But thought I'd share the article.
From the Journal Gazette: History in the streets in Auburn
AUBURN – Joe Smith travels nearly 800 miles from Tulsa, Okla., to Auburn every three years to show off his 1937 Cord Westchester in the Parade of Classics.
With 260 classic cars rolling through downtown Auburn and thousands of spectators coating the city’s narrow sidewalks, Smith was not alone Saturday afternoon.
But in a quiet, air-conditioned bank lobby, a casual observer would never know the scene was playing out a few blocks away.
And for some residents, that’s exactly how they want it.
“I usually generally try to leave if I don’t have to be here,” said Cindy Yoder, a Wells Fargo bank teller who has lived in Auburn on and off for 30 years. “There’s a lot of people in a little town.”
The Parade of Classics, a longtime staple of the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Festival, is often viewed by car enthusiasts as a highlight of the city’s Labor Day weekend tradition. For others, it’s a reason to maybe spend the late summer afternoon elsewhere.
Yoder said this year’s run seems busier than usual and has burdened the bank’s parking lot, which quickly fills with more fair visitors than Wells Fargo patrons every morning.
“It’s crazy out there,” a bank customer muttered under her breath after cashing a check Saturday afternoon.
Yoder and a fellow teller just smiled politely.
Other neighbors treated the annual procession with more indifference, including Sharon Gillenwater, who occasionally peeked up from scribbling in a Sudoku puzzle on her front porch at Van Buren and 16th streets.
“I don’t care,” she said, motioning to a narrow view of the crawling parade nearby. “I really don’t care. I can look up there and see if I need to.”
Gillenwater added that festival attendees “take advantage of property” and park wherever they please, resulting in a few past confrontations on her block.
ACD festival administrator Beth Snow said she handled no complaints regarding Saturday’s cavalcade, which went off without a hitch and continued to symbolize city unity.
“These people want to come back year after year after year,” she said. “Auburn is such a small, quaint, neat town and willing to support everybody.”
The city’s allure was not lost on Smith, who first trekked to Auburn in 1982 to attend a classic car auction.
The 57-year-old automobile appraiser said his favorite part of the entire event is simply mingling with other car owners in Eckhart Park, where the procession originates. It then snakes to Courthouse Square near Main and Seventh streets.
“You go anywhere else in the country, and you’re not going to see this,” Smith said, with his wife, Joyce, quickly adding, “unless you look in the garage.”
Some spectators were equally enthralled with the parade’s uniqueness, including Jake Byrd, a fifth-grader at Blackhawk Christian School in Fort Wayne.
He was particularly impressed with the sheer number of drivers and how “you just don’t see old-fashioned cars like this anymore.”
But don’t expect Byrd to pick up the hobby anytime soon.
“I collect some cars, yeah,” he said dryly. “They are called Hot Wheels.”
The Calendar of Events which will probably be similar next year:
ACD schedule
Today’s events at the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Festival and collector car auctions in Auburn:
7 to 11 a.m. – Kruse Foundation Pancake and Sausage Breakfast, National Military History Center, 56345 County Road 11A, $6 for adults, $3 for children 4 to 12 years old and free for children 3 and younger
8 a.m. to 4 p.m. – Fourth annual Outdoor Garage Sale and Flea Market by DeKalb Council on Aging, Heimach Senior Activity Center, 1800 E. Seventh St., $35 for rental space and free admission
9 a.m. to 3 p.m. – Crafts, antiques and flea market, DeKalb County Fairgrounds, 708 S. Union St., free admission
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. – 42nd annual Tri Kappa Antique Show and Market, DeKalb High School, 3424 County Road 427, Waterloo, $5 for adults and free for children 12 and younger
9 a.m. to 4 p.m. – Auburn Historic Tours, starting and ending at DeKalb County Fairgrounds parking lot, 708 S. Union St.; $5 per person
9 a.m. to 4 p.m. – 32nd annual Arts and Crafts Show by the Downtown Business Association; free admission
10 a.m. – Auburn Fall Auction by Auctions America by RM and Swap Meet by Carlisle Events, Auburn Auction Park, northeast corner of DeKalb County Road 11A and Interstate 69, $40 full-event pass, $15 daily pass and free admission for children 12 and younger
10 a.m. – The Auburn Auction by Worldwide Auctioneers, 5008 N. County Line Road E. (at Motorcar Boulevard), $10 one-day pass, $25 three-day pass and free admission for children 12 and younger
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