Cruisin’ to Clinton, the cruise night on the Square, drew more than cars to town last Saturday. While hotrods, kit cars and vintage cars and trucks were parked on the east side of the Square, bicycles were featured on the southwest corner, where Skipper Buckley and friends staged Bike Fest, an exhibit of bicycles from the 1890s to the 1980s, next to the 9/11 Memorial.
Skipper had a row of 1960 and ‘70s Schwinn Krate Sting-Rays bicycles from his collection. Charlie Dixon brought his high wheeler, a Penny Farthing. Daniel Dahlquist brought bicycles from the 1890s that he restored, and Skipper asked James Allen, who has the Pedalers Bicycle Museum in Springfield, to participate.
Judy and Dave Bell of Deepwater drove their 1983 GMC truck to the Square with a red Schwinn 1957 Spitfire bicycle in the truck bed. Dave bought and rebuilt the bike, Judy said, adding a Chevrolet tank, and repainted it.
Earlier, the Bell’s 1942 Chevy truck won trophies at the Clinton Senior Center Car Show for best paint job and Top 10 trucks in the show. Dave rebuilds and paints vehicles in his workshop, Judy said, and has a room full of trophies.
“We go to a lot of local shows — Blue Springs, Peculiar, Garden City, Bolivar and Collins,” Judy said. “It’s a lot of fun.”
Bill and Eileen Albin of Clinton were at cruise night admiring Greg Lowe’s shiny black 1958 Ford Fairlane hardtop convertible, along with Avery Westhusing of Montrose, and Garrison Boehler of Deepwater.
Cruising’ to Clinton is held on the Square on the second Saturday of the month, May through September, at 4 p.m, and the third Saturday in October. DJ Bud Powell provides music for the cruise night crowd.
The Bike Fest included a raffle for a Mongoose bicycle like the one on the “Stranger Things” television series, and drawings for three BMX bicycles provided by the Truman Lake Moose Lodge.
Robert Minks, Skipper’s brother, and Nicolas Fickle, both of Clinton, sported “Clinton Bike Fest” T-shirts, and were on hand to help with Bike Fest.
Daniel Dahlquist came from Galena, Ill., for Bike Fest. Daniel is a poet who restores bicycles that have ties to American and bicycle history. On his virtual museum website, dahlquistcycleworks.com, he has an article and photos of bicycles he restored called “Story of America in 2 Bicycles.”
His next focus is an article Washington Post columnist Sally Jenkins wrote about riding a yellow bicycle, the only transportation she could find, through the streets of New York after the Twin Towers disaster. Published on Sept. 11, 2021, the article, “Beneath 9/11’s Terrible Smoke, a Flash of Gold” describes the experience.
The yellow Schwinn bicycle reminds us that our shared humanity can and will survive in the midst of unspeakable cruelty, he said.
