Williams News Logo
Grand Canyon News Logo

Trusted local news leader for Williams AZ and the Grand Canyon

Williams goes 'car-azy'
Good turnout reported for Cool Country Cruise-in

Roughly 271 entries were reported for this year’s Cool Country Cruise-in and Route 66 Festival in Williams.

Roughly 271 entries were reported for this year’s Cool Country Cruise-in and Route 66 Festival in Williams.

It was a good time for car lovers Aug. 17-18 during this year's Twisters Cool Country Cruise-in and Route 66 Festival, held along both Route 66 and Railroad Avenue. Cars of every shape, size and model turned up for the event, and set a new record while they were at it.

A record breaking 271 cars showed up in Williams for the annual event, with visitors arriving from a number of locations abroad. One Cruise-in fan came from as far away as North Carolina to attend the event.

"It was awesome. I heard that there were 271 cars," said Pimi Bennett with the Williams Grand Canyon Chamber of Commerce, who helped organize the event. "Last year there was 236."

Despite a few rain showers, numbers for the event remained strong, Bennett said.

"Of course we had the Friday evening sock hop. That was a good turnout. It rained on us a little bit, but that didn't stop people from turning out. I heard nothing but awesome comments from people that came for the cruise-in. They'll be back and they'll tell other people."

Charlie Bassett emceed the event and announced the winners on Saturday, though Bennett said it was a little difficult for the judges to pick their winners this year, as the entries were all special in their own way.

"The judges had a very hard time." Bennett said. "That's the first time that's ever happened."

Reigning Miss Historic Route 66 Christal Hudgins presided over a number of events throughout the two-day event, along with Williams Miss Route 66 Carole Braden.

"She helped hand out the trophies," Bennett said. "She kind of reigned over the activities. Miss Williams, she was with us for a little while, too. Everybody loved the Route 66 trivia. We did that Saturday afternoon. The poker run did really good (as well)."

The strong turnout did not help traffic in the downtown area, however, leading to a number of complaints made to officers with the Williams Police Department Aug. 17-18.

"Most of them were issues with people standing in the roadway, people were parking parallel and not utilizing the areas that were already blocked off," said Williams Police Chief Herman Nixon, though he said there were no issues related to the cruise-in itself.

"The police department was very busy, but not with any issues with Cool Country Cruise-in," Nixon said. "Overall, I thought it went very well. Something we learned from this one is that we'll have to be stricter on where they park (and) our concern is obviously the safety of everybody attending the show. We were fortunate that nothing happened. I think everything went very well."


Donate Report a Typo Contact