Biloxi Holds Block Party for Cruisin’ the Coast

Cruisin’ the Coast continued Wednesday with a block party in downtown Biloxi. One Biloxi couple was showing off their Corvette Stingray at the block party, but they’ll be showing it off on the big screen next week.

Most cruisers are picky about who can touch their car, but one Biloxi couple recently made an exception for celebrities in a major upcoming movie. Final preparations were being made Wednesday afternoon at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi for the night’s sock hop and concert.

The sock hop and giveaways began at 6 p.m., but there have been Cruisin’ events going on all day. News 25 met up with a Biloxi couple who is at the block party, but got the chance to show their Corvette off on a movie set earlier this year.

The red Corvette Stingray belongs to Jim and Betty Dozier of Biloxi, and will be featured in the upcoming movie Best of Me. Jim says, “I thought, ‘Well, I just bought the car, I’ve got it, why not use it in the movie?’ It was a great experience. We filmed over in Louisiana around, well we had different sets in Pearl River, Slidell, New Orleans.”

After meeting Nicholas Sparks and helping out on set, the Doziers are ready to make appearances this week at Cruisin’ the Coast. The Doziers say they come to Cruisin’ to not only show off their Corvette Stingray, but to support the businesses that are still recovering from Hurricane Katrina. Jim also says, “When you have something like this that comes into downtown Biloxi, especially with all the things going on, of course a lot people are still trying to recover from Katrina. The people that come down here, people from out of state, they bring all the money in here that really helps to build the economy.”

While spending money at local businesses, cruisers are showing off their favorite past time: vintage cars. For some cruisers, their hobby is also an art form. Mike Murray, an Ocean Springs resident, says, “I was an art minor in college and then in my business, I did some design work in little booths at trade shows and things, but when I bought the car or truck, I thought I’d do something different. So what I did, I put one can on it, right here.”

That one can turned into hundreds of trinkets wired onto Murray’s 1964 Chevrolet. While Cruisin’ wraps up this weekend, for one couple, the excitement mounts as Best of Me gets ready for its debut.