Pictured is the CHQ Chamber’s Cruise-In event in the city in 2022. The Cruise-In event will not be managed by the Chamber this year, and no other organization has yet come forward to continue the event. P-J file photo

With the CHQ Chamber’s recent announcement that they will no longer hold their annual Cruise-In event this summer, some local downtown businesses are hoping that the event will still be able to continue.

The CHQ Chamber announced in mid-May that they will no longer be holding the event, instead planning to focus its programming on events that better meet the chamber’s mission like the Jumpstart to Third Thursday. The chamber took over the Downtown Jamestown Cruise-In when the Jamestown Renaissance Corporation found itself unable to continue planning the annual August car show held in downtown Jamestown. In May 2017, JRC officials announced they would not be the main sponsor for the annual downtown car show. About a month later the Jamestown Community Chamber of Commerce announced it would take the reins of the Jamestown Cruise-In and bring it back to its roots, with classic cars, live music and activities for all ages. Even though JRC was not the main host of the Cruise-In for the 2016 event, it did financially support the event along with several additional sponsors like the Der Kobblers Automobile Association, Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce, Landmark Chevrolet, Media One Group and Northwest Arena.

The Downtown Jamestown Cruise-In has been held for 32 of the past 33 years, with the only year missed being 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When the chamber announced in May that they would no longer be managing the event, they said that they had approached other organizations about doing it but had found no one interested yet at that time.

For downtown businesses and restaurants such as The Pub, the Cruise-In is a great event for downtown, and one that they hope someone will find a way to continue.

“Of course, we see more business during the event,” manager Sam Lisciandro said. “It’s a great event for downtown. It’s sad that the Chamber doesn’t want to do it anymore. I think it should continue, even if they do something like possibly move it to a different time of year like the beginning of September or something.”

The management team of another downtown restaurant, Sauce, agreed with Lisciandro, saying that any event downtown that draws people there is a good thing to have. They added that the event has gone well for them over the years, and that “the events themselves are great for foot traffic downtown.”

And for other downtown businesses such as Lisciandro’s Restaurant, while the Cruise-In event does not really affect them because of their hours of business, owner Christopher Larson, who owns and runs the business with his wife, Patti, said they would like to see it continue as well.

“I think it would be great to keep things going, though,” Larson said. “There are always a lot of people downtown for the event.”

Any organizations that might be interested in taking over the downtown Cruise-In can contact the CHQ Chamber at 716-484-1101.