The 7th Annual Salem Super Cruise made money for the third year it has been under city management, Service Safety Director Ken Kenst said during a debriefing meeting Wednesday in city hall.
Mayor John Berlin said all city expenses were paid for by the event.
That included employee overtime.
"There were no tax dollars from anyone in Salem," Berlin said.
Kenst said the Super Cruise T-shirts sold out "even after we re-ordered" and the Expert Tire Show 'n Shine drew its largest entry on Sunday.
Any extra money can go toward other community events, Berlin noted while Kenst ran through a list of thank yous before about 20 people.
Mick Orosz, who handled the concessions, said, "I can't believe it just keeps getting better. The vendors were real happy ... they were real happy."
Orosz spoke to one woman from Minerva who wondered why 'my town can't do something like this?'"
The one snag for vendors was the East Second Street parking lot that fell short.
Orosz said vendors were advised going in it was new for 2012, but it apparently proved to be too far from the center of activities.
"I know I learned a lot from this weekend," Kenst said, while reading off a list of thank yous.
The first meeting for the 2013 Salem Super Cruise will be held in January, but the discussion revolved around better space utilization for show-car parking, rides for the 10-and-over kids (bumper cars), more directional and informational signage, improved communications among event workers, additional registration sites, a first-aid station, and fine-tuning traffic control at key intersections.
While there were no incidents, Berlin suggested bringing in drug-sniffing dogs, with the right combination of handler and dog, as a deterrent.
Adviser Jim Bonfert suggested official thank you letters be sent to the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. and Salem Tire Service Co. for bringing the Goodyear blimp "Spirit of Goodyear" to town.
Tom Hall, co-organizer of the Expert Tire Show 'n Shine, suggested closing off South Broadway Ave. next year for either vendors or show cars, since parking space was at such a premium on Friday and Saturday.
Arby's cruises were held all four nights during the Super Cruise and organizer Gene Johnson said they had great turnouts each night.
He said Thursday was "great" while Friday "we had a great turnout with cars coming and going into the downtown area cruising."
He added, "On Saturday there were over 200 car cruisers most of the afternoon and into the night."
Johnson said they tried to make a head count "from the stage area" with two people counting and got up 1,500 people.
"We gave up," Johnson said, "too many to count."
He added, "The complete parking lot of Arby's and the parking lot of the plaza were full all the way back to the stores from 4 to 10:30 p.m.
On Saturday, Mike Mancuso of Salem won the NASCAR racing tire that was raffled off while Lorna Hall from Winona won the 6x6 Play House built by the Salem High School woodcraft class.
Johnson said, "We a great bunch of car cruisers and had no trouble at all" adding that parking lots on both sides of East State Street were filled with spectators watching both Randy Strader and the Tribute Band and the Abby Road Tribute Band that finished out Saturday.
Johnson said, "I will say it was great and we have the pictures to prove it."
Kenst said, "These things just don't happen" and "we wanted as many people downtown as possible."
He said nothing will be discounted when meetings for the 2013 Super Cruise begin.
Larry Shields can be reached at lshields@salemnews.net
