Cars steal the show at Yale Cruz N Saturday

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Ezra Hart climbs a rock wall during Yale's Sizzlin' Summer Cruz N on Saturday. Along with the rock wall there were waterslides, a bouncy house and helicopter rides offered as part of the day's festivities.
Martin Derr, left, and Billy Derr look over a Ford Cobra during Yale's Sizzlin' Summer Cruz N on Saturday. Billy Derr called the Cobra an American icon and said it was his favorite of all the cars at the show.
Cody Walker looks over a 1968 Chevrolet Camaro with Mike McCullough during Yale's Sizzlin' Summer Cruz N on Saturday at Jim Thorpe Park. Walker said his favorite cars are Chevys while McCullough enjoyed the Ford Cobra.

July 21, 2012

Cars steal the show at Yale Cruz N Saturday

By Nick Snow Stillwater NewsPress The Stillwater News Press Sat Jul 21, 2012, 08:52 PM CDT

YALE, Okla. — Billy Derr’s eyes were fixed on the Ford Cobra. It didn’t matter that the temperature exceeded 100 degrees and the ice in his cup had started to melt — one roar of the Cobra’s engine would send chills down his spine.

“It’s my favorite car by far,” Derr said. “It’s an iconic piece of motor car history. It’s the first car to ever break 100 and back to zero in 10 seconds.”

Derr was one of several hundred who attended Yale’s Sizzlin’ Summer Cruz N Saturday at Jim Thorpe Park. The event was sponsored by the Yale Police Department. It raised money for the American Cancer Society.

“We have a pretty good crowd,” Yale Police Chief Philip Keeling said. “We tried to have something for everyone.”

While Derr examined the Cobra, nearby Ezra Hart was looking for something else — his next step on the rock climbing wall. For Hart, this was his first time attending the Sizzlin’ Summer Cruz N

“I really liked the rock wall,” Hart said. “It lets me exercise. I just got stuck. It’s really fun. This is actually the first one I’ve been to, but I hope to come back again.”

From cooling off on the water slide for the younger kids to the scorching hot paint job of a red 1968 Camaro, Cody Walker and Mike McCullough said the event really did bring out the child in everyone.

“Growing up, these were the cars,” Walker said. “This is what everybody wanted. You would dream of owning a car like this.”

“We were actually just talking about that,” McCullough said. “We just said, ‘You know if we had this, we’d be doing a drag around town every night.’ Even though nobody does it any more, we’d still be riding around — at least on a Friday or Saturday night like when we were kids.”

Keeling may have been impressed by the turnout despite the heat.

“When it comes to car enthusiasts, the weather doesn’t typically affect them,” Keeling said. “Now our goal for next year is to make it even bigger and better.”

But Keeling isn’t the only one with goals for next year.

“Someday I want to build one,” Derr said. “I’d like to build it out of a kit. This showed me what I could have. This is one of the coolest cars in history. I mean James Dean drove one of these. It would definitely be cool to build one and enter it in a show like this someday.”

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