Not far from a shiny white Lamborghini with red interior, a young mother sat on a curb enjoying ice cream with her young daughter. The wing-like car doors were open to the sky, and onlookers peeked into the vehicle every few minutes as if to see whether or not the car really could be fitted-out as a time machine.
Around the corner, venders nearly sold out of the aromatic brats, hotdogs and other specialties that made folks hungry, according to Dawn Dentzman, executive director of the Lemont Area Chamber of Commerce, which helps sponsor the weekly summer event.
It was a perfect night for the last of the 2008 summer Lemont Legends Cruise Nights, and the draw was exciting, she said. The streets were jammed with classic cars and with people enjoying them.
“The purpose of the event is to bring foot traffic to the downtown area, and I think it served its purpose,” Dentzman said. “(Aug. 27) was the last night of the car shows for the summer, and it couldn’t have been any nicer.
“It was just a beautiful, beautiful evening,” she added. “There was no humidity and a little breeze, and we had more than 400 cars here.”
As old rock ‘n’ roll hits blasted from loudspeakers on Main Street, every vehicle caught attention.
From a brilliant yellow Corvette to a coral-orange Ford hardtop-convertible and from a long, brilliant black 1947 two-door Lincoln Continental convertible to GTOs, Thunderbirds, small trucks and even big, burly motorcycles, onlookers feasted their eyes on shiny historic vehicles.
“An old friend of mine said they regularly come all summer because they just love the atmosphere and how the show runs,” Dentzman said. “I often hear that comment from people.”
Reiterated by Larry Johnson, one of Dentzman’s team of six or seven volunteers who help direct traffic and keep things organized on a weekly basis, not only do visitors love it, but so do the car owners.
“We get a lot of the same folks bringing cars from their collections every week because they like the setup so much,” Johnson said. “And they bring new participants regularly.”
An aspect that makes the event so popular is the safety component, he said.
“I park a lot of the people who bring their cars, and they say this is the best show in the area,” Johnson said. “The owners like the fact that the streets are closed so the cars are safe, people can walk around them and ask about them, and that it’s easy to get some food.”
“The history of the cars is really important to the car owners,” Dentzman said. “They stand and talk for maybe even 15 minutes at a time about the history of each car someone asks about. It’s kind of cool.”
Now, as the collectors think about storing their handsome vehicles for the winter, Johnson said they will keep coming back year after year as long as Lemont continues to host such a visitor-friendly car show.
