Mike Farrugia loves his 1964 Chevy Impala Super Sport. It used to belong to his grandfather, Paul, who raised Farrugia and was “like dad” to him. He has fond memories of unsafely riding in its front seat.
Decades ago, his grandfather sold the car to put its profits towards Farrugia's college education.
“I tried to talk him out of it, but I couldn’t do it,” the local man recalled.
Many years later, after his grandfather had passed away, Farrugia accidentally stumbled upon a 1964 Chevy Impala Super Sport online. He knew right away that it was his grandad’s from the unmistakable keyguard he had designed.
After tracking the vehicle down in Massachusetts, Farrugia bought it and shipped it back to Canada. The family heirloom sat proudly and prominently at Saturday’s Cruise Night in Georgetown.
Cruise Night is an evening celebration of all things classic cars. The gathering normally runs on Fridays in the parking lot at MoldMasters SportsPlex, but Farrugia, who organizes the event along with his wife Allison, held a special celebration on Saturday to mark the 20th anniversary of the local show. Much like the Chevy Impala itself, the event has had quite the journey.
“There have always been cruise nights around Georgetown as long as I can remember,” Farrugia said.
They used to be mostly informal affairs, being held by circles of friends and their friends of friends in the parking lot of a McDonald's here, a Kelseys there, and even under the shadows of long-gone haunts like Zellers, Price Choppers and a Blockbuster back when they were still around.
Farrugia said the first official cruise night started out in 1999 as Firestone Cruisers in Moore Park Plaza.
"One of their big sponsors was Firestone garage, which then became R&R, which is now Master Transmission and is still the sponsor.”
The actual 20th anniversary of cruise night was meant to be held in 2020, but the pandemic forced it to be postponed.
The Farrugias came into the picture in 2018. They read in the newspaper that the previous owners, Mike and Lynn Gower and Bill and Sharon Gower, were retiring.
“Rumours started circulating that we were taking it over. So I guess we decided, ‘What the heck, let’s take it over.’”
Cruise Night raises funds for the Georgetown Hospital Foundation. Over the course of its 20 years, it has raised $60,000.
"That is all funded through donations and sponsors through the general public and participants,” noted Farrugia.
For further details, visit the Georgetown Cruise Night web page.
