NSP History Cruzer Car Show

05/27/2026

This is a post to clarify about the car shows that are being put on in the City of North St. Paul.

The North St. Paul History Cruze car show is going every other week this year. The dates are every other Friday from June 12 - September 18, 2026. June 12, June 26, July 10, July 24, August 7, August 21, September 4 & September 18 from 6:00pm - 10:00pm. The Invisible Wounds Project is putting on their car show on the off weeks of ours.

We register with the city each year to get a permit to close the street for the purpose of having a car show for 1975 and older vehicles. Many people think the show is put on by the city of North St. Paul, but it is not.

It is posted by both the City of North St. Paul and the Invisible Wounds Project that all three groups are working together to keep the car shows going in North St. Paul. We are not working with the Invisible Wounds Project.

The City of North St Paul and the Invisible Wounds Project have never contacted us (The History Cruze) to discuss our show or have any other communication with us.

We deal with the city to start our permit, get insurance, go in front of the city council for approval, and give the list of our vendors.

The city web site states that they have a partnership between The History Cruze, the city and the Invisible Wounds Project. We only have a partnership with the city. The city contacted the Invisible Wounds Project and brought them in from Forest Lake on their own without talking with the board of the History Cruzers, which is fine. That is their choice, but don’t say we all have been in contact with each other, when we have not. To this day, the city still has not told us officially they set up another group to fill in the off weeks of our car show. The invisible Wounds group has not contacted anyone in our group to talk about this either.

Our group was never asked if the city could share our proprietary vendor list with the Invisible Wounds Project staff, but they did without asking us if they could. The Invisible Wounds Project states that they received our proprietary vendor list from the city, and it is worded like we are working with them on the car shows for this year. Again, we are not.

Remember, our show is free and has been for the last 33 years, The History Cruzers LLC pays the city to have the show each year to defray costs that the city incurs, as well as the operational costs for the show including insurance, Police coverage, Porta Pottys, etc. (all required by the city) and other production costs such as signs, barricades (all our barricades and signs are owned by our group).

All History Cruze staff are volunteers, not one person has been on payroll throughout our entire 33-year existence. At the end of the year, all funds above the cost of putting the show on are donated to our local charities such as the food shelf, veterans park and many others. We do not collect admission from either participants or spectators and never will, we rely completely on sponsors, donations and vendor fees to financially support the show.

The Invisible Wounds Project will be asking for a $5.00 donation for each car entering the show.

Please understand that we are trying to help you understand this mess. We all want the car shows to continue, but the city is making it somewhat difficult to solve some issues that happen on the streets during the car shows. We believe that we’ve worked out some of our issues with support of our police department. Our permit closes the street for our intended use, to show cars and trucks 1975 and older. We have cars and trucks that are newer than 1975 pushing our gate people (yellow shirts) down the street with the front of their vehicles. To alleviate this, we are adding cameras at the gates and there will be police presence as well.

05/12/2026

They are still looking for a few more cars for their event...

Help Us Bring Back the Good Old Days

We’re hosting a small car event for residents at a Lino Lakes senior living facility at the intersection of Hodgson and County J and would love a few cruisers to join us on Tuesday, May 12 from 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Our folks light up when they see the cars they remember from years past and enjoy visiting with the owners just as much as seeing the vehicles. No pressure, no judging—just a fun, feel good morning.

If you’re interested in joining us, please contact Kaitlyn Olson 651-515-1730 or email [email protected] or Linda Dickinson 651-515-1726 or email [email protected] to confirm your spot!

Help us make their day!

And Thank you again for your interest in helping celebrate older adults. Lyngblomsten at Lino Lakes at 6070 Blanchard Blvd, Lino Lakes, MN 55014

Linda and Kaitlyn

04/22/2026

04/21/2026

FRIDAY NIGHTS IN NORTH ST. PAUL

Since it was announced that the North St. Paul History Cruze would change this year from every Friday night to every other Friday night, we have received many calls asking WHY?. I will try to answer this and hopefully not get too long winded. You may want to read to the end because this applies not only to the History Cruze, but to many other car shows as well.

We are all getting older! Some of us would like to have a week off once in a while instead of working the show fifteen weeks in a row. For this reason we have asked for volunteers for the last several years, and once in a while we get a new volunteer and they last a week or two and then quit because they don’t want to be yelled at, swore at, or ignored - so we have a problem keeping them. It takes a couple of times working the gates to get to know what to expect and how to “handle” the crowd. We don’t expect a new recruit to be on their own the first time. So if you have a thick enough skin to not get upset by getting yelled at we would love to have you join us. If we have enough people we could schedule crews for weeks on and weeks off, or for shifts each week so you don’t have to work the whole night, and possibly go back to having the show every week again. (With regard to handling the crowd: Has anyone else noted that since COVID people in general have gotten more individual oriented and nasty instead of community oriented and have displayed more aggressive driving habits?)

The volunteers that work the gates and circulate through the show are just that – VOLUNTEERS! None of the staff gets paid for what they do. The History Cruze is a non-profit LLC, and as such can only keep a limited amount of money in an account to cover expenses and get the show started the following year. Many people think the show is put on by the city of NSP, but it is not. We pay a permit fee to the city to have the show each year, as well as the operational costs for the show including insurance, Police coverage, Porta Pottys, etc. (all required by the city) and other incidentals such as signs, barricades, etc. At the end of the year, any extra funds are donated to local charities. We do not collect admission from either participants or spectators because it would be near to impossible without fencing in the city, we rely completely on sponsors and vendor fees to financially support the show.

