Morris Cruise Night sets record with 1,013 entrants

Keith Giordano's Beneficiary Choice award-winning 1951 Chevrolet Suburban.

The stars aligned for Morris Cruise Night on Saturday as it set a record of 1,013 vehicle entrants with thousands more attending while raising $4,350 for The Fallen Outdoors.

Morris Cruise Night founder Herb Wyeth said the perfect weather after two straight rainy cruise nights made for a busy night for him and the Morris Cruise Night committee.

“It’s awesome,” Wyeth said. “We’ve been trying for two or three years to get it. We knew we could do it. We just had to have the right weather and other events, since people usually go to their closer one. It worked out for us and we had a great night.”

Wyeth said he can’t say enough about the effort the committee put in. It was a great night, he said, but it was also more challenging because of the number of people that attended.

The August Morris Cruise Night had 159 cities represented with seven visitors from out of state, including vehicles from Iowa, Michigan, Indiana and Texas.

The Beneficiary Choice Award winner was a 1966 AMC Marlin owned by Chris F. and the Celebrity Choice award was a 1968 Chevrolet Camero owned by Gary C. of Naperville.

Mike Rutledge won the $4,350 on the 50/50 raffle.

Michael Urbanec

Michael Urbanec

Michael Urbanec covers Grundy County and the City of Morris, Coal City, Minooka, and more for the Morris Herald-News