A young patron of the Corner Cafe takes a bite out of her hamburger during the popular restaurant’s Cruise-In, Saturday evening.

A little thing like rain couldn’t dampen the spirits of the Corner Cafe’s Cruise-In, Saturday evening.

Despite the fact a thunderstorm moved through East Ridge about an hour before the popular event centered around admiring classic cars in the parking lot, regular customers flocked to the cafe for a little fellowship, burgers and dogs.

“Everybody still came to support us,” said Cafe owner Melissa Davenport. “We had a lot of fun even though people didn’t bring their hot rods.”

The weather wasn’t the only thing that tried to stand in the way of the Cruise-In; a tree brought down power lines behind the business on Friday morning, knocking out electricity to all the businesses in the strip mall in the 3900 block of Ringgold Road. Davenport vowed then that the event would continue and she was good to her word.

Davenport, who has hosted the Cruise-In for four years, said there is another Cruise-In planned for later in the year.

“I couldn’t get the Corvette out in this,” said Brian Williams, who left his beautiful sports car at the house but nevertheless brought his wife Shelley to the Cafe to socialize, eat burgers and catch up with friends. “I was going to but the rain started coming down. 

“We’ll be back,” he said.

Davenport and her husband, Rodney, were a hive of activity behind the counter filling orders for the faithful who showed up despite the inclement weather. 

“It was just so gorgeous all day long,” she said as she handed another burger across the counter. “But, I can’t control the weather.”

Davenport kept a smile on her face as Corner Cafe patron Bobby Lockhart, who owns several classic cars, came up to the counter to chat. “We had fun,” Lockhart told Davenport.