are the ones putting on the show. We hope that all our members will come out to support their car club so we can help the Berrien County Council For Children help all the abused kids in our area. This organization does great things for the children.

The Michiana Cruisers annual picnic will be held on August 4th also at McCoy Creek Park in Buchanan, MI. Our picnic last year turned out pretty well considering we hadn't had one in a while. We decided to make it an annual event again. We would like everyone to come and enjoy themselves with the rest of the members. Everyone should bring a dish to pass and bring your own eating utensils and drinks. We are starting a list of what everyone will be bringing so we won't have too much of the same kind of food. Come on out and enjoy yourself!  There will be plenty of food for everyone.

Lots of people braved the bad weather at this years Lane Automotive car show.  Check out a short video on the Past Car Shows page.

Starting Wednesday, May 23 our Cruise-In is moving to the new Blaz-N-Chik restaurant on M-51 in Niles.  Blaz-N-Chik is opening in the former Rich's Pizza building just to the South of Fulkerson road.  Here is a map in case you are unsure of the location:  MAP

They already have a sign out front & they plan to open on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. The owners are very friendly people & they have a very good variety of food for everyone on their menu. The new time for our cruise in will be from 5:30pm to 8:30pm.

 There is plenty of parking space so everyone tell your friends to come on out to Blaz-N-Chiks Restaurant & enjoy the good food & have a good time with all your friends.

Sorry for the lack of updates so far this year.  Now that the weather is nicer, expect to see more new things added to the site more frequently.

The first weekly cruise-in starts this week at Joey Armadillo's in Niles, MI.  It does not appear that they have finished paving their new parking lot yet, so we may be cramped for a couple weeks.  However, we have been assured that it will be completed soon.

Last weekend 18 club members attended the Pioneer Automobile Association Car Show and Swap Meet in South Bend.  It was a nice little show and a the swap meet was huge.    Certainly the weather couldn't have been any better.  This year, in addition to taking pictures, I will try to take some video footage of the car shows.  This show was the first experiment with the video and you can see it on the Past Car Shows page along with pictures that were taken.

Once again we've scoured the Internet searching for upcoming car shows.  We've added the information to our Events Calendar, make sure to check it out.  Once again, this information has been collected from other sources so we can't be held liable for it's accuracy.  Always contact the event organizers prior to attending.

Merry Christmas!

We've posted an early Christmas present for you over in the Events Calendar, make sure to head over to check out the new listing of 2007 Car Shows!  As always, this information has been collected from other sources so we can't be held liable for it's accuracy.

You'll also be able to download the flyer for our 2007 Benefit Car Show that was mentioned in the below News post.

2007 Benefit Show

Plans have been finalized for the Michiana Cruisers 3rd Annual Benefit Car Show to be held at McCoy Creek Park in Buchanan, Michigan. This is a beautiful park with lots of shade & swings & slides for the kids to play on. We hope to have flyers ready soon to start passing out at the different swap meets in the area.  For those not familiar with the location, here is a map which shows the McCoy Creek Recreation area in the bottom left corner:  Map The date for the car show this year is July 22.

Also, on Wednesday October 11, 2006 we had our check presentation to the Berrien County Council For Children/Children's Assessment Center Of Berrien County.  We had a super turnout of members and the Councils staff were there along with some of the people from the Board Of Directors. The Children's Council made lots of good food and treats just like they did last year with plenty to eat for everyone. The Michiana Cruisers were presented with a "Certificate Of Recognition" from the Children's Council for the work that the Michiana Cruisers do. After their presentation, it was our turn to present the check from the Michiana Cruisers. With all the rainouts we had this year and the move to Joey Armadillo's across the street we still came close to what we gave them last year. The Michiana Cruisers are a very kind group of people especially when it comes to kids. Everyone had a good time and we would like to say Thank You to Doug Campbell Ford Lincoln Mercury Saleen, Joe Carroll (WJOE), and Joey Armadillos Sports Bar & Restaurant for all the help they have been this year. Thank You also to all the many people who got out and sold tickets all year to help.

Misprint in the "Leader" Newspaper

There was an error printed in recent releases of the "Leader" Newspaper.  The Michiana Cruisers are not affiliated in any way with this year's Apple Festival car show.  The "Leader" has promised to correct the paper as soon as possible.

Blueberry Festival Car Show

The Michiana Cruisers attended the Blueberry Festival Car Show yesterday.  You can see some pictures from the event on our Past Car Shows page.

Michiana Mopar Car Show and More

First, if you want to order a copy of the group photographs that were taken at our Benefit Car show this year, they can be ordered online from the WalMart photo center.  I assure you, the Walmart website is quite secure and they have excellent photo print prices.  This way you can order any size that you want.  Click on this link to access the photos:  GROUP PHOTOS

Today, there were 15 Michiana Cruisers in attendance at the Michiana Mopar Car show.  The show was absolutely excellent this year.  Our hats are off to the Michiana Mopar club doing such outstanding work.  Bravo!   Check out some pictures of the show on our Past Car Shows Page!

Sister Lakes Car Show Pictures

Check out some of the pictures from today's 3rd Annual Sister Lakes Lions Club Car Show on our Past Car Shows page.

Also, a reminder about our Message Forum on this site.  There is a cool section of the Forum that is only visible to registered users.  Make sure you register and log in to check it out.  Some of the things you will find there are Coupon Codes for RockAuto.com, videos, and other interesting postings.

Glad Peach Festival Pictures

There were quite a few Michiana Cruiser members in attendance at today's Glad Peach Festival car show.  Check out some of the pictures from the show on our Past Car Shows page.

This Saturday there is a group of Michiana Cruisers meeting at Joey Armadillo's at 7:30 a.m. & leaving for the Studebaker Museum Car Show at 8 a.m. sharp.  Please join us to make this a large cruise!

