The Firefly Cruise In, a car show featuring over 40 vintage vehicles, was a walk down memory lane in the courthouse square in downtown Lexington on Sunday.
“To see kids come up and take pictures, and look, and their parents and grandparents are teaching them, that’s cool,” said Barbara Bertot, who has lived in Oglethorpe County for 35 years. “You want to pass down different things from generation to generation. You don’t want things to die out.”
Car and truck models from all eras of automobiles were featured, from a 1932 Ford 5-window coupe to a 1991 Ford Mustang.
Classic songs curated by Tommy Landrum’s Cruzin to the Oldies played across speakers throughout the event, adding to the nostalgia. Vendors, raffles and prizes for the best cars, including 10 Best of Cruise plaques.
The Best of Chamber plaque, given out based on the highest quality and condition of the vehicle, was won by Dwight Vaughn for his 1955 Ford.
Lexington resident Linda Parish, office manager for the Chamber of Commerce, has helped organize the annual event for 12 years.
“It brings people out,” she said. “People have been seeing people they haven’t seen for years.”
Barbara Bertot, an Oglethorpe County resident, and James Hollingsworth, who is from Greenwood, South Carolina, enjoy the annual Firefly Cruise In while standing in front of his teal 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air on Sunday. (Sidney Chansamone/The Oglethorpe Echo)
The vehicles on display were a testament to the work their owners have put into them. Each one was eye-catching and unique, including a teal 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air, owned by James Hollingsworth, who is from Greenwood, South Carolina.
“It makes you kinda proud when people come up and ask you about it and take pictures of it,” Hollingsworth said, smiling and pointing to an onlooker who had stopped to take photos of his car.
Hollingsworth, who has been working for eight years to restore his car from the “rough” condition he found it in, is able to sit back and be proud of his accomplishment.
“It ain’t like something you go to the store and buy,” he said. “You got blood, sweat and tears put into it.”
Hollingsworth developed an enthusiasm for fixing up vehicles at an early age.
“When I was 12 years old, I was working on cars,” he said, recalling a time he helped his father, a mechanic, work on a construction truck’s brakes.
He has since passed his passion for fixing up cars on to his son, who owns a paint and body shop.
Vintage cars line the street during the annual Firefly Cruise In in downtown Lexington on Sunday. More than 40 vehicles were on display during the event. (Sidney Chansamone/The Oglethorpe Echo)
In addition to the cars, a variety of vendors had booths at the Cruise In.
Among them was Mark Atkins, owner of 2nd Chance BBQ, who was returning to cater the event for a third time.
“I love the different antique cars. It’s something that kinda shows you how time passes without you realizing,” he said.
Tamika Smith, owner of Foods in Motion, was experiencing the event for the first time. She has lived in Oglethorpe County her whole life, and frequently takes her food stand to events all around the area.
“I’m enjoying myself; business is good,” Smith said, between serving customers helpings of her fried green tomatoes.