The Sunset Cruisers have moved locations again, this time away from downtown. They set up Saturday at the new spot on the Owensboro Community & Technical College campus, and a spokesperson said they are focused on bringing fun back to the event.
For the last 10 years, the club stationed the vehicles downtown. Most of that time they set up along 2nd Street from Daviess and Frederica streets. In 2022 they moved further east, using the parking lot at the intersection of 3rd and Daviess streets, plus some nearby lots and roadway.
Club spokesman Steve McNatton said that location ended up having some issues, namely the excessive heat.
“We’ve loved working for the City of Owensboro for the last 10 years. They have been fantastic. It’s just that we needed to shade,” he said. “That black hardtop, in July and August it gets hot. We finally pulled the plug and said we had to move. We didn’t want to, but it worked out very well.”
With dozens of trees in the field and lining the driveway, there was plenty of shade to stay under at OCTC. The campus is located at 4800 New Hartford Road, but attendees should use the entrance off Veach Road.
Other perks of using the campus include full restrooms, plenty of parking, and the ability to set up in either the field on sunny days or the parking lot on rainy ones.
Sunset Cruisers had already seen a big drop in participation following the pandemic, but the were continuing to dip even more prior to the latest move. Once drawing 300-400 cars, in recent months there were fewer than 100 attending the monthly show.
McNatton said he estimated about 180 cars parked on the OCTC campus Saturday.
McNatton said organizers were pleased all around Saturday, and it was a good sign as they try to bring back the fun atmosphere of years past.
“Our motto is now ‘let’s have fun again,’” he said. “It got to where it was almost like work. Now let’s go back and have fun again.”
The Cruisers have one more event planned for the 2023 season. It will take place October 7 with the main theme of Jeeps. The show starts at 4 p.m. and lasts until about 8 p.m.