We've also posted pictures from last weekends Benefit Car Show.  You can check them out by going to the Past Car Shows page.  Here is a nice picture we took this weekend of club members that are over 60 years old:

From Gary in our Message Forum, "Everyone should know by now that this coming Sunday July 23 is our Second Annual Benefit Car Show to support the Berrien County Council For Children/Children's Assessment Center Of Berrien County. The Car Show is from 9am-3pm. It would be good to see all of our Michiana Cruisers members come out to show support for this good cause. Bring your cars & trucks & Motorcycles because all our members will be parking together in one area. It sounds like our swap meet area might be increasing this year also. We could always use volunteers to help park cars & sell raffle tickets or even judge cars. We're looking to have more car show entrants this year & this year we will be having a Best Motorcycle trophy also. Most of us will be meeting at the Stop In Restaurant at 6am to eat breakfast & then go outside to put up all the canopies & things to get ready for the car show entrants. If you can't be there by 6am just come as soon as you can. Hope to see everyone this coming Sunday July 23."

I was finally able to attend a car show with everyone and a new page has been added to our Past Car Shows for the 2006 South Haven Festival of Cars.

Those of you that have been to the cruise-in this year know that the parking, pardon my French, sucks.  With the bank being built along M-51, our corner of the lot is far too cramped.  This is causing many people to become trapped in their spots until other's move.  We've tried our best to make accommodations, but we are really land-locked.

So, we have taken up an offer from Joey Armadillo's (formerly Shula's 31 Bowl) to use their parking lot instead.  For now, we will be behind the bowling center in a large, freshly paved parking lot.  Joey's has recently acquired the lots south of the building and they will be adding additional parking lots along M-51.  We will eventually end up in those spaces, but for now we will be behind the building.  We will have a sign out front and hopefully a car or two parked by the road so people will see the new location.  Joey's has an excellent restaurant and I highly recommend giving them your patronage...very good stuff!

We're sorry there have been so many moves for the cruise-in, but we have had no choice in most cases.

There already are quite a few Michiana Cruisers going to the Hart City Street Rod car show and we would like for as many members to attend as possible.  They put on a wonderful show and the Hart City Street Rod club is a great group of people.  Lets get together and help support their show.  You can read all about the show on their site at http://www.hcstrods.us

Last Week for RockAuto.com Coupon

If you need any car parts, now is the time to place your orders on RockAuto.com  The discount coupon code will expire on 6/18/2006.  To get the code you must register on our Message Forum and go to the Members only section.

Well, it's about time for some news huh?  There have already been quite a few car shows this summer and there are many more in the near future.  Make sure to keep in touch on the Message Forum to find out where everyone is heading to! 

Last Saturday several Michiana Cruisers took a cruise down to the Pizza King cruise-in in Granger, IN.  It was a fun evening and it was nice to see some other cars from our area.  Thanks to the Pizza King for saving room for us!  Here are a couple pictures that I took at the cruise-in...I am a sucker for orange cars and I think the photo of the Judge, the Olds, and the Camaro parked together was classic.

Also, we have had many new members sign up over the last few months.  If you would like your cars to be pictured on our Members page, please feel free to send me your name, the year and model, and a picture of your car and we will get it up on the site.  Use the Contact page to contact me and I'll reply with my email address so you can send the picture to me. 

Our first cruise-in of the year was held this week.  We had a good turnout and I think we'll manage despite the parking lot construction.  Here are some pics:

This Wednesday, May 3, is our first cruise in of the season.  We're looking forward to seeing all our friends from last year and looking to make new friends this year.  Everyone should come out, have a good time, and enjoy all the good music that Joe Carroll (WJOE) plays for us every Wednesday evening. Hopefully some of our new members that joined our club over the Winter will bring out their cars and trucks for everyone to see and get to know the other members of our club.  There will be plenty of beautiful cars and trucks to look at. EVERYONE COME ON OUT & ENJOY YOURSELVES.

Don't let the construction at the Rural King Parking Lot bother you. They are building a bank out by the road where we used to park but there is plenty of room for us to still have our cruise in at the Rural King.  So we hope to see everyone on Wednesday evening May 3 for our first cruise in of the season.

New Website Sponsor

We've added a new sponsor to the site, RockAuto.com.  They are providing a 5% discount to all Michiana Cruiser members.   You can find the code in the Message Forum in the 'Members Only' section.  You have to be a registered member of the forum before you'll be able to see this section.  They seem to have very good prices on parts and good customer satisfaction.  Make sure to check them out.  Here is some information from them:

RockAuto.com is an online auto parts store founded in Madison, Wisconsin in 1999 by the Taylor family. RockAuto.com now ships thousands of auto parts from over 90 manufacturers to customers on every continent except Antarctica. The www.RockAuto.com catalog is updated daily with mechanical parts like brake pads and shock absorbers, body parts like bumpers and mirrors, interior trim like door handles and carpets, and major assemblies like steering gears, CV axles, engine long blocks, and complete transmissions. Service manuals and CDs are available to help customers learn how to perform a repair. The www.RockAuto.com catalog is expanding constantly. Someday, it may be possible to build an entire car using parts from RockAuto.com! RockAuto.com prices are low every day!

Order online at www.RockAuto.com 24 hours a day. Parts are conveniently delivered to your door. Have parts questions that must be answered accurately? RockAuto.com Customer Service has a 9.4 rating on a 10-point scale according to Resellerratings.com surveys. E-mail service@rockauto.com or call Toll Free, 1-866-762-5288. (7am to 6pm Mon-Fri, 8am to 3pm Sat -Sun, Central Time)"

2006 Events Calendar Updated & Michiana Cruisers Benefit Show

The Events Calendar has been updated with over 100 upcoming car shows.  Be sure to check them out, but please remember that we are not responsible for the accuracy of the list.  Make sure to check with the event sponsors before making plans to attend an event.

While you are on the Events Calendar, make sure to print a copy of the Entry Form for our 2006 Benefit Show.  All of the information has now been posted.

2005 Year in Review

Happy New Year everyone!  Gary has posted a 2005 Year in Review article in the Message Forum.   Please make sure to check it out by clicking HERE!

