How Abilene’s Original KEAN 105 Cruise Night Began

The original KEAN 105 Cruise Night began with a conversation in our radio station’s conference room and a simple goal: bring Abilene families together while helping our police department teach children about safety.

I know because I was sitting at that table.

What grew into a beloved Abilene tradition started with classic cars, community generosity, and a little fellow named Rodney the Robot.

A Conference Room Conversation Started It All

I remember sitting with Wayne Griggs, our top salesman at KEAN 105, around the early 1980s. We were discussing ways to help the Abilene Police Department raise money for Rodney, a robot officers could take into schools, and support the children’s safety program we came to know as Safety City.

Wayne and I shared a love for classic and muscle cars. We felt that enthusiasm needed a little encouragement. Why not bring those cars together, involve our police officers, and give families an evening worth remembering?

We could cruise, gather afterward for a car show, hand out trophies, and throw a good old-fashioned sock hop.

That conversation became the idea for the original KEAN 105 Cruise Night.

Our Police Officers Were Already Part of the KEAN Family

Back then, officers visited our studios Monday through Friday at 7:30 a.m. for the Abilene Police Report.

Officers like Richard Valdez told listeners what had happened on Abilene’s streets. Those regular visits also gave us opportunities to talk about helping children and supporting Rodney the Robot and Safety City.

KEAN recruited sponsors to help with T-shirts, trophies, and fundraising. Car clubs helped establish vehicle guidelines, and police officers helped keep the cruise safe.

Over the years, the Abilene Police Department, Abilene Fire Department, Abilene Chamber of Commerce, car clubs, sponsors, and businesses throughout the Big Country helped make the event something families could look forward to.

Slicked-Back Hair and Rock and Roll

Once the cruise began, we did something you didn’t hear every day on KEAN 105: we switched from country music to rock and roll from the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s.

Afterward, we gathered in a sponsor’s parking lot for the car show and sock hop.

Picture kids with slicked-back hair and rolled-up T-shirt sleeves, parents dressed for a night of dancing, and generations enjoying the same music. When Johnny Dee & the Rocket 88s hit the stage, the dancing began.

We held costume and dance contests for children and adults. We handed out trophies for cars, trucks, motorcycles, and categories such as most original. Everybody wanted that People’s Choice recognition.

There were also trophies for the best-dressed boy, girl, woman, and man.

Those evenings gave families a chance to share memories while raising money for children’s safety.

Rodney the Robot Made Safety Lessons Memorable

One of my fondest memories is watching Rodney capture a classroom’s attention.

An officer would introduce him while another officer, out of sight with a headset and microphone, supplied his voice. To the children, Rodney could talk and answer their questions.

They asked about bicycle safety, crossing streets, drugs, and whatever else was on their minds. Rodney made those conversations approachable and fun.

Safety City offered another way to make lessons stick: a miniature town where children could practice navigating streets, signs, and intersections.

The city’s history records that construction began in 1976 and the program opened in October 1981. Cruise Night became one of our ways to support that community effort.

A Legacy That Reaches Across West Texas

While preparing this history, I visited with retired Abilene Police Chief Melvin Martin and his wife, Mary Ann.

In 2009, Safety City was formally renamed the Melvin Martin Center for Children’s Safety in his honor. That milestone is documented in the Abilene Police Department’s historical album.

Chief Martin spoke proudly about children learning pedestrian, bicycle, personal, and fire safety. The center’s fire education facility also lets children practice escaping simulated smoke and meeting at a designated safe location.

What especially pleased him was how far that mission has grown. He told me Safety City now serves schools across 31 West Texas counties.

Think about that. An effort we supported here in Abilene continues helping children throughout our region.

Helping Safety City Write Its Next Chapter

Mary Ann, president of Friends of Safety City, told me the center needs updates, including traffic lights, signs, children’s cars, and protective features around sidewalks and curves.

She also shared hopes for expanded facilities to accommodate more students. According to Mary Ann, Friends of Safety City is planning a major fundraiser in February 2027 to help support those improvements. This will also be a celebration of the 45th Anniversary of Safety City

That gives our community another opportunity to invest in the children who will carry these lessons through life.

Getting Ready to Cruise Again

Our city is improving North First Street, and giving that work time to move forward helps us plan a safe return for participants, families, and spectators.

We’re looking ahead to bringing the original KEAN 105 Cruise Night back in 2027, with that same community purpose at its heart.

Chief Martin shared with me his favorite car of all time. I had no idea; Chief Martin blew me away with ZZ Top’s famous red 1933 Ford coupe, the Eliminator. Now, wouldn’t it be something to see him arrive at Cruise Night 2027 in a coupe like that with ZZ Top playing through the speakers?

The photographs and newspaper clippings accompanying this story preserve pieces of the tradition we built together.

“Cruise Night was born out of our love for classic cars, but its purpose has always been our love for the children and families of Abilene and the Big Country.”
-Rudy “Fearless” Fernandez

Get those cars, trucks, and motorcycles ready. We have more memories to make, and more children to help.

Let’s cruise, cruise, cruise.

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