Jamestown Cruise-In Once Again Saved From Chopping Block
The Downtown Jamestown Cruise-In leads a charmed life.
The longtime event was nearly canceled roughly a decade ago after the Jamestown Renaissance Corporation decided it could no longer organize the event. The Jamestown Chamber of Commerce, now known as CHQ Chamber, stepped in to save the event under the leadership of former chamber coordinator Lee Harkness. So it seemed as if the final nail in the yearly downtown car show’s coffin had been driven home earlier this year when the CHQ Chamber announced it was shifting its priorities to new types of events rather than events like the cruise-in.
Public sentiment once again saved the cruise-in. Wicked Warren’s and MyCHQ will team up to keep the event going. Kudos to Rob Roth, owner of Wicked Warren’s, and Dylan Moran, owner of MyCHQ, as well as to the chamber for working together to keep one of downtown Jamestown’s tentpole events around for another year.
Now, the ball is in your court. Online outcry only goes so far. Much like the President’s Day Winter Festival earlier this year, which was saved when new organizers stepped in at the last minute, the future of the cruise-in now lies in the public’s hands. Roth and Moran are doing the hard work. Now it’s the community’s turn to reciprocate by coming out in droves to this year’s cruise-in.
The uncertainty over some of our longstanding events makes us wonder if a new strategy is needed. The end of the Downtown Jamestown Development Corporation and the Jamestown Renaissance Corporation has created a void when it comes to events. Collaborative Children’s Solutions has stepped up to carry on some of downtown’s other tentpole events like the annual holiday parade, turning the Chadakoin River green for St. Patrick’s Day, the Memorial Day Parade and the city’s Labor Day Festival. The non-profit organization is carrying on the tradition started by the DJDC. Now Roth and Moran are doing the same.
But if we’re focused on saving old events from coming to an end we’re not focusing on new events. The CHQ Chamber has added events around the Third Thursday concert series downtown, but our events scene downtown seems to be contracting rather than expanding. If events really do help downtown businesses, then it will be up to the business community to help keep events going downtown.