A change of name and some new organization are bringing back the annual Main Street Vancouver July cruise.
In 2017, there is no “Cruisin’ the Gut” — the annual cruise hosted in the city since 2009. However, what will take its place this year, “Cruise the Couve,” won’t likely seem any different save for the name of the event as well as the showrunners.
As to why the change, it came down to a need of a new showrunner, after show founder Phil Medina told city officials he wasn’t sponsoring the event for another year, a release from the recently-created Cruise the Couve organization stated.
The event has become so engrained within the Vancouver community that business owners came together to make sure the event would stick around.
Trapdoor Brewing Taster and CEO Bryan Shull has spearheaded the organization behind Cruise the Couve. He said once he and other business owners in the vicinity of the cruise caught wind of Medina’s decision they came together to talk options. Taking part in the planning were Salmon Creek Outfitters, Tip Top Tavern, Zzoom Media, Vancouver Pizza and Uptown Barrel Room, as well as Trapdoor Brewing.
Shull said he took the lead because of experience handling “interesting, difficult projects,” which for an event with a precedent of an excess of 20,000 in crowds is no simple feat.
The biggest concern Shull shared was not whether or not there would be cruising July 15, but whether there would be the support there after the drop of the primary sponsor.
“Without having the infrastructure on our street for that day, it would be chaos,” Shull said, “and it would be the last year that it would happen, because the neighbors would flood the city council to shut the event down and close the street off that day; it would die.”
“Essentially one of the biggest business days of the year for dozens of business on main street would evaporate,” Shull said.
With the nine-year precedent Shull knew people would show up, so the businesses had to get moving.
“People really come here and do what they were going to do anyway. It has become bigger than any one person or one business,” Shull said.
“A lot of grace has come our way,” Shull said, recounting how in what would normally be a months-long process was over and done with in the matter of weeks. He applied for a not-for-profit business license with the state and received it “instantly.” The federal hoops he needed to jump through would normally take six months, he said; it only took six days to receive that approval.
“Everything has magically come together,” Shull said.
A larger volunteer force than past years might be one of the other few changes, who Shull said would be visible by branded shirts during the event.
Cruise the Couve differs from other local cruises, notably the Harvest Night Car Cruise in Battle Ground the night before. All regular traffic laws apply and Main Street will remain open to traffic (though smaller cross streets would be closed). Although in the whirlwind that was making sure a somewhat-structured event was still happening it didn’t happen this year, he said he had reached out to the Battle Ground Chamber of Commerce for the possibility of cross-promotion in subsequent years.
“The same people are going to have the same cars go to both events, so why not talk together and kind of reach across the county a little bit?” Shull said.
Ultimately, having the cruise in control of the businesses gives a new direction for how the cruise will go in subsequent years.
“The event has ended up in the hands of the main street businesses that have been affected and participated in for the last nine years,” Shull said. “Now it’s up to us.”