Old News Archive

Apple Festival Car Show & More

The 2005 Apple Festival Car Show was held today The weather held out until the show was over.  We had two different clubs show up & what great cars & trucks they had. We gave out 75 trophies today & everyone was saying how nice the trophies looked. We also had about 30 club cars show up & we all parked up on the hill & it was impressive to see all the club cars parked together with the club banner out front of the cars. A big THANK YOU goes out to the many Michiana Cruisers who helped with everything so we could put on a good car show. WAY TO GO EVERYONE YOU DID A VERY GOOD JOB!!!!!!!!  Check out the photos HERE!

I've also posted some photos that were taken back in August at the Glad Peach Festival Car Show. 

Also, this was posted by Gary in the Forum, "On Wednesday October 12, the Michiana Cruisers will be cruising to St. Joseph to the Berrien County Council For Children`s building where they will be serving food for us & giving tours of their facilities. One of the newspapers is supposed to be present & we will be giving them our donation check at that time.  There should be some flyers out soon so everyone will know more about it. If you want anymore information you can contact me at: gls@qtm.net or call me at (269) 429-6426 or my cell at (269) 470-6571. Mark this date on your calendar!!!"

Updates

Gary posted this important information on the Message forum: "On October 12 which is on a Wednesday the Michiana Cruisers will be cruising to St. Joseph to the Berrien County Council For Children's building where they will be serving food for us & giving tours of their facilities. One of the Newspapers is supposed to be present & we will be giving them our donation check at that time.  If you want anymore information you can contact me at: gls@qtm.net or call me at (269) 429-6426 or my cell at (269) 470-6571. Mark this date on your calendar!!!"
DOWNLOAD THE FLYER!

Sorry for the lack up updates this summer.  I've gotten involved in so many activities lately that I've had to put updating the site on the back burner for a while.  Fortunately, we have the Message Forum and I want to make sure that everyone knows to continue checking it out for the latest news and information.
 

Car Shows this Weekend

Saturday, August 6th
Arnell Autogroup Car Show
we have gotten info on this show. Registration is between 9 and 12 IN time. Registration fee is $15.00 with donations going to MS.  They suggested getting there early and it's located at the dealership. approx 50 miles from Buchanan and will take about a hour. Anyone wanting to go with us please log into the Message Forum  and make a post.  There we will set up a time and place to meet.

Sunday, August 7th
There is a group of people leaving the from the Niles courthouse at 6:45 MI time for the Coloma Glad Peach Festival car show.  This is an awesome show to attend each year...and it's FREE!
 

Studebaker Car Show and New Cruise In Location

Everyone please remember that the cruise-in is back in our old location of the old K-Mart parking lot starting this week.  We hope to see you there!

Also, check out the pictures from last weekend's Studebaker car show on the Past Car Shows Page.
 

Benefit Car Show Pictures Posted

We've added the pictures from last weekend Benefit Car show.  You can see the pictures and read all about it on our Past Car Shows page!  Also, a new group photo was taken after the event and we are putting something together so that everyone has a chance to purchase an 8x10 copy of it.  Keep checking here for more details!
 

Benefit Car Show

Don't forget that our benefit car show is coming up soon.  Here are the details in case you missed them:

We have had a huge amount of donations for door prizes and money to help run the show.  Check out THIS LIST and make sure you attend the show for your chance to win!

Also, we want to take a new group photo of the Michiana Cruisers at this show, so please make sure you attend!

2005 Lane Automotive Car Show

The Lane car show was on Saturday May 28th.  There were nearly 1,000 cars in attendance this year.   There were a total of 21 Michiana Cruiser cars & a lot more Michiana Cruisers that came to support the club.  As is customary for this show, it rained a little again this year but it didn't last long and it ended up being a very nice day.  You can see some pics on the Past Car Shows page.  Without doubt the show stealer this year was the 426 Hemi-Powered Motorcycle:

I've posted a video clip of cycle in the Message Forum and it is available to all message forum members.  If you are interested in downloading it, make sure to register to use the forum first...yes it's free!
 

From a Galaxy Far, Far, Away

I've just returned from spending a weekend in downtown Indy where I was attending the Star Wars Celebration III event, along with 55,000 other people.   In between waiting in lines to see or do just about anything, I was able to take some pictures of some cars that people have modified to look like space ships.  Also, there are a couple pictures of the "Vader Viper" that Cingular Wireless is giving away.  If any of you are Star Wars fans and want to see more pictures for the show this weekend (it was pretty amazing), head over to the contact page and send me a message and I'll reply with a link to the pics.

New Cruise-In's and Car show Information

There are a couple new weekly cruise-in's occurring this summer.  Please refer to our events calendar for the date and time details and let us know if any of these cruise-in's aren't taking place this year.  In addition to the Monday cruise-in at Fender's Drive-In, they have added a Saturday cruise-in as well.  Also, this year there is a new cruise-in on Saturday nights at the new Strikes and Spares Family Entertainment Center on Grape Road in the former Spiece building.  As an avid bowler myself, I must say that they have an excellent, state of the art facility and I think it is a great spot for a cruise-in.  They have ample parking, a live DJ, food and drink specials for car exhibitors, arcade games, and naturally bowling.  You can check out there website at www.strikes-and-spares.com

As a sure sign of summer drawing nearer, we've received the official press release from the Lane Automotive Car show:

