Fort Collins High class of '61 takes ride down memory lane with College Avenue cruise

Just like they'd done many times before, seven old friends met up on North College Avenue Saturday morning.

The landscape looked a bit different than it used to. Back in their day, there wasn't much development north of Old Town, and the North College A&W Drive-In where they used to congregate is long gone.

But that didn't stop the ladies of Fort Collins High School's class of 1961 from taking a trip down memory lane.

That morning, decked in Lambkin purple, seven members of the class gathered with one goal in mind — to cruise College Avenue for old time's sake.

The idea was originally hatched as the ladies in the group turned 80 this year.

"We said we have to do something to celebrate," said Nancy Davidson, who brought up her Mustang convertible from Pagosa Springs for the occasion.

Georgia Ackerman — another member of the class of 1961 — heard the idea and invited a few more former classmates to join.

Throwback gallery: Cruising College, a time-honored Fort Collins tradition

When asked who to talk to about the special celebration Saturday, everyone pointed to Ackerman — who was called "full of fun and mischief too, always planning things to do" in their senior yearbook.

Like a lot of Fort Collins teens in the 1950s and 1960s, the ladies would often "cruise" College Avenue, driving up and down the main drag between the A&W Drive-Ins on North College and South College avenues.

Back then, all the cars had names and were in varying conditions. One boy's front driver-side floorboard was so worn, you could see glimpses of the road right through it, according to 1961 classmate Barb Little. Another time, one of their classmate's steering wheel popped right off as they were cruising, she recalled with a laugh.

It was an easy way to see their friends and have fun back then, Little said Saturday.

"Life was so much simpler then," she said. "We genuinely had fun — and had fun with nothing."

Davidson agreed, chiming in with a story about the time she and her friends, Georgie Patrick and Nancy Day — who were also both in attendance Saturday — decided to climb to the Aggie "A" on a lark. It must have been the summer before their ninth or 10th grade year, Davidson said.

Day, always properly dressed, was wearing boots. Davidson was barefoot, and Patrick was in flip-flops, which she kindly shared with her shoeless friend. The two hoofed it up the cactus-strewn hillside with one sandal each, Davidson recalled.

"We were fun," she added.

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Split into three cars, the ladies disembarked for their cruise just before noon Saturday. Boasting purple and gold balloons and signs with messages like, "80 years young ... still cruising College Avenue for fun," they journeyed down the familiar stretch blasting songs from the 1950s and 1960s on a boombox.

Afterward, they reconvened for lunch at storied Mexican restaurant El Burrito, laughing and joking as they went inside to find a table.

A lot of things may have changed in the past 60 or so years, but the ladies of the class of 1961 are still fun.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Fort Collins High School class of '61 cruises College Avenue