Hundreds of vintage automobiles are set to roll down 12 Mile Road next week for Berkley’s annual CruiseFest Classic Car Parade.
The event at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 19 takes place a day before the Woodward Dream Cruise and attracts classic car owners and enthusiasts.
One of the roughly 300 classic car owners signed up to take part in the parade again is resident Greg Reid, proud owner of a 1965 Ford Galaxy convertible, and a licensed reproduction 1965 Shelby Cobra.
“I enjoy the older cars and I graduated from high school in 1965,” said Reid, who often drives one of the dignitaries in the parade. “It takes me back when I can load friends into the Galaxy and go up and down Woodward.”
Like other classic car owners from the cruising era, Reid likes to be able to work on his own cars and eschews the high-tech style of modern cars.
“The (old) cars are better,” he said. “It’s fuel, spark and air – it’s not the computer.”
Berkley closes 12 Mile Road for the parade, which runs west from Roseland Park Cemetery at Woodward Avenue to Greenfield Road.
The city’s Parks and Recreation Department works with the local CruiseFest Committee for the event, which started 26 years ago, a year after the Dream Cruise began.
Even since then Berkley’s event draws from 15,000 to 20,000 people to town to see the classic cars and attend an after-party and entertainment.
This year, Denise Davis and the Motor City Sensations will perform their music along the south end of Robina Avenue.
There is also an outdoor movie, “Back to the Future” and a face painting booth, along with food trucks and a kids zone.
Beneath the Berkley marquee on 12 Mile, a prime viewing spot for the parade, the Berkley Chamber of Commerce will sell the official 2022 CruiseFest T-shirts at their table.
“This is one of the biggest events we work on,” said Theresa McArleton, director of the parks and recreation department, which registers cars for the parade.
The event production is a collaboration between community groups and city departments.
CruiseFest also raises money for nonprofit groups in the city.
Berkley buys official Woodward Dream Cruise merchandise, which is sold during CruiseFest and the Dream Cruise, McArleton said.
Groups such as Friends of Berkley Parks and Recreation, Youth Assistance, Berkley Junior Women’s Club, Berkley Hoops, High School Boosters and Berkley Days Association take part.
“The community groups sell the Dream Cruise merchandise and the proceeds are split between the groups and the city,” McArleton said.
Reid, a 44-year resident of the city, will continue to drive his classic cars in the parade as long as he can.
“When I can’t do it any more I’ll be disappointed,” he said.