We would like to extend a personal invitation for all your members to attend our 17th Annual Lane Automotive Cruise-In and Car Show on Friday and Saturday, May 27 & 28 at the Lane Automotive complex located in Watervliet, Michigan at the southeast intersection of I-94 and M-140. As always, the Cruise-In and Car Show are absolutely free to everyone - spectators and participants. The activities will get underway at 5:00 p.m. Friday evening as car clubs and cruisers from all over converge on the Lane facility for a gala Cruise Night. Food vendors will be set-up, a live band will be playing throughout the evening, and there will be plenty of opportunities to tour the beautiful Lane Automotive showroom which will be open until 8:00 P.M. Friday evening. The cruise night event will set the stage for the 17th Annual Lane Automotive Car Show which begins at 9:00 a.m. and runs until 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 28th. We expect as many as 500 cars to be entered, and spectators will be treated to street rods, street machines, drag, circle track and mud racers, and modified trucks. The show will include street and race cars from every era including nostalgia drag and circle track cars. Noisefest IV will thrill the crowd again this year as several racers will fire up their engines in a thunder-filled celebration of hot rodding. Hundreds of door prizes will be given away and, once again, the Lane showroom will be open for business. On Friday evening and all day Saturday representatives from many of the major speed equipment manufacturers will be on hand in the Manufacturers' Midway to answer questions and display new products. Circle May 27 and May 28 on your calendar, you won't want to miss a moment of the action. If you'd like to register on-line, visit our web site at www.laneautomotive.com.

Sincerely,
Scott Wahlstrom
Marketing Manager
Lane Automotive, Inc.
8300 Lane Drive
Watervliet, MI 49098
269-463-4113 ext.243

Happy Easter

Happy Easter everyone!

This is hot off of the presses, The 3rd Annual Great Buchanan Cruise In is returning on Saturday, June 25th and Saturday August 27th (as part of the Buchanan Fest) from 5 –9 p.m. (MI time). The “main drag” through town will again be blocked off this summer for this outstanding event. Lots of classic cars, music, food, and fun will be on hand. The Cruise In is open to all classic car owners and enthusiasts. Admission is FREE, so invite your family, friends, and car club members.

Last year’s Cruise Ins hosted 80+ vehicles each night. This year we are expecting over 100 – not something to be missed!!

For more information, contact Craig Sumerix at sumercr@yahoo.com

Is it May Yet?

It's been quite a Winter and I am sure that everyone is ready for Spring to arrive.  I have done a little Spring Cleaning on the site and all of the previous "News" items have now been moved to the Archive.

If anyone has been following along with the posts in the Message Forum, I'm sure that you've read that the Michiana Cruisers have accepted the invitation from the Apple Festival Committee to organize the Apple Festival car show this year.  We don't have much information about the show yet, but we will post it as soon as it becomes available.

Also, at left you will notice a new item in the Navigation Window listed as "History".  In here you will find pictures and video clips from events that occurred before this site existed.   There is much more coming for this page, but it has been started and I thought you may want to check it out.  Check it out HERE!

Sock Hop February 25th

In case you missed the post in the Message Forum, we received this from the Still Cruisin' Club:

If You're Stuck in the Snow, Don't Do This!

Stuck In the Snow

Before the Site Existed...

I have been going through old photos and videos that I made before this site existing.  Originally I had planned to make another section for historical stuff, but in the short-term I wanted to do something a little more interesting instead.  I found one group of photos and a video that I thought would work nicely for what I wanted to do.

In the September 1999 I came home from college one weekend and I received a flyer in the mail saying that the US 31 Bonnie Doon was going to be closing down that night.  I had been going there since I can remember, as have many others, and I thought I would swing by and take some pictures that night.  When I arrived I couldn't believe my eyes because there were hundreds of show cars there already.  As the night went on there was a cruise to Chippewa Ave. and back, lots of flame throwing, burnouts, and tickets.  It was a sad occasion, but everyone definitely lived it up that night.

So, I decided to make a video montage with some pictures and video highlights.  I don't hold the video camera very still, so you'll have to forgive me if you get seasick.   Here is a small version of the video so that those of you with dial-up internet access download it in a reasonable time.

Click Here to Watch!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone!

I have been sorting through old photo's and videos that were taken before this site existed and I am going to post them to a new historical section in the coming months.  I need your help in trying to figure out what year the below photos were taken.  My guess is somewhere between 1997-2000, but I would like to know the exact year.  My hope is that someone will recognize something on a vehicle or in the background that might correctly identify the year.   Here are some facts that I know about the pictures:

• This was the Friday Lane Automotive Cruise in May.  Until a few years ago, the Lane Automotive Friday Cruise left the old Lane Automotive building and cruised to our weekly cruise-in location, which at the time was K-Mart in Niles.
• K-Mart was still open and operating at the time.

If you think you know the correct year, please send me a message on the Contacts page.

Winter Activities

Every Wednesday evening there are a bunch of Michiana Cruisers meeting at the Plaza Restaurant at the Bell Plaza in Niles.  They meet at 5 p.m. and everyone is welcome to join in.

Starting in December, there will be a weekly contest in the Message Forum called "What's This?"  A section of a photo will be posted and it is your job to guess what it is or where it is from.  The small photo will be taken from the full photo that has been saved in the Past Car Shows section.  So, if you don't immediately recognize it, you will always be able to search through the old photos to see if you can identify it.

The answers should be sent to me as a private message in the Message Forum.  All you have to do is click on my Message Forum user name (Rybo Flavin) and from the drop-down list choose "Send a private message to Rybo Flavin".  Of course, you'll need to have an account on the forum to play so make sure to sign up and log in. (Yes it is free).

The person with the most correct guesses by the first month in May will be declared Grand Champion and maybe we'll even get a prize to give out :)

Long Time, No Updates

New Message Forum is up and Running!

Contact Information Changes & Niles Apple Festival Car Show

The old webmaster@michianacruisers.com account has been deactivated and all further e-mails sent to that address will be rejected.  This had to be done because it was receiving over 20 virus infected e-mails everyday.  To get around this problem I have integrated a contact form into the website that will automatically generate an e-mail and send it to me.  You can access it here:  http://www.michianacruisers.com/contact.htm

The 5th Annual Apple Festival Car & Truck Show will be held on Sunday October 3, 2004 this year.  We would like all Michiana Cruisers to attend this show because we would like to meet as a group to have talk about things that are coming up next summer and many other topics.

