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| The Route 66 Cruisers Car Club
was formed in 2006 in Claremore, Oklahoma. A "guy with a Mercury" named Dwayne Caldwell
helped to grow the club to almost 30 members within the first year. The name Route
66 Cruisers was voted on at
the first meeting, it fit
perfectly since Route 66 runs right thru Claremore. The first
meeting was Oct. 1, 2006 and started out meeting at the garages of
our members. The Route 66
Cruisers has almost 150 members now and we have outgrown many
meeting places in Claremore- members garages, Boom-a-rang Diner, and
Pizza Hut just to name a few. Our club started seven years
ago with about six members and has finished this year (2019) with
about 60 members. We accomplished this by working together and as long as
we continue to work together it will only get better. One of the first events held by the newly formed Route 66 Cruisers was a Toy Run - only with cars! We thought "if a Toy Run can be done with motorcycles, why not cars" and that first Toy Run had 60 cars participate! The first Toy Run also marked the first time the club worked with the Akdar Shrine to donate the toys to the children in care of the Shriner's Hospitals. The Route 66 Cruisers first car show almost didn't happen, but Dwayne Caldwell, who is currently our club president, said "if this club is going to be a car club, then we need a car show!" In 2008 the first annual car show was held at Claremore's Will Rogers Downs and had a great turnout thanks to the hard work of a close knit group of members working to spread the word about the show. This year, 2016 will mark the 11th Annual Route 66 Cruisers Car Show and it is now held at Claremore Lake benefiting the Akdar Shrine Transportation Fund. We have been fortunate enough to raise over $10,000 in combination with our annual Claremore Swap Meet to benefit the Shriner's Kids. We have added live music at the show by Bill Holden & the Night Hawks, Arts & Crafts, and attract show cars from all across the United States. The Claremore Lake Car Show is now one of the biggest in Oklahoma and the surrounding areas and is known for being not only a great quality car show, but a fun event for the whole family as well. What started as an idea for a Claremore car club has grown strong since 2006, and each year we are blessed with new members, new friends throughout the world with our website www.Route66CruisersOK.org and Facebook Page, and the support of a dedicated group of current members who not only enjoy cars, but the friendships they have made along the way. Current club president Dwayne Caldwell enjoys “the willingness of the members to participate in the club” and believes “we have the best car club in Oklahoma.” Dwayne is proud of the fact that the Route 66 Cruisers is such a large club and with the club’s growth he would like to see the club as one of the bigger contributors in this city for special events and bringing people to Claremore to fill up the hotels and make Claremore a tourism destination. When
we think about the future of the Route 66 Cruisers Car Club “In the future
we would like to
improve on the events we have now, and we would like to start going
on more cruises and more fun things for the club members to
participate in.” What makes us the proudest is being involved in raising funds to
transport the children to and from the Shriner's Hospitals and
hearing some of the success stories of their treatment. Also, seeing
how happy the children are at Christmas time when they receive the
toys our toy runs have provided. We wish all of our members could
attend one of these functions where the children are present. It
really makes you feel like our club has accomplished something. Timeline and photograph links October 2006- Route 66 Cruisers Car Club officially formed. Route 66 Cruisers Car Club Presidents:
Previous Route 66 Cruisers Car Club Logo (used until 2010):
Current Route 66 Cruisers Car Club Logo (Designed by Scott Youtsey):
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