CENTRE — Every generation—such as the Baby Boomers or Generation X—is defined by the circumstances surrounding it and the choices its members make. A quarter-century ago a generation of Cherokee County teens was shaped on a patch of Centre asphalt.

Cruising the Big E parking lot in the Cherokee Plaza was not just a weekend trek into town—it was a teenage rite of passage. You might even call the cruisers Cherokee County's own “Generation E”. Many recall cruising the old Big E parking lot like it was yesterday.

“It was awesome,” said Dawn Lawson, who attended high school at Gaylesville in the late 1980s. “Where else could you go to see such humor with all the fights, love triangles, music, friendships, gossip, and of course a few hot guys? We lived for those days!”

“I made a zillion laps in all kinds of vehicles,” Sand Rock native Teresa Sauls said, via Facebook. “We didn't care what they looked like. We were just happy to be there.”

Sarah Williams, a Cherokee County High School graduate, also relished the old times.

“Those were great days, cruising and stopping to talk,” she said. “We even had gun racks and rifles in our trucks and nobody worried about it.”

“Funny how just driving around in circles with your friends equaled a great weekend,” Tami Fowler said.

Former Big E manager, Eric Ellis, was complimentary of the cruisers.

“For the most part everybody conducted themselves well,” Ellis said. “We didn't have any major problems that I recall. I think for the beer drinking and stuff they would go somewhere else to do that and then come back to the parking lot.”
Cedar Bluff graduate Bill Reed confirmed Ellis's theory.

“For drinking and pot, everybody went somewhere they couldn't be seen,” Reed said. “Most of the time if someone was going to fight, they went to a high school parking lot or state docks.”

By most accounts, most who cruised or left the lot to drive to other places were not up to dastardly deeds.

“We would drive through, check it out, go other places, and always come back to the Big E parking lot,” said Charlotte Lindsey, who now lives in North Carolina.
“Once everyone met up at the parking lot, there was no telling where we would end up,” said Angie Hill, who graduated from Cherokee County High School.

“Ingram's, the state docks, Turtle Pond, lake lots, or at whoever's house was the site of a party that night.”

Stacy Ransom Bolton agreed.

“One night I was having a small party at my house, and I was told that someone was riding the parking lot screaming, 'Party at Stacy Ransom's house!',” she said. “By the time everyone arrived, there were at least 200 people there. I had people coming up to me the next week saying they had a great time, but I never even knew they were there.”

Cruising wasn't just a Centre phenomenon. Gadsden, Rome, Piedmont, and many other cities and towns had their riding-around hangouts. In some places cruising continued into the 2000s before rising gas prices and legislated hours in which teens could drive curbed its existence.

It didn't last nearly that long in Centre.

In the late 1980s reports of littering and store/customer complaints brought about barricades that limited cruisers to the end of the lot opposite the Big E. Reportedly, some cruisers bypassed the barricades.

The matter was brought to the Centre City Council in fall 1988. Evelyn Tallent, a teenager speaking on behalf of cruisers, and a Cherokee Plaza lawyer both gave their opinions to the City Council. After the November council meeting police restricted Big E cruising, at times even running teens off altogether.

In 1990 the Alabama Legislature passed a law on criminal vehicle trespassing, officially ending cruising the Big E parking lot. Over two decades later, signs prohibiting cruising still dot the light poles in the parking lot.

There is hope that the old Big E parking lot will once again be full. A Goody's clothing store is reportedly coming this spring.

Alan Amos said he hopes it will fill up for another reason.

“I'd like to see a reunion,” Amos said. “I think it would be a good idea if the city of Centre would allow it. There might be so many people cruising that, you couldn't fit everybody in there.”

Whether or not the idea of a reunion gathers steam, Cherokee County's “Generation E” will still have its memories of a more carefree time.

“I wish I could go back sometimes,” said Amos. “Our kids won't ever have as much fun as we did.”