We are working on getting a new message forum running again, but it is going to take some time to gather enough money to purchase it.  Hang in there!

Also, I wanted to mention that the Michiana Cruisers won another club participation award at the Blue Berry festival!  Congratulations all!

Message Forum Down Indefinitely

Those of you who saw this page earlier noticed that it wasn't loading correctly.  It turns out that there is a bug in the software that our Message Forum runs on.  This bug allowed a hacker to enter the site and modify anything that they desired.  Fortunately, all that was modified was the main page.  I don't believe the Michiana Cruisers were an intentional target, but rather someone is going out and exploiting the vulnerability of every website running the same Message Forum software that we run.

The bad news is that there is no update to fix the problem and I am forced to turn the Message Forum off.  The software it was running on was a free program and there are much better programs available, but they are not free.  With the sponsorship money that we earn, I am currently only able to pay for the site hosting and domain name fees.  If we were to purchase and install a good Message Forum software package, there would be a one-time cost of $160.00.   I guess we have some thinking to do.

Here is one of the programs that I have been looking at: http://www.vbulletin.com/

Have a great weekend everyone!

Michiana Mopar and Friends Car Show

Michiana Cruisers members attended the Dowagiac, Elvis at Gilmore, and Michiana Mopar car shows this weekend.  We were able to take some pictures and document the Michiana Mopar show this year.  Check it out on the Past Car Shows page!

As a new feature, I will occasionally be adding short video clips to the website.   This was an awesome burnout from the Michiana Mopar burnout competition:

RIGHT-CLICK the link below and choose SAVE TARGET AS

DOWNLOAD BURNOUT VIDEO - 500 kb

Also, in case you missed it last week, the Michiana Cruisers were featured in the South Bend Tribune last week.  Click here to read the article (they may charge a small fee to view it after the first week it has been published).

AAA Michigan & Riverfest 2004 10th Annual Car Show & Glad Peach Festival Car Show

All of the pictures have been posted from both the Riverfest and Glad Peach car shows.  Make sure to check them out on the Past Car Shows page.

Speaking of Riverfest, there was a picture featured of a Michiana Cruisers member in Sunday's Herald Palladium newspaper:

At the Glad Peach Festival, the Michiana Cruisers scored another Club Participation award!  See, I told you we were back!

AAA Michigan & Riverfest 2004 10th Annual Car Show This Weekend

The show is this weekend and once again the Michiana Cruisers will be helping to organize the event.  You can download the flyer here: DOWNLOAD THE FLYER HERE FOR ALL INFORMATION  

Also, we received a Press Release from Lane Automotive, as follows:

The Paw Paw Classic Car and Truck Show was held on July 17th and the Michiana Cruisers claimed a Club Participation award for the first time in a couple years.  Congratulations to everyone...it's good to see the group getting together again!

Next weekend is the Paw Paw car show and we already have several cruisers driving up together.  Let's try to make this a big one!  We are leaving the Niles courthouse parking lot at 6:00 a.m. prompt.  Everyone is invited, so lets get together and really impress them!  You can read more about it in our Message Forum.

Also, a handful of Michiana Cruisers were at the South Haven Festival of Cars today and the pictures have been posted to the Past Car Shows page.

There were several Michiana Cruisers in attendance today at the Cherry Festival in Eau Claire.  You can check out the pics on the Past Car Shows page.

While I was there I received some new flyers for upcoming shows.  You can download the flyers in the Events Calendar by clicking the "Download Flyer" link that is in the show information.  Entry Forms are saved in Adobe Acrobat PDF format, but if you don't already have Acrobat Reader, you can download it for FREE by clicking on this graphic:

I want to thank everyone for purchasing a copy of the group photo (shown above) at our cruise-in.  So far, eleven have been purchased for $7.00 each.  Two dollars from each photo goes directly to the Make-a-Wish Foundation and the rest is used for photo processing costs.  To help those that are unable to attend our cruise-in, they are now available for purchase online.  Simply click the button below and you will be taken to the COMPLETELY SECURE Paypal payment service so that you can pay via credit card.  Use the first button if you would like the photo to be mailed to you ($9.00) or use the second button if you would like to pick one up at the next weekly cruise-in:

This coming weekend is the 4th of July weekend and there are a couple car shows to choose from, namely the Cherry Festival Car Show in Eau Claire and the Fiesta of the 50's show in Centreville.  Please log into the Message Forum to let everyone know if you are planning on going to one show or the other so we can try to get a larger group going.

The pictures from the Great Buchanan Cruise-In are now online on the Past Car Shows page.  Everything seemed to run very smoothly and there was a great turnout!  Here is the official press release:

"The 2nd Annual Great Buchanan Cruise started off with a bang this summer. 90+ participants and over 400 spectators crowded the downtown area to kick off the first of two Cruise Ins. Doug Leiter and his band were on hand again to entertainment attendees with selections from the 50’s through the 80’s.

The 2nd Annual Great Buchanan Cruise In, Part 2 is scheduled for Sat., August 28th from 5 to 9 p.m. in conjunction with Buchanan fest There will be more music, more food, and yes, even more cars there. We are looking to break the 100 mark! Part 2 is open to all cruisers, whether independent or part of a club, so tell all your friends. Due to other Buchanan Fest events planned, space may be limited. The organizers of GBC II asks only that you let us know if you are coming, so we can be sure to have room for everyone. Drop us a line at sumercr@yahoo.com or Codyjo0320@aol.com. We look forward to seeing you all there!"

2004 Lane Automotive Cruise-In & Car Show

The pictures from the 2004 Lane Automotive Car Show have been added to the 'Past Car Shows' page.  Once again, the story of the day was RAIN!  Fortunately, there was enough time to take pictures of the show and detailed pictures of the Michiana Cruiser vehicles that parked together.  You can check out the Michiana Cruiser vehicles here:

Computer Viruses, Lane Automotive Car Show, etc.

