Mt. Pleasant cruises into summer as annual Friday night car cruise kicks off

BY KARYN SPORY

Mt. Pleasant News

Sitting under a shade tree on the north side of City Park, one could almost forget temperatures were set to topple over the triple digits on Friday. Instead, the only thing hot on the square were the cars.

Phil Ealy and Shirley Wright, both of Washington, were enjoying the first car cruise of the year through downtown Mt. Pleasant.

?I?ve been coming for probably 10 years,? said Ealy who was eager to show off his 1940 Chevy Coop Street Rod.

?There?s great camaraderie, awesome cars and good people, you can?t ask for much more than that,? he said.

Ealy said he looks forward every year to when the snow melts away, the grass begins to turn green and the trees begin to bud. ?We start uncovering the car, shining them up and changing the oil,? he said.

Wright, who drove up in a 2002 Ford F-150 Harley Davidson Supercharge edition, agreed, saying she loved the camaraderie she feels between not only their Washington car club ? the Corn Country Cruisers ? but between all the car enthusiasts.

?I like to come with my fellow club members and see all of the different cars,? she said, stating it was a bit of an event for them.

?We all go out to eat,? she said before Ealy quickly added, ?And to drink,? with a rue smile.

For Kirby Moon, Friday was a night to show off his work in progress, a truck he calls a 28CK big style that he has built from the bottom up. As with many car enthusiasts, it was Moon?s friends that gave him the car bug. ?It was just one of those things,? he says. ?My friends got started building a T-bucket, but I wanted to do something a little more unique, so?? he says as he motions towards the truck with a T-bucket frame, but its body has been made completely out of wood.

?I?ve built everything, done everything, with the help of a few friends and my son,? he said. ?It?s been a lot of fun, but a real challenge.?

The antique style truck?s exterior was built out of cherry with a walnut trim.

?I?ve been working on this for two-and-a-half years and I?m not done yet,? he said with a chuckle.

Next, Moon plans to redo the interior and the doors. ?It is fun to finally have it on the road,? he admits.

Mt. Pleasant?s car cruises are held on the second Friday of each month. They begin at 5 p.m. and run until 10.