Buzz Trexler/Star Correspondent Mayor Bill Carter listens to Carter County Car Club President Jim Bass during Thursday night’s regular City Council meeting.

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By Buzz Trexler
Star Correspondent

After nearly an hour of commentary and discussion, City Council decided it was time for a change when it came to Carter County Car Club’s cruise-in, and a compromise was reached Thursday night.

For several years, the club has held a weekly Saturday night event from May through October, as well as an annual all-day car show. The club announced in April it was moving the first of its seasonal cruise-ins — which normally start in early May and continue through October — from downtown Elizabethton on East Elk Avenue to Elizabethton High School due to the temporary closure of the Broad Street Bridge, which detoured traffic through downtown.

Now that the bridge has reopened, the club was seeking City Council approval to return to downtown beginning Aug. 2 and continuing through Nov. 1 — except for Sept. 20, the Saturday of Covered Bridge Days weekend — with road closures from 4:55 p.m. until 9 p.m. Road closures for the all-day car show on Aug. 16 would take place from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m., with closures for the cruise-in to follow from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

In making the request, President Jim Bass reminded City Council members that the all-day car show and cruise-in raise money that benefits area youth — $25,630 in 2024, and over $260,000 since 2011 — and a monthly show, as suggested by some people, would limit that fundraising. “There’s no way that could happen if we meet once a month,” Bass said.

Councilman Kim Birchfield moved that the request be approved, with Vice Mayor Mike Simerly seconding the motion.

After Councilwoman Deborah Gouge pointed out that Aug. 16, the day of the club’s planned all-day event, was the same date as the Rockin’ on the Doe event, Bass agreed to change the date of the all-day car show to Aug. 23 (rain date of Aug. 30) and that there would be no cruise-in on Aug. 16 or Sept. 20.

“I’m going on the record, every week is too much,” Councilman Richard Barker said.

Councilman Jeff Treadway said, “We have been told for two or three years that our downtown merchants don’t want to do away with the car show, but they do want a change. It’s more than half of them, I think.”

Treadway said that in the past, council members had discussed moving the cruise-in from Elk Avenue to E Street, and moved that the schedule agreed upon during the meeting be used, but one Saturday a month be chosen for Elk Avenue and the remainder take place on E Street. Councilman Wes Frazier seconded the amendment, and it passed 5-2, with Birchfield and Simerly voting no.

When council members returned to the main motion to approve the amended car club request, it passed 6-1, with Birchfield being the lone no vote.

Some public comments

Kevin Cole, co-owner of Dino’s Restaurant, 420 E. Elk Ave., was one of several people who, during the public comment period ahead of the vote, spoke in favor of returning the car show to downtown. “We are highly supportive of that coming back downtown,” Cole said. “It means a lot to the business.”

Johnson City resident Jim “Woody” Woodward said he was a “very strong supporter” of keeping the cruise-in downtown. “We look forward to it every Saturday night,” he said, later adding, “If it weren’t for the cruise-in, I’m not sure how much we would come to Elizabethton. We like Elizabethton, it’s a great, great town, but I’m not sure we’d be there, and we spend money every Saturday night.”

Still, there were several business owners who said the cruise-in should either stay at the high school or, if it returned to downtown, undergo a change in frequency.

Lisa Fletcher, owner of Fletcher’s Homemade, 510 E. Elk Ave., spoke of the challenges downtown business owners have faced since traffic was diverted due to the closure of the Broad Street Bridge. Still, despite the challenges, Fletcher said that during the weeks the cruise-in has been held at the high school, her Saturday sales have increased 20 percent over the same period in 2024 when the cruise-in was held downtown.

Fletcher revisited past discussions at City Council meetings, prior complaints, “harassments on Facebook, and the memes, and the ongoing shenanigans,” and made additional comments before the three-minute chime went off and Mayor Bill Taylor encouraged her to close her comments with a statement.

“Well, just in closing, I suppose, it was really nice having the car club do their cruise-ins at the high school,” she said, noting that the relocation did help the businesses and suggested it remain at that location. However, she also offered the compromise of a once-a-month downtown cruise-in and relocating the all-day show. “That would be nice, too, because that is a huge disruption,” Fletcher said.

Other downtown business owners recounted the increase in Saturday sales since the cruise-in has been held away from downtown. One of those was Paula Augustine, owner of August Muse, 518 E. Elk Ave., who said her sales for May and June were up 190 percent. Frankie Bailey, owner of The Coffee Company, 444 E. Elk Ave., said, “I’ve also seen that sales have gone up 20 percent on Saturdays with increased foot traffic.”

“I will tell you, I’ve always been a supporter of the car show,” Bailey said. “I think it’s a really great show, and I think it’s a disservice to take it away from our community. However, I think the big thing that would be very helpful for merchants downtown would be to see the frequency change,” she said, recommending that the downtown car show be limited to once a month while keeping the all-day car show.”