Back in the sixties when Henry’s Hamburgers held court in the front lot, you could shop for jeans at places like Man Alive along the strip, and you could take rolls of film to a tiny drive-up kiosk to have your snapshots printed out, the Fairplain Plaza was an absolute hotbed of street rods and teenagers cruising the loop on any given Saturday night.
Those “teenagers” are now in their 60s themselves, they wear their jeans a little looser, and get instant photo gratification thanks to their smartphone. They can still grab a burger at Henry’s although they moved years ago to the opposite side of M-139, and they are still in love with their classic cars and showing them off to one another.
The result is that dedicated organizers have been working for months to convince the new owners of the Fairplain Plaza to let them come back and conduct a Cruise In next month. After lots of negotiating on the rules of the game and promises made to be on their best behavior, the first of what those organizers hope will be many Cruise Ins yet to come will host what they are calling their Back at the Plaza Cruise In, sponsored by Auto Value auto parts on M-139 across from the Plaza, and nearly two dozen other sponsors including the following:
- Bovo Bonds
- Angelo’s
- Joey C’s Pizza
- Flaugh Insurance Agency
- Great Lakes Trucking
- Town & Country Plumbing, Electric & Water Services
- Jamie’s Auto Shop
- ABC Auto
- Henry’s Hamburgers
- Modern Antique Firearms
- Kepner’s Precision Auto Krafters
- Benton Electronics
- Lazer Graphics
- DJ Randy Poole
- Humane Society of SW Michigan
- Pride Portable Toilet Service
Coming on Saturday, September 16th, you are invited to join an incredible flashback to days gone by for what is planned to be the first of the returning Plaza Cruise Ins on the third Saturday of September every year at the Fairplain Plaza at the corner of M-139 and Napier in Benton Charter Township. The event will run from 11am until 4pm.
Organizers Cora Igert and Vick Kinzler caution that there are some ground rules laid down by the management team at the Fairplain Plaza. They include the following:
- 1. We can not block any right-of-ways…
- 2. We can not do any burn-outs…
- 3. We can not have any spinning of tires…
- 4. We can not have any loud or excessive noise…
- 5. If you bring a “race” car on the back of a trailer it will have to be pushed to a parking spot…
- 6. All cars, trucks, and other vehicles have to be parked in a parking spot…
While this Cruise is for everyone that cruised the plaza…wanted to cruise the plaza…or will cruise the plaza for the first time…anyone and everyone is welcome. Also working with Cora Igert on the cruise in are Gary Igert, Gary Shindeldecker, Harry Hauch, Jr., and J.W. Magner.
You can follow the plans of the cruise group on the Facebook fan page they have created for it. Just click the link below for the latest updates posted by Cora and others. They’ve turned it into a huge nostalgia page beyond just the cruise in. Here’s the link:
