Morris Cruise Night returns in June with new beneficiaries, more cars, slight changes

Downtown Morris again will be taken over by Morris Cruise Night this summer with more vehicles, new and returning beneficiaries, and a slight change in format.

The first cruise of the year benefits Pink Heals of Joliet and runs from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, June 14. It’ll be the debut of Morris Cruise Night on Wauponsee Street to go along with its usual Liberty Street location.

“We can park up to Benton Street now, but anything north, and it’s not official yet because they’re still talking to people, but we’re gonna have additional parking on Wauponsee Street down to Illinois Avenue,” founder Herb Wyeth said. “It’ll be quite a change, and it’ll require more manpower on the committee’s behalf.”

Wyeth said he’s hoping the cruise can continue its record-breaking ways: It reached 1,000 vehicle entries last October, drawing thousands of people to downtown Morris. Wyeth said the committee has been out at places such as World Wheels in Chicago spreading the word for this year’s events.

Other events this year include Saturday, July 12, benefiting Grundy County Heroes and Helpers; Saturday, Aug. 9, for the Fallen Outdoors; Saturday, Sept. 13, for Special Connections of Grundy County; Saturday, Oct. 11, for Angels of Hope; and from 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8, for Buzz the Gut, an indoor event benefiting the Rotary Club.

Wyeth said the format is changing because the fire department, with its new location on Armstrong Street, needs to keep Benton Street open so it still can respond to fires on the west side of town. Cruise Night in previous years stretched as far north along Liberty Street as the County Seat or Carson Tap House. This year, the road will have to be closed at the corner of Liberty and Benton streets.

“We’re gonna deal with it as best as we can,” Wyeth said. “We’ll probably end up with more spots, but the issue is we have to have about twice the staff because we need someone at each intersection on Wauponsee. We’ve never had to do that.”

However, Wyeth said that there is a bright side: It will add some nice parking spots by the old fire station and Keg Grove Brewing, which he thinks will probably be considered prime spots.

He said people who still want to park at the County Seat or Carson Tap can do so. They just won’t be part of the cruise. Many people, Wyeth said, have been parking in those spots for 10 years.