Cruise Night in Ontario, California

Cruise Night in Ontario

It was a Friday night in Ontario, California and Manny
had been talking all week about going to “Cruise Night”
at a nearby A&W Root Beer place that was one of the
few left that brought your orders to the car on the trays.

Boy, the memories of those days back in the 50's and
early 60's flooded back to me from time to time and I
was also looking forward to the night.

The added treat at the A&W would be the “Milk
Truck” and Disk Jockey, Leroy. I had been trying to
imagine this guy since Manny told me about him and
I would see tonight how good the old imagination
was working.

Louana, Manny and I left their home in Montclair
about 6PM and it took us no longer than 10 minutes
to reach the A&W in Ontario. The parking lot was
filled with vintage Cars and Pickups and the Music
was blaring out-“Peggy Sue, Peggy Sue”

The Milk Truck was the source of the music with it’s
huge speakers in the opened rear end and there stood
Leroy, taking requests and visiting with some of the
folks.
This truck was really an old Milk truck, the same kind
that used to leave the bottles of new Milk and pick up
the empty ones.

I started smiling as I looked the crowd over, mostly
between 50and 60 year olds standing around some
of the beautiful old Cars. My eye caught a 37 Ford
Coupe that was customized with taste, hood up,
with its share of viewers looking in.

The 37 stood out to me only because that was the
first “old car” I worked on in Colorado until it looked
like it belonged on the show room floor. I had sold
it in California along with the 35 Ford and 56 Ford
years ago.

Guess you could say I have always been a “Ford Guy”
when it comes to the old ones.

After looking over every car in the lot we went
on in for a Burger and of course some good old
A&W Root Beer.

What a great night it was being able to walk back
into the picture we may have taken over 50 years
ago, rock and roll booming that still made your
foot keep on tapping as you finished up the
French Fries.

Was there a better era? How could there have been
without old Wolfman Jack, Girls with Pony Tails and
Boys with white T-Shirts and Levis with the belt loops
cut off.

The time was simple, the confusion was less and
you had fun with the Music, driving old Cars that
ran on Gas that cost 20 cents a gallon.

A fight was face to face and about the worst
thing that happened was a bloody nose or a
black eye.
Our Dad’s were the ones that had guns, our
Moms stayed home and we ate dinner together
every night.

It’s tough on kids now. Everything must seem
complicated.

But, before this night was over almost half the
“Ontario Cruise Night” people were teenagers.

Wonderful, huh?

©Bobby 2004

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©Bracklesham Dreams

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