Page 36 - South Mississippi Living - September, 2024

CRUISIN’ THE COAST
LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR OF CRUISIN’ THE COAST
Hello, everyone!
The 28th edition of Cruisin’ the Coast (CTC) is just around the corner and excitement is building.
You probably already know that we eclipsed a milestone last year by surpassing 10,000 registered vehicles. Our total was 10,070 from 45 states, Canada, Germany, and England. If I do say so myself, that’s pretty impressive!
This year’s event is shaping up to be a great one too. We are proud to welcome back Mississippi Gulf Fresh Seafood as our presenting sponsor. This gives us the opportunity to tell the country what we already know: Mississippi’s Gulf Fresh Seafood is the best around. You’ll be able to sample some fresh seafood at Cruise Central at Centennial Plaza. And it is absolutely free.
We’ve concentrated on our entertainment this year. Our music lineup will feature a lot of new sounds for you. Hollywood Casino will continue with their Friday night concert and our grand finale, Super Saturday bash. Of course, an evening movie will light up the sky in Gautier. There will be bands playing in Diamondhead for the Blessing of the Classics, at Island View Casino for the Flame Thrower contest, in Pass Christian on Thursday for Burn ‘Em Up in the Pass, and then on Friday for Pass in the Night. The Ocean Springs Sock Hop and Street Party will rock it out and Beau Rivage’s Cruisin’ Party will be fun, for sure.
There are also some very unique and totally cool events happening. The Biloxi Shuckers and Ground Zero Blues Club have teamed up for the “Grand Slam Jam” concert with some great acts. Gulfport Dragway is hosting the Southeast Gassers Association for a recreation of the 1967 World Championship Gulf Coast Nationals. If you’re a collector of fine, barrel-aged bourbon, you will need to swing by the Pass Christian Bottle Shoppe and get a limited edition, single-barrel bottle of Crittenden Distillery’s best.
For the first time, CTC will have seminars. Sponsored by PPG Paints, the seminars will feature award-winning painter, Charley Hutton. This will take place at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum as part of the CTC Swap Meet.
You can find our newsletters with more details and also a complete schedule of events on our website, www.cruisinthecoast.com. A condensed version of the schedule can also be found on the following pages. We invite everyone to take advantage of as much of CTC as you can.
CTC does need your help on one matter, that of spectator parking. Cruise Central spectators will park at Hardy Court Shopping Center on Courthouse Road in Gulfport. It will be on the east side in the same location
as we do the Sunday Hardy Court Cruise-In. We will run shuttles from there to Cruise Central Monday through Sunday of Cruisin’ week. We will not have use of the area adjacent to Cruise Central. Thanks for getting the word out for us.
We have won the USA Today best car show competition five of the last six years. Your hospitality, helpfulness, and patience play a big part in our registrants’ enjoyment of the Coast. We know traffic gets heavy, but we ask that you remember that Cruisin’ the Coast is designed to bring tourism and an economic boost to our communities. And it’s doing that. We hope you all enjoy this year’s event.
Keep Cruisin’,
Woody Bailey
Sherwood R. “Woody” Bailey, Jr.
Vice Chairman and Executive Director
36 | September 2024
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