Don Doucette became the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Division of the U.S. Route 6 Tourist Association last yearhttp://route6tour.com/Route6massachusetts.htm.
Don and I have been discussing a way for all the car clubs along the MA U.S. Route 6 corridor to participate and possibly host an annual fall weekend cruise/tour event along its 118 miles from Provincetown to Seekonk, or alternatively, the other way around from Seekonk to Provincetown. Bob Bramwell, founder and President of the Cuz’s Car Club in the Westport-Freetown area has expressed interest in attempting to pull together some of the clubs that run weekly cruise nights and car show events in the Route 6 Seekonk-Fall River- New Bedford area to see if they can come up with something. The other clubs involved would be the Downshifters Car Club (John “Johnny Angel” Remedis) Downshifters Car Club , the Bay State Street Machines (Seekonk Sam’s Club Cruise) and the Blue Angels (Westport) http://westportblueangels.com/ . Additionally, Mark Pare of the Bay State Antique Car Club, has volunteered to become involved and he along with another member who lives on the Cape have indicated that they would like to get involved. I have also asked the Mass Cruisers to become an official member of the USRoute6 Tourist Assoc. and one of our members Herb Williams, who lives in Wareham, has volunteered along with myself to become involved with this effort to support and help organize a weekend cruise/tour.
Now that Don is attempting to get a firm hold of the U.S. Route 6 membership program, we are looking for additional car clubs that would be interested to join and support an annual cruise/tour weekend event. There may be among your Cape Cod based club membership someone who would have a historical, financial or nostalgic interest along the early historical alignment of the U.S. Route 6 corridor that could volunteer to help support and promote an annual cruise/tour event. Don is not a car guy. He’s a environmentalist, preservationist and historian and an all around great guy, and is in need of all the help he can muster to preserve and promote the historical significance of our own 118 mile segment of the longest U.S. highway in America, at 3,652 miles. This is why I am asking for your thoughts about this:
1. Would Cape Cod clubs like yours be interested in joining the MA U.S. Route 6 Tourist Assoc. http://www.route6tour.com/ ?
2. If yes to joining, could you Identify someone in your club to become a willing volunteer or delegate to represent your club?
3. Would it be reasonable to have that club delegate assist with the planning and organizing stages of an annual U.S. Route 6 cruise/tour weekend?
Route 6 may not have the significance that Route 66 or the Lincoln Highway has in the auto hobbyist mindset, but it certainly has some of the most interesting scenery and accessible tourist destinations available, particularly in the southeastern coastal areas of Massachusetts, Cape Cod Bay and the outer Cape. And, every auto enthusiast I talk to is very supportive and encouraged about the possibility of having an annual cruise/tour weekend along U.S. Route 6.
As indicated previously, because we feel that an annual weekend tour event is something that could grow to become an exciting adventure for auto hobbyists, the Mass Cruisers Auto Club www.masscruisers.com has officially joined the U.S. Route 6 Tourist Association this week. As a club, we become indirectly involved with an annual U.S. Route 6 car event, the Seekonk Speedway’s May opening race season program, by running the Car Show event at their Annual Show & Go Car Show and Burn Out Drags, this year to be held on Saturday May 5.
I realize that your clubs have their own major annual events to be concerned with each year and no one club along the Route 6 corridor may have the time to undertake the major task of organizing and hosting an annual weekend event for a U.S.Route6 Tour. However, participation by your club to become a U.S. Route 6 Tour member and lending your club name, moral support and consult for such an event may be all that is necessary to help all the clubs along Route 6 work together toward a goal of hosting an annual cruise/tour weekend event. In fact, the beginning for such an event can be as simple as the club representatives identifying the target weekend best suited for a U.S.Route6 Tour, developing a rough itinerary for the historic travel segment possibilities, identifying some target rally points, pit stops or hosts along the route and just do it for a 1st annual event. Keeping it as simple as possible with perhaps recruiting a friendly sponsor to provide commemorative U.S.Route6 Tour dash plaques for participants is about as elaborate as it needs to be. If the weather is good, the turnout reasonable and the event, while not overly organized but is high on enjoyable scale, then it might be able to grow into something bigger and better down the road. Take a look at last year’s “River to River: Iowa’s Forgotten Highway 6” Run from the Mississippi to the Missouri http://www.highway6movie.com/ to see that large numbers are not really required for a first time effort. And some day perhaps our collective Massachusetts tourism bureaus will be able to put together a glossy brochure as nice as the one Pennsylvania produced for their Route 6 attraction which National Geographic has named as being “One of America’s most scenic drives” http://www.paroute6.com/
Still CRUIZN at the Speed of Fun in My ‘31
John Buchanan
Mass Cruisers Auto Club
www.masscruisers.com