Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
Marshall Cohen—researcher and producer, CNN
Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
SATURDAY NIGHT KAT CRUISE
SATURDAY NIGHT KAT CRUISE. Begun in 1984, this unique summertime activity proved to be a public relations bonanza to RADIO station KATF-FM. Rendezvousing in a parking lot on Dubuque's westside, vintage cars from 1973 or before lined up to begin a caravan toward a pre-announced destination. The cruise on May 21, 1988 brought an estimated 5,000 people to the TOWN CLOCK PLAZA where loud music led to some concern. It was thought that the vibrations could topple the 116-year-old clock from its pedestal.
At the end of the cruise, drivers and their passengers joined local people in dancing to popular tunes of the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s. The entire activity was broadcast on the radio.
In 1989 the cruise to Cassville, Wisconsin, involved two hundred cars. Eventually an estimated seven thousand people joined in the festivities. These generally included a lip sync contest and a toilet paper race in which contestants competed to unwind a roll of paper in the quickest time.
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Source:
"Kat Cruise," Dubuque Through the Decades, Telegraph Herald, July, 2020, p. 40