Classic car enthusiasts roll into Old Town for annual Cruisin' Sherwood

By Scott Keith

SHERWOOD, Ore. — Cruisin’ Sherwood proved a huge success Saturday, August 8, as an estimated 10,000 visitors packed Old Town to see classic vehicles including hot rods and military vehicles.

Dave Murray, executive director of the Sherwood Area Chamber of Commerce, said Cruisin’ Sherwood has grown over the years.

“This is our 34^th year,” he said. “It started off as a very small type of event here by the founder of Clancy’s … it has grown ever since.”

Murray says this year’s event was one of the most successful held in Sherwood.

“We had close to 400 cars that participated,” he said. “We’re looking forward to next year, hitting 500 cars … We had over 10,000 visitors, but it’s hard to get an exact number on that.”

One of the car show participants was Rick Griffith from Redmond, along with a 1993  Corvette convertible.

“I am impressed,” he said. “This is a very well put on show.”

Hunter Lafountaine, from Salem, is another newcomer to the Sherwood event.

“This is our 1944 Coupe Deluxe, my grandfather bought it when he was 14 on his paper route for $75 and it has been in the family for 72 years,” he said. “It’s really nice to honor the car, get it out and show its beauty.”

Lafountaine was impressed with the turnout.

“It has been really great. The car turnout is awesome, to see a different mix of modern cars, muscle cars and what people have custom built,” he said. “It’s really cool to see everyone come together for it.”

Beaverton resident David Bondi brought a 2011 Mustang GT, California special. It is his second appearance at Cruisin’ Sherwood.

“It’s a nice show, a lot of beautiful cars,” he said. “Everybody is really friendly and open. Everybody loves talking about their cars — It was a great day to be out here.”

Mike Sandoz of Tigard brought a 1979 convertible Volkswagen bug.

 “This is my first time at the show. It’s a fantastic show, I’ve never been to one this big before … the turnout is amazing,” Sandoz said “I had no idea there were so many people up and down the streets. I think it’s a great thing for the town of Sherwood to have this much community involvement going on.”

Murray looked ahead to future Cruisin Sherwood shows.

“Absolutely, we’re looking forward to many more years, and we’re especially looking forward to next year, which will be our 35^th year,” he said.

Murray said the Chamber is receiving nothing but positive feedback on the event.

“Social media has gone crazy,” he said. “Our Instagram page received over 60,000 views, so it’s absolutely total positive feedback.”  

Events seem to always change with time, and plans for next year’s milestone anniversary are already underway following this year’s success.

“We have some things to look forward to changing and improving next year,” Murray said. “Overall, every comment that I’ve received personally, every comment on Instagram, and everybody I talked to in the city feels that it was one of our most successful shows.”