Ontario 2014 Route 66 Reunion 

Route 66 Cruisin’ Reunion Weekend 2014 in Ontario, California, was a smashing success by anyone’s standards. Cars began arriving Friday morning for the new annual cruise on September 19th, thru the 21st but the event did not officially begin until the ribbon cutting at 5:00 pm for the new Ontario Town Square and Amphitheater. Mayor Paul Leon did the honors, along with City Council members and special guests Rick and Kelly Dale of History Channel’s “American Restoration” series. Live music by The Little River Band kicked off the festivities following the ribbon cutting, but by that time, the Cruise was already going full-blast on the streets. Historic Euclid Avenue was blocked off to traffic for 9 blocks, which led to over a two mile total cruise. Since there is a median down the center of Euclid, that meant a total of 36 blocks were lined with classic vehicles, 1975 and older. Many of those were set up as “Cruisers” with amazing paint and interior detailing plus, of course, crankin’ sound systems. There was a constant stream of every make, model and pre-’75 year of customized and restored vehicle cruising around the “circuit” and cars kept leaving their parking spots to join the cruise and re-parking to take a break. One of the highlights of the weekend that only happened on Friday night was the “World’s Largest Neon Light Cruise”, with dozens of cars tricked out with special “Cruising Lights” including some neon add-ons for this event. Whether parked on the streets or cruising around the marked lanes by day or night, it looked like the thousands of car enthusiasts and their families had a really great time. Everyone I spoke with said they would definitely be back next year and expected it to be even bigger and better. Reflecting the positive public reaction, President & CEO of the Ontario Convention Center & Visitor’s Bureau Michael Krouse estimated the Reunion attracted approximately 200,000 attendees, or 44% more than last year, and he expects the numbers to keep increasing.