Rare rides at the Hartman's Heritage Center Cruise for the Cure

Most people know that every Saturday night throughout the summer, the Hartman’s Heritage Center in Independence hosts one of the area’s biggest car cruises.  But there was a bit of a twist this weekend, because the event started a couple of hours earlier, and was presented as a full-fledged car show.  Known as the Cruise for the Cure, raffle tickets were sold in an effort to raise money for mammogram services at St. Luke’s Hospital.  I have no doubt that the donation was generous, because there were some great door prizes up for grabs, and the car count was sizable.

The glare is there at the Hartman Heritage Center Cruise

As the sun sets figuratively on the 2012 car cruise season, the sun was setting literally on the monthly Hartman Heritage Center Cruise in Independence on Saturday night. Talk about harsh conditions for picture taking. It was like I was taking pictures of the sun directly, and a car would sneak in and spoil the shot.

Stifling sunshine aside, there were still lots of great cars there. This was taking place at the same time as the huge monthly cruise in Belton, but they still managed to bring in a good crowd at this weekly event.

The Hartman Heritage Center Cruise Night in Independence is really freakin' big

For all the different car shows and cruises I’ve been to in Kansas City, I’ve never been to the one at the Hartman Heritage Center in Independence.  And that was a serious oversight.  Because I can tell you that it probably ranks in the top three of all local cruises based on attendance.  This was hundreds of cars.  And the crazy thing is that they do this every Saturday night throughout the summer.  It’s a wonder there are enough cars left in town for anyone else to hold a cruise night.