With regard to crowd control: In the past (pre-COVID) if there was a discipline problem with either a rowdy participant or spectator nearby participants would rally around a volunteer until the offender would back down. This has not been the case lately, but rather they side with the offender and start yelling at our volunteer. We are only trying to enforce the rules – some of them mandated by the city and some just in common sense. How about a little support? BY THE WAY: Did you know that it is against state law to move or drive around a barricade? I had people yell at me when I tried to point that out to someone who had just done that. Last year we also had two drivers push (with their cars) our volunteer after they were told they could not proceed. For this reason we are going to place cameras at each corner to monitor the intersection. In case of another incident such as this, the video can be submitted as evidence.

We want everyone who attends the show to have fun – both the participants and the spectators. Many people tell us they come just to walk around, get some good unhealthy food, and look at the cars. Many spectators bring their kids – we want this to be good family friendly entertainment. The rules were established for this to be the case, not because we just decided to be nasty. You are not above the rules just because you have the “best car here”.

04/20/2026

Help Us Bring Back the Good Old Days ✨

We’re hosting a small car event for residents at a St. Paul nursing home located just blocks away from the Minnesota State Fairgrounds and would love a few cruisers to join us on Tuesday, May 12 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Our folks light up when they see the cars they remember from years past and enjoy visiting with the owners just as much as seeing the vehicles. No pressure, no judging—just a fun, feel good morning.

If you’re interested in joining us, please email [email protected] or call direct at 651-632-5358

Help us make their day! ❤️

Thank you,

Carrie

04/18/2026

Antiques Etc.
2551 7th Avenue E
North St. Paul, MN 55109
Phone: 651.748.0073
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Antiques at the Pharmacy

When you are looking for a great place to go shopping on the weekend, you will want to spend time driving through the treasures at Antiques Etc. antique store in North St. Paul. We are located in downtown North St. Paul.

04/07/2026

Attention prospective volunteers,
We will be holding a meeting on May 02, 2026 at 10:30 am to inform new volunteers of what to expect and have meaningful discussions on what duties would best suit the new volunteers. We will be looking for tear down volunteers & corner Yellow Shirts.

The meeting will be held in the parking lot on the southwest corner of 7th Avenue and Helen St. in North St Paul.

The tear down volunteers normally need a pick-up or van to transport cones & barricades.

Board members will be available to talk to and discuss your interest in helping run one of the largest free car show in the country.

Contact Faron at 651 315-6058 if you have any questions.

02/09/2026

5th Annual Wabasha Riverboat Days Classic Car Show – Hosted by The Katfish Kittens

July 25 @ 8:00 AM - 2:00 PM

257 Main Street West, Wabasha, MN, United States, Minnesota 55981 257 Main Street West, Wabasha, United States

Saturday, July 25th, 2025 8:00 AM - 2:00 PM West Main Street | Historic Downtown Wabasha, Minnesota 10 Sponsor Pick Trophies will be awarded to standout vehicles! Live Music All Day – Free and open to the public: Rev your engines and shine up your chrome—Wabasha’s favorite summer tradition is back! The 5th Annual Wabasha Riverboat Days Car Show is rolling into town with vintage vibes, incredible cars, live music, and a whole lot of heart. Hosted by The Katfish Kittens—Minnesota’s iconic all-female car club—this classic car show will line West Main Street with the best 1989-and-older hot rods, lowriders, trucks, customs, and cruisers from across the region. 🏆 10 Sponsor Pick Trophies will be awarded to standout vehicles! 🎟️ Car Entry Fee: $20 per vehicle OR $15 with a tool donation supporting the Wabasha-Kellogg High School Shop Class Help empower the next generation with hands-on skills while enjoying a day of community and classic cars! --> a portion of all vehicle entry fees will go directly to support the Wabasha-Kellogg Shop Class! This isn't just a car show—it's a full-day celebration of classic cars, rockin’ music, and small-town charm right on the banks of the Mississippi River. Don’t miss it!

https://www.wabashamn.org/riverboat-days/riverboat-days-events/

01/01/2026

Attention History Cruzers

We have an announcement that many of you will not be happy about. Our 33rd year is coming with some changes. With all the issues we have had in the past few years, it is time to make some changes to The History Cruze Car Show. Many of our group of volunteers are getting older and we have been asking for volunteers but very few have responded and we thank the ones that have. Something that comes with being a volunteer over 70 years old and some over 80 comes health issues being there taking all the guff that they should not have to put up with. The History Cruze Board is also dealing with city politics which is becoming increasingly difficult to work with. Our board and volunteers have been putting up with some participants that do not think that the rules apply to them since they are so special. The rules are there for a reason and many of the rules are negotiated into our contract with the City of North St. Paul. Our group had decided to cut the show down to every other week instead of weekly as we have for the past 32 years. The reasoning is listed in the first part of this message. We don’t see things getting any better, the disrespect for the last 5 years has grown tremendously from the few and will now it will affect the many, our group will no longer put up with it.
The show year 2026 will be monitored to see if the show will continue in the future.

The History Cruze Board of Directors.

The dates for the 2026 car show are June 12, June 26, July 10, July 24, August 7, August 21, September 4 & September 18, 2026.

12/28/2025