The Dream Cruise was initially created to give the many people the opportunity to showcase their restored vehicles from the '50s and '60s. It has become a venue now for not only those vehicles but any vehicle that has been altered or created for show.
This year, the Men of the Sacred Heart revved up and showed up for the Cruise this past Aug 17, 2024.
The Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica graciously offered their corner
on 12 Mile and Woodward
as the Catholic Corner where groups such as the Legion of Mary and the Men of the Sacred Hearts could showcase who they are and what they do for families.
We passed out our materials and the Lost without Him prayer card to the people on the sidewalk, much like a parade, but instead of us moving, the people were moving.
In the morning, the foot traffic was primarily families with younger children. As the day wore on, it seemingly became more party people.
Legion of Mary and St Paul Street evangelizers passed out rosaries and miraculous medals, and other various people such as the right to life were with us on the corner of 12 and Woodward. Which seems to be the epicenter of where the center of the action is.
I was surprised that there was a group of people in front of our tent on the grass from Cleveland and another group not far from them all the way from Columbus that came up for the event.
If you have never been to Dream Cruise, I can tell you that no vehicle seemed to have been without a noisy exhaust, burnouts or spinning tires. They were an absolute must, and the roar... close to painful. That said, the crowd was fun loving and quite enthusiastic about the vehicles that cruised by on Woodward.
For those not from the area, the dream Cruise recreates the '50s and '60s when cruising Woodward was a national pastime for young high school people!
They would take their souped-up cars out and try to dodge the police while they did drag racing and of course, socializing from car to car. There were drive-ins along 11 mi stretch, and you would go from drive-in to drive-in, hopping out of one car and hopping in another car to go cruising again. it was great fun for those of us that should have been at the library (like we told our parents we were!) but instead were having the time of our lives on Woodward!
This year's Dream Cruise was an amazing opportunity to integrate our faith into every day life, especially by bringing Our Lord and Our Lady into the heart of celebration and festivities.
-David Tay