Classic cars and breakfast by the bay
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WHAT: Cruisin' By the Bay Classic Car Show
WHEN: Aug. 29-30
WHERE: Washington Park/Downtown Sandusky
The biggest car show in Northern Ohio is heading to a city near you.
The 17th annual Cruisin’ By the Bay event hits Washington Park/Historic Downtown Sandusky for two hot rod-filled days Aug. 29-30.
The entire four-wheeled and polished soiree is the vision of founder Rodger Best.
“It’s just about feeling young again,” Best said. "That’s all I used to do when I was younger is cruise downtown. I’d be all over the streets. That’s when the city was all stores and everything, before all the malls. So I brought that back and will keep bringing it back as long as I’m alive.”
What Best, who has been a classic car owner his entire life, discovered in 1991 is that there are plenty of similar-minded folks who look to relive the cruisin’ vibe. Today, this popular event attracts roughly 500 cars that come from as far away as Indiana and Michigan.
It wasn’t always this way. While Cruisin’ By the Bay was always well attended, Best said the influx of cars from outside of the Buckeye State began five or six years ago when Cruisin’ Times Magazine listed his event as the No. 1 cruise-in in Northern Ohio.
“I bring in cars from all over,” Best said. “I’ve had cars from as far away as California. We have a lot of old ones coming in. We have a lot of ‘57s and ‘58s, those are the years that everybody did all of the cruisin’. And some of these cars have $50,000 invested in them.”
Centered around the downtown area of Sandusky, Cruisin’ By the Bay features a festive atmosphere with a DJ spinning oldies and plenty of vendors offering diet-busting cuisine. In addition, 40 dash plaque trophies will be awarded throughout the two-day affair.
Also part of the annual fun is the Sandusky Lions Club Pancake Breakfast, which takes place from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 30 at Adams Junior High School. The event is used as a fundraiser for the club’s service projects throughout the community.
“We offer pancakes, sausage, juice and coffee, and usually serve anywhere from 700 to 1,000 people,” said Sandusky Lions Club Pancake Event Chairman John Straziuso. “With an average of three pancakes per person, we’re serving over 3,000 pancakes and probably 3,000 sausage links.
Finally, let’s talk about the idea of all you can eat. For some folks out there, those four words are less of an advertisement and more of a challenge.
“We have a couple of big boys that come in and will eat two or three plates full of pancakes,” Straziuso said. “And we get some high school fells that can put quite a few away, like a dozen or so.
“But it’s not a contest. They’re welcome to eat as many as they want, and we don’t ever stop anybody that wants to have more.”
Still, boys will be boys.
“Absolutely,” Straziuso laughed. “Especially if we have a table of young boys, they’re trying to figure out who can eat the most.”