As a public service, I wanted to provide this link that everyone should use to scan their computer for viruses.  The webmaster@michianacruisers.com e-mail address is receiving approximately 20 viral infected e-mails a day and I believe that someone who has that address saved in their address book might be infected.  Basically, here is how the viruses work.  You receive an infected e-mail and antivirus software does not catch it.  The virus then infects your computer and constantly sends itself to everyone in your address book.  The tricky part is that when the recipient receives the infected message it does not show that it came from you, it is smart enough to make up a fake e-mail address so that it can't be traced back to the source.  The only way to fix this is to install antivirus software and update the virus definitions DAILY, because if not a newly created virus can enter your system...bypassing the antivirus software and then corrupting it so that it no longer functions.   If you click on this link, http://us.mcafee.com/root/mfs/scan.asp, you can safely scan your computer for viruses for FREE!

Tomorrow, May 29th is the Lane Automotive Cruise-In.  As been discussed in the Message Forum (thanks for posting Slb48) it was decided to meet at the Courthouse parking lot on Front Street in Niles for both the Lanes Cruise In on Friday & the Lanes Car Show on Saturday. It was decided to leave for the Cruise In on Friday at 6pm. & on Saturday morning for the Car Show at 7am. The Michiana Cruisers were invited to Lanes so we should try to have a good turnout of members to show our thanks.

Poker Run

As events would have it, I am going to miss at least the first three cruise-in's at the Niles Inn and Conference Center.  So, if anything newsworthy occurs please head to the Message Forum and let everyone know!

I did receive an e-mail from the Niles Township Police Department and they would like everyone to check out the Poker Run - The Great Race to Stop Child Abuse in Berrien County on May 28, 2004 at 3:00 p.m..  The race will begin and end at Lane Automotive on M-140 in Watervliet, MI.   All fees will be used to stop child abuse and neglect in Berrien County.  This event is a poker run around our beautiful, scenic county to bring awareness to child abuse and neglect.  Fee per car is $25.00 and includes a 'goody bag' and refreshments.

1st Prize - Overnight stay, dinner and movie for two.  2nd Prize - $200.00 gift certificate to Lane Automotive.  3rd Prize - $75 in cash.

For information:
Phone: (269) 556-9640
Fax: (269) 556-9643
Email:  children@parrett.net

News and Updates

It has been a while since the site was last updated.  Amazingly, next week is the first week of May, thus it is the official start of the cruise-in season.  I assume that the cruise-in's listed on the Events calendar are all still occurring this year, but if you know that there have been any changes please let me know.   Hopefully, everyone is able to attend our first Wednesday night cruise-in at the Niles Inn and Conference center.  Let's make this the start of a great year!

Here is the official press release for The 2nd Annual Great Buchanan Cruise In:

The 2nd Annual Great Buchanan Cruise In is returning on Saturday, June 26th and Saturday August 28th from  5  9 p.m. (MI time). The "main drag" through town will again be blocked off this summer for this outstanding event. Lots of classic cars, music , food, and fun will be on hand. The Cruise in is open to all classic car owners and enthusiasts. Admission is FREE, so invite your  family, friends, and car club members.  Last year's Cruise In hosted 80+ vehicles each night.  You can check out the pictures HERE on our website. This year we are expecting over 150 not something to be missed!!  For more information, contact Craig at sumercr@yahoo.com or Sandy at codyjo0320@aol.com

Although this years Great Buchanan Cruise In's are not being hosted by the Michiana Cruisers, they would still like for everyone to attend and if would like to help with the event, please contact the names at the bottom of the press release.

In other news I received an e-mail from Fender's Drive-In and they want to spread the word that they have a new website and they would like everyone to check out their cruise-in on Monday nights.  Their web address is:  http://www.fenders.biz

Rumor is that Hooters on Day Road will be hosting a weekly cruise-in on Tuesday nights this summer.  I will keep you posted when I find out more details as I am sure this has the possibility of being a huge turnout every week.

Newsletters have been sent, less than a month left until the cruise-in!

Everyone should have received their first newsletter by now. If you haven't received one, remember that everyone is welcome to join the Michiana Cruisers Car Club and membership is free! In order to be an official member you simply need to send an email to the Michiana Cruisers' Organizers that includes your name, address, phone number, and e-mail address.  You will then be added to the club directory and you will receive one newsletter via postal mail at the beginning of the year.  After that you will need to send $5.00 if you would like to continue receiving the newsletters throughout the year.

Also, The Great Buchanan Cruise will be on June 26th from 5 to 9, weather permitting.  The show is sponsored by the Buchanan Downtown Development Authority.  Note that all cars must be off the streets promptly at 9 pm.

Many people are planning on cruising up to the Lane Automotive cruise-in on May 28th and it is currently being actively discussed in our message forum.  Click here to check it out!

We would like to extend a personal invitation for all your members to attend our 16th Annual Lane Automotive Cruise-In and Car Show on Friday and Saturday, May 28 & 29 at the Lane Automotive complex located in Watervliet, Michigan at the southeast intersection of I-94 and M-140. This years event will include special activities and sales surrounding our 40th Anniversary. As always, the Cruise-In and Car Show are absolutely free to everyone - spectators and participants. The activities will get underway at 5:00 p.m. Friday evening as car clubs and cruisers from all over converge on the Lane facility for a gala Cruise Night. Food vendors will be set-up, a live band will be playing throughout the evening, and there will be plenty of opportunities to tour the beautiful Lane Automotive showroom which will be open until 8:00 P.M. Friday evening. The cruise night event will set the stage for the 16th Annual Lane Automotive Car Show which begins at 9:00 a.m. and runs until 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 29th. We expect as many as 500 cars to be entered, and spectators will be treated to street rods, street machines, drag, circle track and mud racers, and modified trucks. The show will include street and race cars from every era including nostalgia drag and circle track cars. Noisefest IV will thrill the crowd again this year as several racers will fire up their engines in a thunder-filled celebration of hot rodding. Hundreds of door prizes will be given away and, once again, the Lane showroom will be open for business. On Friday evening and all day Saturday representatives from many of the major speed equipment manufacturers will be on hand in the Manufacturers' Midway to answer questions and display new products. Circle May 28 and May 29 on your calendar, you won't want to miss a moment of the action.

