Princeton cruisers returning to Mercer Street July 21

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July 6, 2012

Princeton cruisers returning to Mercer Street July 21

By TAMMIE TOLER Princeton Times The Zope Gazette Fri Jul 06, 2012, 05:00 AM EDT

PRINCETON — Booming bass riffs, revved-up engines and nostalgic memories will travel Mercer Street once again July 21, as the first-ever Princeton Cruisers Reunion rolls into town.

Teresa French Catron, a devoted cruiser during her time in Princeton, tossed out the idea of a reunion online, in a Facebook.com forum titled “You Know You’re from Princeton, WV if ...”

From there, the proposed cruisers’ reunion picked up so much steam that Catron even got the OK from the City of Princeton’s police department and city council, which spent much of the 1980s and early 1990s trying to stem the weekend trips that tied up Mercer Street for hours and occasionally sparked altercations between cruisers and residents.

Cruising was once a passion among Princeton’s teens. They often mowed lawns and cleaned houses to fund the gasoline that fueled their circular treks along Mercer Street at about 5 mph. Plus, they needed money to make sure their cruising cars were clean and that they could play the latest AC/DC, Guns ‘N’ Roses and Def Leppard hits, with a few classic rock tunes thrown in, from either their cars’ cassette tape decks or a boom boxes.

The reunion will be a little different. Festivities are slated to begin at 5:30 p.m., at the Princeton Senior High School parking lot, where reunion visitors can meet and greet each other. Then, at about 8 p.m., the procession will leave the school en route to Mercer Street.

On July 21, the classic cruising route, from the current Princeton Post Office to the Straley/Thorn/Mercer intersection will be available for cruising, but the music will be provided by DJ Machine, a disc jokey who volunteered to help with the reunion.

“He will be on Mercer Street at that stage, and he’s going to play music from the cruising era. It will be mostly ‘80s music, with maybe some ‘60s and ‘70s thrown in,” Catron explained.

Since the idea of the reunion is to bring old friends back together and make new friends along the way, Catron said participants are welcome to bring lawn chairs, find a place to park their cars and sit a while in Princeton Town Square catching up.

“I think I’ll maybe cruise one lap, and then stop and talk to people,” she said.

So far, Catron estimates approximately 500 people have said they plan to attend the reunion, but she knows not everyone will be able to make it that night. She’s hoping for at least 250 former cruisers and new devotees will join the fun.

While reuniting friends with shared histories and bringing back nostalgic memories of days gone will likely be the best parts of the cruisers’ event, Catron said organizers are working to give some things back to Princeton this time around.

Project MERCER stands for efforts to Motivate change, Enrich the community, Renovate downtown, Cultivate business, Enhance the beauty, and Restore the character to Mercer Street. Project MERCER’s first endeavor, thanks to the collaborative efforts of The Brainy Boston’s Stephanie Dempsey and Catron, will be a Mercer Street community cleanup, 3 p.m.-8 p.m., on July 20.

“We’re hoping we can get some folks or some businesses to donate some cleaning supplies, and we’ll get together to clean up what we can on Mercer Street,” Catron said.

And, Rain River BBQ’s mobile kitchen plans to set up all day on July 21, at the Grants Supermarket on Mercer Street, to raise funds to benefit Will Thompson, a PSHS grad, likely former cruiser and friend to many who will participate in the event.

Thompson became gravely ill after his last tour of duty in Iraq with the West Virginia Army National Guard. He recently underwent a double lung transplant and is recovering from the surgery.

The mobile kitchen, owned and operated by Jack and Lora Morgan, will serve pulled pork barbecue, hot dogs, chips, baked beans, ice cream, cold drinks, Jack’s World-Famous barbecue nachos, and Lora’s Loaded Spuds.

“I hope they raise more money than they even dreamed. I will definitely be eating there,” Catron said.

T-shirts are also available for purchase, but if ordered now, there’s no guarantee that the shirts will be delivered by the date of the reunion.

For more information, check out the Princeton Cruiser’s Reunion event page on Facebook, or send an e-mail to princetoncruisers@hotmail.com.

— Contact Tammie Toler at ttoler@ptonline.net.

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Princeton cruisers returning to Mercer Street July 21

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