Carry on cruising

By Emily Lindblom

For the TODAY

Drivers of cars, trucks and motorcycles are all welcome to join together to celebrate their love of automobiles during the annual Cloverdale Cruise-in on Saturday, Sept. 4.

The casual and free event is meant to bring together enthusiasts of all kinds of vehicles, including hot rods and other vintage cars.

After finding a spot to park in downtown Cloverdale, participants usually walk around to look at each other’s cars and share ideas with one another before parking themselves by their own rides.

“People set up folding chairs by their cars and relax and watch everybody doing the same thing,” said Tom Goodwin, one of the event organizers.

“I was always interested in cars — vintage and fast, and all kinds of cars, trucks and motorcycles” he said. “There were many other people in South County who were interested in cars and they were doing cruise-ins.”

About a decade ago, Goodwin talked with fellow vintage car enthusiast Dick Warren and the two of them decided to put on their own event. 

“We had trophies and sign-ups and a lot of paperwork to do,” Goodwin said of the early days of the Cloverdale Cruise-in. “It’s evolved to where it’s something more casual, and because of COVID we have social distancing and masks because that’s best for the community.”

Warren, a hot rodder with the Cloverdale Car Club since 1962, buys, restores and sells old cars. He has served as judge at the event for the past 10 years.

“I know cars so well so I can judge every class — rat rods to new cars, even motorcycles,” Warren said, adding he judges based on paint, engines and the interior of the vehicles.

Though taking a break from judging this year, he said it’s an honor to have a cruise-in event in his home town.

“It brings many cars and people and a lot of business into Cloverdale,” Warren said. “It’s a little bitty town and you bring in 70 cars and it fills it up. We even had it one year in the pouring down rain and still had a lot of cars.”

Although the get together is free, participants are encouraged to donate to Nestucca Rural Fire & Rescue. The department plans to put funds raised toward purchasing Jaws of Life tools, which are used to extract drivers and passengers from cars in the case of a crash.

“It’s going to be really nice to add one more set of these tools to our fleet and give us a better response so we can start extricating a patient faster,” Fire Chief Jim Oeder said.

Last year’s cruise-in raised $2,500 for the department and its Jaws of Life equipment, an amount Goodwin hopes will double this year.

“Everybody here in South County knows how much work Nestucca Fire & Rescue does for people,” he said.

Oeder said the old equipment Nestucca Fire & Rescue had was becoming outdated and not as effective on newer cars, so the new Jaws of Life are very important.

The department was able to purchase two sets of the equipment within this past year, but it runs six fire stations and needs one more.

The department plans to have a fire truck at the cruise-in with this specialized equipment so participants can see it in person.

“It’s a chance for the community to show their recognition of the energy that Fire & Rescue puts into the community and if they want to make a donation, it’s appreciated,” Goodwin said.

Highlights of the Cloverdale Cruise-in throughout the years have included a 1967 high-performance Mustang Fastback, a Volkswagen-powered tricycle motorcycle and a 1927 Nash.

Rusty cars riding low to the ground, known as “rat rods,” are also encouraged to join in on the cruise.

“Last year a group of hot rodders from the Tillamook area called the Scavengers all left at the same time and made a powerful-sounding parade,” Goodwin said. “There have been beautiful hot rods, custom cruisers and sports cars with fabulous paint jobs.”

An artist known as Spiderman comes to the cruise-in each year and paints pin-striping on cars on the spot, or people can make an appointment to get painting done at a later date.

The Cloverdale Cruise-in has historically been held on Wednesdays, but last year the organizers decided to change it to Labor Day weekend.

“This works really well because so many people are around and have time,” Goodwin said. “People of all ages are welcome at this family-friendly event.”

The event revs up at 9 am and usually lasts until about 4 pm. For more information, call 503-329-8345.