If you'd like to register on-line, visit our web site at www.laneautomotive.com.

Head to the Message Forum to play our new contest, the "2004 Rare Entries" contest.  If you don't yet have an account, please feel free to register as our forum is open to everyone.

Make sure to read all of the contest rules so that you understand how it works.  The winner will be announced on May 1, 2004 and will receive a, 8x10 custom l photo of their car in front of an American Flag, similar to this one.

There are many, many more car shows added to the calendar now.  I've placed a online poll in the Message Forum asking "Do you like to attending car shows in Indiana or Michigan more?  Check it out here POLL

From the weather outside, it's hard to believe that in just over a month the 2004 Cavalcade of Wheels will be held.  I received an application a few days ago in the mail, but I do not plan on entering my car.  If any of you are interested in more information about the Cavalcade of Wheels make sure to check out their website at www.cavalcadeofwheels.com.

I've also added a few more 2004 car shows to the Events Calendar.

I heard on the radio and now I have read in the South Bend Tribune an article that may have a huge impact on those of us in the classic car community.  Make sure to check out this article.  
In short, the EPA believes that our air quality is too poor and will soon be requiring yearly emissions testing on all vehicles in order to get your registration renewed.  It would cost $50.00 every year in addition to your yearly registration.  Most likely this would not apply if you have a registration for "Antique Vehicle", but the problem for me is that my car only 23 years old and won't be eligible for Antique until 2006.  With my modifications there is no way it will pass inspection, and I bet there are lots of other cruisers' out there with the same problem.

Fred Upton has passed a bill though the House of Representatives to put a two-year block on this, but the senate has placed a filibuster on it and if it holds up...this could really be bad news.  The problem is that our air quality is bad because of Chicago and Gary air being blown over the lake towards us.  Studies show that our air quality wouldn't even change if all of us moved to Florida and abandoned our area.

The Michiana Counties affected are:  Berrien, Cass, Van Buren and Kalamazoo counties in southwest Michigan and St. Joseph, LaPorte, Elkhart, Lake and Porter counties in northern Indiana.

Finally, I am starting to get some information to post for upcoming car shows in 2004.  I have added three shows to the Events Calendar, make sure to mark them down.  If you happen to come across any more, please let me know.

Also, I have officially started a computer repair business, The PC Architect.



If any of you are having any problems with your computer system, are in need of upgrades, or would are ready for a new system please check with the PC Architect because I am sure you will find that my prices and quality of service are far better than anyone else in the area.

I also have other services not available in our area, such as transferring your old, deteriorating VHS Video Tapes to DVD.  This is only available for non-copyrighted material, such as a wedding video, birthday party, etc.

Check out the website at www.pcarchitect.us .

Not to be outdone by Ford, Chevrolet is releasing the 2005 Corvette C6 this year as well.

Ford has finally made pictures available for the new 2005 Mustang production model.  It is a completely new design and has a very nostalgic look.  There is a very nice article about it on this site. Here are some pictures:

It seems like it has been forever since our last cruise-in, but today is only the first week of winter and we've got a long way to go.  I have a few new car shows to add to the Event Calendar after the New Year, but as always I am looking for new things to add to the site.  If there is anything that you would like to see here, just drop a note in the Message Forum.

The North American Auto Show is in a few weeks in Detroit.  Here are the details:

December 16, 2003

What: 2004 North American International Auto Show, the 88th auto show in Detroit and the 16th year the show has been international.

Where: Cobo Center, downtown Detroit

When: Public: Jan. 10-19

Media preview: Jan. 4-6

Industry preview: Jan. 7-8

Charity preview: Jan. 9; Charity preview tickets are $400, advance purchases only. Call 888-838-7500

Public hours: 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Jan. 10-18, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Jan. 19.

Tickets: $12 for adults, $6 for those 65 and older, children under 12 are admitted free with an adult. Tickets can be purchased at the Cobo box office or through Ticketmaster. E-tickets are available at www.naias.com.

Information: 248-643-0250

Make sure that you join our Message Forum so that you can play along with our game of Cruise-In "Survivor".   Listed below in alphabetical order are 9 of our local weekly Cruise-In's.

Your mission is merely to cast one vote per round on the Cruise-In that you would be LEAST likely to go to from the remaining list...besides the weekly Michiana Cruisers Cruise-In.

We will also have immunity in this game of survivor.  It will go to the Cruise-In that just barely escaped the torch-snuffing from the previous round.  This will go away when we reach the final four.

We will eliminate one Cruise-In per round and the voting will last for one week, ending on Thursday.  You are to vote for only one Cruise-In each round.  Votes will be made as a reply to this post, not via e-mail.

So without further ado, here are the "nominees":

Fazoli's Cruise-In (Saturday Nights)
Advance Auto Cruise-In (Friday Nights)
Long John Silvers Cruise-In (Thursdays)
AutoZone (Thursdays)
Dog n' Suds Cruise-In (Wednesdays)
Marcello's Pizza Cruise-In (Tuesdays)
Arby's Cruise-In (Tuesdays)
Fenders' Drive-In Cruise-In (Mondays)
Still Cruisin' Club Cruise-In (Sundays)

Have at it!  Again, ONE vote per person, please.  Voting for round one will continue until Thursday at noon.

Sadly, it appears that the car show season has come to an end.  This may be the first year that the Cubs are still playing when the cruising season ends.  As always, give me a shout if you hear of any upcoming events!

