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Car enthusiasts roll to the Delavan Cruise-In
By Phyllis Coulter
pcoulter@pantagraph.com
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DELAVAN — Brice Craber of Pekin admired dozens of classic cars with his father at the Delavan Cruise-In on Saturday.

He arrived in his 2006 Mustang, which he hopes to be driving 30 years from now. This time he parked a block away, but hopes to be in the cruise-in with the same car three decades from now.

“That’s the plan,” he said.

His goal seems entirely possible if you consider the example of Gene Schmidgall of Green Valley who popped open the hood of his 1955 Pontiac Grand Prix to show Craber its 421-cubic-inch engine.

Schmidgall has owned the same car for 40 years.

The cruise-in seems to have a strong future as well, but that wasn’t the case last year when Denzel and Carol Cain decided to retire. They had run the almost 18-year-old event.

With the encouragement of other car enthusiasts, Paul and Lynnae Bessler just couldn’t allow the popular Saturday night gathering to die. It continues to be a fund-raiser for the Optimist Club, of which both are members, and it raises money for youths, including providing funds for school supplies for kids who need them, for library reading events and for the junior high track.

Soon, with a little help from friends and sponsors, the Besslers brought the event back to life.

The cruise-in is held every third Saturday from April to October in Delavan, located about halfway between Lincoln and Peoria.

At the first cruise-in this spring, the Besslers welcomed 76 cars from as far away as Champaign and Chicago. They averaged about 35 cars each month, with attendance lower some months when there are many cruise-ins and car shows.

It’s not only cars featured at the cruise-ins. Antique motorcycles, a hearse and a pickup truck with flame throwers on the back — known as the “Snow Melter” — have rolled in.

They line up on both sides of the main drag in the heart of the town with the classic, brick storefronts of the businesses as a backdrop. People stroll along the center of Locust Street at the Delavan Cruise-In on Main Street, looking at the well-polished vehicles. Nobody seems to mind that the name of the street and the event don’t match.

The Besslers welcome cruisers, enter their names in drawings and chat with many about the projects, even though they don’t have a cruisin’ car of their own. Previously they owned a 1931 Dodge, and hope maybe a 1948 Chevy, built the year they were born, could be in their future.

“People chill out; they enjoy the music,” Paul Bessler said.

Adding to the atmosphere is ’50s and ’60s music played by disc jockey Scott Ireland of Washburn.

“Its nostalgia, pride of restoration, the love of showing the cars and the fellowship with other cruisers” that brings people to the event, Ireland said.

Jim Whisler, who was born and raised in Delavan and now lives in nearby Green Valley, has cruised in with his antique motorcycle for three Septembers since he restored the 1954 Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

“It was a basket case,” he said of the motorcycle back when he first got it.

Bill Hanna of Emden likes cars so much he has his own little car museum with 20 vehicles. Three cars at the cruise-in — all of them bright red — were samples of Hanna’s handiwork as a painter. When he’s not working in his own body shop, he might be at cruise-ins in Indiana or New York.

“You meet a lot of nice people,” he said.

Bill Howerton of Lincoln wouldn’t miss it. He brought his 1948 Dodge Club Coupe after showing his car with the Railsplitter Antique Auto Club in Lincoln earlier in the day.

“We’re here just about every time they have one,” said his friend, Tom Rock. Both agreed the good food at the restaurants in town are part of the draw.

Bill Bennett of Green Valley likes the “laid-back, friendly atmosphere” in Delavan.

“It’s my favorite cruise night of all. I’ve been coming since they first started,” he said.



Classics on display

What: Delavan Cruise-In on Main Street

Why: To see classic cars and interesting vehicles, listen to music and socialize

Where: Locust Street, downtown Delavan (halfway between Lincoln and Peoria)

When: 4 to 9 p.m.

Oct. 18

Take a look
Brice Criber and his father, Richard, look under the hood of Gene Schmidgall’s 1956 Pontiac Grand Prix on Saturday at the Delavan Cruise-In on Main Street. (Pantagraph/Phyllis Coulter)
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