CRUISE NIGHT: Rolling Meadows, Illinois

Classic cars parked at the 2012 Rolling Meadows cruise night.

It doesn’t seem like that long ago when droves of classic car enthusiasts were flocking to Rolling Meadows for the Friday night classic car cruise, held in the empty parking lot at the intersection of Meadow Drive and Kirchoff Road. The weekly event quickly grew in size and popularity only to be shut down and forced to find a new location for the 2011 season. The cruisers headed to the former Menard’s parking lot in Palatine and set up shop once again. While that event is still occurring, cruising is back in Rolling Meadows for 2012, just one lot east from the former location at the Meadows Christian Fellowship Church. Event organizer, Shelly Cline, let us know how the event resumed.

Shelly Cline organizes the classic car cruise in Rolling Meadows, Illinois.

Shelly Cline

“We were approached by the owner of Senor Taco’s and several other area residents who really wanted to bring back the cruise night to Rolling Meadows. We missed having that special event around here. The initial idea was to have the cruise in the restaurant’s parking lot and use our lot as overflow. Our insurance wouldn’t allow it so the only way we could do it was if we hosted it ourselves. We saw this as an awesome opportunity for our church to really connect with and help the community. It took several months to get it worked out but it’s back and we couldn’t be happier.”

Classic cars parked at the Rolling Meadows cruise night.Shelly informed us every night an army of 20 volunteers helps to run the event, which offers 50’s and ‘60s music, onsite concessions, restrooms and a handful of restaurants within walking distance, some of which even offer cruise night discounts. Upon arrival at the cruise, head to the information tent for more details.

Classic cars parked in Rolling Meadows at the cruise night.“In addition to the cars, we plan to have all kinds of family activities going on all summer like our tiger bouncy house we’ve had out recently,’ said Shelly.

Other special things will be happening at the cruise later in the summer.

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Classic cars parked at the Rolling Meadows cruise night.

Live music is planned for July 21st and September 1st with the band Instant Rewind performing. Currently the church’s parking lot is set up to accommodate 160 classic cars, with the ability to expand to 250 if spectators park in the overflow lot across the street at the Rolling Meadows Community Church. Shelly hopes to see that happen:

“My vision is to have our whole lot full of cars by the end of summer and to see a growth in interest in the Rolling Meadows community.”

Classic cars parked in Rolling Meadows at the cruise night.The cruise runs every Saturday night from May 26th to September 1st, 6-9pm at 2401 Kirchoff Road Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Admission is free.

Find more information on the event’s Facebook page.

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