Saturday nights in downtown Elizabethton got rolling this weekend as the Carter County Car Club crossed the starting line for its weekend Cruise-In events. Starting Saturday April 3 through October, the CCCC will fill the eight-block downtown loop along E Street and East Elk Avenue on clear Saturday evenings with hundreds of collector vehicles as well as vendors, music and activities for the entire family.Both streets will be closed to public traffic in the downtown area from 4:30 p.m. until 9 p.m. on event nights as the area is opened to pedestrians.“This event will bring a lot of life to downtown Elizabethton,” CCCC President Jack Tester said of the Saturday night cruises. “We believe a lot of people will be interested in coming here with their families.”
The club started informally in the mid-1990s as car enthusiasts began meeting in a parking lot on West Elk Avenue to compare their motorized treasures. Interest grew and as more people started bringing their prized automobiles out on Saturday nights, the spectator crowd began growing. People started making a weekly event of the family-friendly gathering to look at vehicles and to socialize as participation swelled past an average of 200 automobiles each weekend.With the move downtown in a more pedestrian friendly area filled with speakers and food vendors, Tester believes the number of vehicles showing up to show their stuff could really jump.“We could easily wind up with 300 or 400 cars each weekend as word gets out of the event,” the club president said.
The club’s Music Wagon will be based at the corner of Pine Street and East Elk Avenue, which will serve as the headquarters site for the event. Oldies music from the wagon will be piped through recently repaired sidewalk speakers along Elk Avenue in the downtown. The car club will provide its own speakers to stretch the music over to E Street.“There will be volunteers at each block helping organize the event,” Tester said. “They will be carrying (two-way radios) and helping visitors.”Each downtown cruise will also have the 50/50 contest, where vehicle owners can place money into the pot for the evening’s top prize. Half the money raised will become the prize and the other half will go toward charities, such as the East Tennessee Christian Children’s Home in Elizabethton.“It doesn’t cost anything to get into the event or to bring a car. You don’t have to participate in the 50/50 if you don’t want to,” Tester said.

The third Saturday of each month will also be the big prize night with at least $500 up for grabs. There is a $5 entry fee for this competition, though participants do not have to participate in this event either. The club plans on inviting auto groups from surrounding states to bring their members to Elizabethton for the weekend to participate in the event. “We can set up a space in the park along the river where they can park and have cookouts,” Tester said. “They can bring their families and just enjoy the weekend.”

While volunteers will help organize the event, the Elizabethton Chamber of Commerce will also distribute maps of the area outlining closed routes and the best parking options for spectators.

For more information, call Jack Tester at (423) 542-2378.