When I was in high school every Saturday night we would head for the Fax. This would be West Colfax Avenue between Sheridan and Union Boulevard.
You could count on the girls wearing the smallest outfits and as much makeup as their mothers would let them out of the house with. And the boys would have the cars cleaned and polished.
We would collect gas money to cruise up and down the street east to west and back again all through the night until our curfews. The street was absolutely gridlocked between the hours of 8 pm and 11 pm. If you were a local you took a back street.
All the high schools were represented: Lakewood, Green Mountain, Alameda, Bear Creek, Arvada, Golden, Jefferson (if you were really unlucky!).
I met my first long term boyfriend, Troy, on the Fax. He had a red Toyota pickup. He was with his mate, Danny, who was later shot in the line of duty when he was a sheriff for Denver County.
I used to cruise with my girlfriends, Ev, Kerry and Susan. Susan was with me when I met Troy.
One time Susan and I decided we would stay out all night. We told our parents we were staying at each other's homes and we headed for the Fax. What we hadn't appreciated was that at 3 am everyone else had headed home and the Fax was a lonely place at that time of the night. We ended up sleeping very uncomfortably in her car that night.
After 5 years of the chaos the police cracked down on the cruising. And I don't think anyone cruises anymore. But I learned to talk to boys on the Fax. And it will always hold very fond memories for me.
4 comments:
The cruising street in Lyons was Main Street. From hiway 77 to the park and back. Probably about a mile. It was short enough that if you didn't have a car you could cruise on foot. A few times we cruised Burt County. From Lyons to Oakland to Craig to Tekamah to Decatur and back to Lyons. (We did skip Bertha). I did meet Jerry while cruising. I liked his car, a 60 red Impala.
Cruising is not what it used to be. Because of the gangs and violence the cruising streets have to be heavily patrolled in Norfolk and probably in all other larger cities. Another trip down memory lane.
Sue
The schools you mentioned: Lakewood, Arvada and Bear Creek all sound very familiar. We may have had cousins going there in teh 70s and 80s.
And I remember the one mile of "cruising the bricks" in Lyons. The Main Street is still cobblestone bricks. Sometimes we would "shoot the mile" - a one mile stretch of blacktop that went west of town, turn around at the first interesection and go back to the bricks. Of course, we had Three Dog Night, Neil Diamond and Olivia Newton John blasting from the speakers!
I am sure you learned a lot of things about boys on the fax...
Ohhhh, to reminise. Oh wait, I live just a few blocks from "the fax".
I was too young to cruise, but I do remember the days.
They are starting the revitalization. Hope it accomplishes what they want.
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