On September 8, 2018, downtown Waynesburg welcomes back for the 17thyear what has become one of the most popular car cruises in southwestern, Pennsylvania. The 50’s Fest & Car Cruise, presented by Waynesburg Prosperous and Beautiful, Inc., typically draws 150+ classic vehicles to downtown, including a wide assortment of hot rods, street rods, rat rods, and other classic cars, trucks and motorcycles.
It’s a great day of family fun, because 50’s Fest & Car Cruise is so much more than a typical car show. The festival also offers retro fun with dance contests, bubblegum blowing and Hula Hoop contests and oldies music broadcast live all day by Sponsor WANB Radio’s “Greene County Greaser” aka Doug Wilson. There are also plentiful door prizes and unique shopping and specials from many downtown merchants and restaurants.
Support is offered by several local sponsors who are featured on the back of the festival’s annual collectible T-shirt. The hand drawn t-shirt art is created each year by local artist Colleen Nelson and usually features an actual classic vehicle belonging to a cruise participant. This year’s shirt features Melody Longstreth’s 1978 Dodge Lil’ Red Express Truck. One of only 2,188 produced in 1978, the truck is about 65% original with only restoration work completed. While it may not match the horsepower of today’s cars and trucks, it was the fastest US production vehicle in ’78. Melody’s had a long love with the LRE; one was her daily driver for 2 years when she turned 17. “I can remember giving a few guys a shock when they realized a girl was driving the truck that just beat their muscle car,” Melody says. “It is a fun little truck to drive, it handles great and is really responsive. But the best part is the sound coming from the dual stacks. You can’t help but smile driving it.”
On the t-shirt, the truck will be depicted in front of the rabbit building at the Greene County Fairgrounds. “It’s always fun to tie in some local landmark with the vehicle on the t-shirt, and Colleen Nelson has a way of really bringing the personality of both the site and the vehicle alive. Our 50s Fest t-shirts are highly collectible, they will go on sale at the 50s Fest at 10am for just $12, don’t miss getting yours,” advises Shelly Brown, Promotions Committee Chairperson for Waynesburg Prosperous & Beautiful, who helps organize the 50s Fest event with a co-chair Doug Wilson and their committee of local gear heads, grumpy old men and car collectors.
50s Fest tradition also offers a collectible magnetic dash plaque free to all participants and for sale to spectators as long as they last. This year’s magnet features a modified racecar owned by Bill Blystone, George “Bly” Blystone’s father. Bill Blystone was a member of the Bungholers, a collection of men who loved fast cars and racing. Bill lived for the thrill of racing. “I never really got to know him, but I have this great collection of pictures from my cousin, Grumpy Jim Donahue, who was also a Bungholer, my Uncle Gordy’s son – all relatives and friends – they were all into cars.” His modified racecar won the honor and trophy for having the fastest time at the Harper Dry Lakes, an abandoned Army facility in the desert, in Southern California in 1941. We’ll be sharing a little more about this car in an upcoming issue, so stay tuned…
“Bly’s been a long-time member of the 50s Fest committee and we wanted to honor his contributions and dedication with what the committee feels is a really cool picture,” shares Shelly.
“The generous support we receive from the downtown merchants and local businesses is what enables us to make this a free event for spectators and participants. There are no admission fees or registration fees for the 50’s Fest & Car Cruise in down town Waynesburg. Make your plans now to be there, or be square,” warns Shelly.
