The Hot Rod Power Tour came through Picayune Friday, and brought a lot of excitement to the city.
The cars were coming from the previous day’s stop in Gulfport, and there was some confusion in the route as many of them missed the turn on Salem Road.
“They came up 43 South hit the interstate, and kept going to Slidell,” said Code Enforcement Officer Tom Milar. “There was some miscommunication going on.”
Cars started arriving in Picayune around 8 a.m., which was also unexpected.
“We were told they would not leave Gulfport till 9, but it’s not one of those things where you can tell them they can’t leave,” said Milar.
Despite all the miscommunication, tour participants were impressed with Picayune, said Boulevard Cruisers member Paul Williamson.
“I had a lot of people tell me this was the only small city that rolled out the red carpet,” said Williamson.
Williamson provided the tents, tables and chairs that were set up at Crosby Commons.
Sherri Thigpen, owner of Paul’s Pastry, stayed pretty busy with tour participants throughout the day. Thigpen said when cars started coming past the bakery she and her employees went outside to hand out cake slices.
“They were all so nice and really excited to be here,” said Thigpen.
Thigpen said tour participants came from all over the United States including South Carolina, Virginia, New York and Texas.
“We had about 50 of them stop and come in the store and tell us they were very happy with the hospitality,” said Thigpen.
Mayor Ed Pinero said throughout the course of the day Picayune saw about 2,000 cars come through town.
Jeff Dahlin, editor of Hot Rod Magazine, said Picayune was the most hot rod friendly city in the United States.
“I’ve never felt more welcomed than this, we will be coming back,” said Dahlin.
Dahlin said he’s wanted to make Picayune a stop on the tour for a while.
“This is car county, these are our people so we knew it was a sure thing,” said Dahlin.