ESCANABA — This spring will be the 41st and final Fun Run Car Show hosted by the Krusin Klassics club. After this year’s parade and show on May 30 and 31, the event is transferring into the hands of the Escanaba Downtown Development Authority (DDA), which plans to continue the tradition with some changes.

The first Krusin Klassics event in 1985 brought about 40 cars and 100 people to downtown on a rainy day. In recent years, the Fun Run, made up of a Friday parade and a Saturday show at the fairgrounds, has had hundreds of classic automobiles at each event. Close to 60 cars have been raffled off and hundreds of thousands of dollars donated back to the community, estimated current Krusin Klassics President Mark Caswell.

Though the club will continue to exist, its members are aging and volunteer support for the massive event that is the Fun Run has been difficult to come by.

2025’s show and swap meet at the end of May will go on as planned, with a 1984 Hurst/Olds as the raffle car — tickets should go on sale by the end of the month — and “we’re bringing back a couple things that we did years ago that were a lot of fun,” Caswell said.

When the DDA takes over beginning with the 2026 event, they’ll change the name to “Ludington Street Cruise,” and the show will be moved from the fairground to downtown, with Ludington Street blocked off on the Saturday of the show.

“Our goal is not to duplicate what Krusin Klassics has done over the years. That’s not possible to do,” said DDA Director Craig Woerpel. “The impact that they’ve had on this community has been immense, so our goal is to continue something like that … so that our community can continue to benefit from a car show.”

Woerpel said there will also be music, utilizing the DDA’s new stage, and called the future Ludington Street Cruise “a much simpler event” than the Fun Run.

“The one thing we don’t want to lose is something that draws all of our community to come down, spend time with one another, enjoy the establishments that we have … and have some form of entertainment that’s fairly unique to our region,” Escanaba Mayor Mark Ammel said, calling the long and wide main street “perfect for parades.”

On the future of Krusin Klassics: “Although we’ll be breaking up as the car show itself, the members plan to remain as a club to attend other related events as spectators and attendees in the surrounding area, and also continue supporting various auto events and fundraising events until we no longer can — in physical support and monetary support,” Caswell said.