I posted some pictures from the show to the Past Car Shows page.  This year I attended the show from the "other side of the table."  I helped with the judging at the show this year and it is a different experience from that point of view.  I have a new respect for the amount of time and work that is put into organizing and running a show like this.  One thing that I will always remember when I participate in car shows is that the people running the show are doing it for US.  They have nothing personal to gain by spending their day running around parking cars, judging them, and tabulating points.  They just want to make sure that things are as accurate, efficient, and fair as humanly possible.   Mistakes are made, but keep in mind that car shows are supposed to be fun and the people that run them are trying their best to make sure that you have fun.

Sorry I haven't had any new updates lately, but I have been out of the loop a little bit due to being unable to go to the Wednesday night cruise-ins.  If anyone one has any news that they would like posted or if you know of anything exciting coming up, please shoot and e-mail to webmaster@michianacruisers.com and let me know.

News Archives

NEWS

August 31th 2003 10:30 p.m.

Shows Added to Events Calendar I added many new car shows to the Events Calendar.  Make sure to check it out because there is still a lot of "Cruising" season left!

NEWS

August 26th 2003 4:30 p.m.

Website 1-Year Anniversary I wanted to post this earlier, but I thought it would still be neat to do it now.  June 4, 2003 marked the one year anniversary of this website and thanks to all of your support it has really grown up a lot since then.  I am amazed everyday when I check out the traffic reports to see how many people use the site! To commemorate the event I thought it would be neat to post images of how the site has changed over the last year.  You can enlarge the pictures by clicking on them: 6-4-2002 6-11-2002 8-16-2002         2-28-2003 7-4-2003

NEWS

August 26th 2003 4:30 p.m.

Computer Worms and Viruses I wanted to make sure that all of you are protected against the current onslaught of computer viruses an worms that have been making their way around the last couple of weeks.  I personally know of 4 people in Niles and Buchanan that have been infected and it is really easy to become infected yourself.   Make sure that you are running anti-virus software and the virus definitions are updated regularly.  I recommend using Norton AntiVirus and updating your virus definitions every couple of days.   Also, this is VERY VERY important...make sure that you have downloaded all of the critical updates from Microsoft.  You can obtain the updates by going to their Windows Update site.  If you are using a dial-up Internet connection it may take a while for the updates to download, but it is worth the wait...trust me.  I am one of the lucky people in Buchanan to have been connected the the Comcast cable modem...and let me tell you how nice it is.  My connection speeds are about 60 times as fast as my old dial-up connection (a "legal" song can download in 30 seconds rather than 20 minutes:) I have been a computer and network technician since 1995 and I have a Bachelor Degree in Computer Networks and Systems from Ferris State University.  If anyone is currently have a problem with their PC or if you are in the market for a new PC, please let me know because I can do it all significantly cheaper for your than anyone else in the area. My custom PC's are built using hand-picked components and are far superior the PC's that you might find at local superstores or office stores, and they are much less expensive than  comparable "Dell" or "Gateway" models.  I also offer a 1-year on-site warranty for parts and labor for those of you in the Michiana area.  Here are some pictures of the last PC that I put together: You can check out some of the services here: Ryan's Computer Services

NEWS

August 18th 2003 9:30 p.m.

Dowagiac Rod & Roll Classic Auto Show Posted Check out the Past Car Shows page to see the pictures from last weekends Dowagiac auto show. If anyone knows of any car shows that are coming up, please let me know because the Events Calendar doesn't have too many more listed.

NEWS

August 14th 2003 9:30 p.m.

New Website Sponsor I am pleased to announce that Niles Pro Muffler Shop, Inc. has become a sponsor for our website.  For those of you that are not familiar with them, they are located at 3 North Third Street across from the Niles Fire Station. Not only do they have the best prices in town for standard muffler and brake needs, but they are able to help Michiana Cruisers by installing custom exhaust systems. Make sure to click on their logo at right in the "Sponsors" section for complete details on all of their services!

NEWS

August 5th 2003 11:30 p.m.

Coloma Glad Peach Festival Car Show Pictures are Posted The Coloma Glad Peach Festival pictures are now accessible from the "Past Car Shows" page.  A BIG BIG thank you to Kevin Ryba for providing most of the pictures to us.

NEWS

August 2nd 2003 8:30 p.m.

AAA Michigan & Riverfest 2003 9th Annual "Top 50" All Car & Truck Show Pictures! There was a great show today at the Niles Riverfest. I have posted the pictures to the "Past Car Shows" page!

NEWS

July 28th 2003 6:46 p.m.

***Weekly Cruise-In Location Change**** Starting on Wednesday, August 6th the weekly Wednesday night cruise-in will be held at the Niles Inn and Conference Center parking lot.  We have found that the traffic situation at WalMart is too dangerous to continue having the cruise-in there.   The Niles Inn and Conference Center is located a couple miles north of WalMart at 930 S 11th St.

NEWS

July 27th 2003 10:31 p.m.

Great Buchanan Cruise-In, Part II Part II of the Great Buchanan Cruise In was another rousing success! We had even more cars than Part I and a great deal more spectators! Several local businesses got into the swing of things as well, featuring 50’s theme outfits and 60’s theme prices!! Ryan kept the party going all evening with a fine mix of music. We’re already getting requests for next year!!! All totaled, over 150 cars and motorcycles and well over 700 spectators attend the two events, a great start to what will undoubtedly be come a premier event here in Buchanan. A Special “Thank You!!” goes out to the event staff: Bob & Sandy Jackson, Cindy Sivak, Ryan Lovelady, Beth Cauffman , Charlie Kelly! You guys are the best! We look forward to seeing everyone again next summer!!!! You can check out the pictures from "The Great Buchanan Cruise-In, Part II" on the Past Car Shows Page.

NEWS

July 20th 2003 12:04 a.m.

Paw Paw Classic Car and Truck Show Posted We attended the Paw Paw Classic Car and Truck show today and had a great time!  I have posted the pictures to the "Past Car Shows" page.

NEWS

July 4th 2003 8:34 a.m.

Site Sponsors Make sure to patronize our site sponsors by clicking on their logo's on the right side of the window.  If you would like to add a link to your business please send me and e-mail and I will contact you with the details.