Cool cruisin’ at the beach

By John Howell
Posted 7/14/16

When it gets hot, it’s cool crusin’ at Oakland Beach.

Last Tuesday was the perfect night for it. The wind off Greenwich Bay was refreshing and the sun refracted off all the chrome. There was …

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Cool cruisin’ at the beach

Posted

When it gets hot, it’s cool crusin’ at Oakland Beach.

Last Tuesday was the perfect night for it. The wind off Greenwich Bay was refreshing and the sun refracted off all the chrome. There was lots of metal and some of it was pretty old. The cars are shiny, classy, sassy, outrageous, cleaner than new, futuristic and all with a story.

Ask Ray Cahoon, owner of a 1951 Mercury truck. It looks like it came off the production line in Canada – the only place they made them for three years, although it’s not the original color. Ray’s uncle Gene Cahoon, who has been painting cars for 50 years, sprayed it a metallic honey that glows in the setting sun.

“People say they’ve never seen a Mercury truck,” Ray said. He’s been to countless car shows and never found another. And there’s good reason. Ray estimates only about 150,000 were made. That’s part of what he likes about his, but just part.

“It’s a hobby,” he said. He did the oak floor and side boards and has plans – the next winter project – to inlay strips of oak in the running boards. He regularly drives the truck and has fixed up a 1956 Ford for his wife to drive.

Ray and Gene made the circle of the Oakland Beach commons, renewing acquaintances, seeing the latest arrivals and, of course, talking cars. That’s about what everyone does at Tuesday cruise nights, which got their start more than 15 years ago thanks to the late Kevin Oliver.

Oliver saw an activity that would bring a desirable crowd to the beach, be fun, and help raise some funds for the neighborhood association. He was right on all scores. Oliver is remembered with a granite bench bearing his name and photograph that was installed two years ago. It is to be rededicated at an event Aug. 9.

For the past several years, the Greater Warwick Lions Club has been running the cruise nights. George Areson and Dot Farrell were checking in the cars as they pulled into the commons. The charge is $2 or $10 for a season pass that includes a raffle ticket for car-related prizes, such as wax or a chamois. Depending on weather, the cruise nights start in mid-May and run through mid-September. It won’t be held Aug. 2, as that is the National Night Out.

“The whole idea of Lions is community first,” Areson said. Funds are also raised with a 50/50 raffle.

It’s the love of cars that keeps bringing back Bill Nixon of Warwick Neck to Oakland Beach on Tuesday evenings.

“I’ve owned a lot of them,” he said, looking around the field and pointing out models and makes he’s owned. There was one car, however, he surely never owned. That’s because there’s only one Villa Riviera like that driven by Jeff Goldstein.

The 1963 Riviera has a unique history. GM’s Buick division gave the brand new car to George Barris, Hollywood designer of custom cars, including the Batmobile. Barris elongated the front and rear sections and painted it cherry red. Movie director Leslie Martinson spotted the car and used it in the film “For Those Who Think Young” after some modifications, including red and white phones and a backseat TV.

Goldstein documents the full story in a flyer that he handed out Tuesday. What the flyer doesn’t tell is Goldstein’s obsession with the car since he was a kid and built a plastic model of it. He talked with Barris about the fate of the car, and while he sensed Barris knew, all he would disclose was that it wasn’t too far from Rhode Island. Then at a show in Hershey, Pennsylvania, Goldstein found the car and learned it would be coming up for auction in Connecticut. He bought it and has worked to restore it to its movie heyday for the past year.

On Tuesday, the car made its debut at Oakland Beach. It was a sensation even for the non-motorheads in the crowd.

That’s the fun of cruisin’ Tuesday’s. And it doesn’t have to be hot, either.

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  • richardcorrente

    Oakland Beach is a diamond in the rough.

    I believe it could be the most popular of all Rhode Island beaches. We should charge half the amount the state beaches charge (about $5.00). We should then put 100% of the money received into "Beach Beautification". We should regularly remove litter. We should police the beach and tag the cars from parking in the "No Parking". We should have a first rate sign saying "Welcome to Oakland Beach". In other words we should take care of Oakland Beach. None of this would cost the taxpayer a penny and the results will benefit us all. Oakland Beach should be Rhode Island's number one tourist attraction. When I am Mayor it will be!

    Enjoy your Summer. I will...at Oakland beach. Iggy's anyone?

    Richard Corrente

    Endorsed Democrat for Mayor

    Thursday, July 14, 2016 Report this

  • Thecaptain

    That's a good one!. Oakland Beach as RI's number one tourist attraction. Maybe you can make a big sign that says

    THE MORON UNEDUCATED COUNCIL PRESIDENT THAT HAS BEEN TAX DELINQUENT SINCE 2004 LIVES HERE

    and place it in front of her house.

    Sunday, July 17, 2016 Report this