Turn it on, wind it up, blow it out
Published 11:10 am Thursday, June 11, 2009
With Freeborn County Sheriff Mark Harig at the helm and his wife, Trudy, riding shotgun, a different vintage Pontiac GTO has led the Saturday night car cruise during Eddie Cochran Weekend in Albert Lea.
“It seems like we have a little tradition started,” said Doug Bronson, a member of the Low Bucks Car Club, which throws Eddie Cochran Weekend annually.
The GTOs from the first three years have been Bronson’s. The first year was a ’64 convertible. The second was a ’64 hardtop, and the third was a ’66 convertible.
Last year, a ’67 hardtop owned by Lonnie Harig, who is Mark’s brother, led the cruise.
This year, the plan to have the sheriff drive a beautiful national award winning black ’69 Judge from Northwood, Iowa, that belongs to Dan Hendrickson.
“We thought it was rather fitting for the 40th anniversary of the 69 GTO to be honored with leading the cruise,” Bronson said.
The cruise begins at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the Freeborn County Fairgrounds and ends downtown at the North Broadway Avenue parking lot. Residents often sit along Fountain Street to watch the cars return from the countryside.
Bronson wrote about how the GTO tradition began:
“We were visiting with Mark at the Harley shop one day, and he said the Low Bucks Car Club wanted him to lead the cruise and he would like to, but he had no car. I immediately saw the irony in this since I had driven the ’64 convertible when I was in high school and he was a deputy. Our paths crossed once or twice.
“We do have friends with GTOs lined up for a couple more years down the road. One is a local ’67 hardtop and the other is a ’64 convertible from down in Iowa.
“We hope everything works out OK and the tradition will cruise on. This is quite an honor for us car guys.”