As we get ever closer to Sunday School (4 days left?! Yikes…), I’m working to ensure that all of you have some new content to enjoy while we work behind the scenes in preparation for this Sunday. For today I have a bit of event coverage, though perhaps not in the traditional sense. What I mean by that is that I’m not going to be focusing on the vehicles that were present, as instead I want to give attention to the reason behind the gathering – the introduction of Collector Car Appreciation Day in the province of Alberta.

Back in 2010 SEMA began Collector Car Appreciation Day (being the second Friday of July) as a way to acknowledge how important of a role vehicles have played over the years in American culture. Be it music or literature or film or another form – cars and trucks have been the inspiration behind a lot of art over the decades and it was agreed that it should be acknowledged on a wider scale, beyond just enthusiasts.

It’s also important to recognize the economic impact of the collector car hobby – insurance, parts, repairs, restoration; a lot of businesses are heavily affected or reliant on these cars and their owners.

Over time the movement spread and several Canadian provinces started recognizing the day as well, including our immediate Eastern and Western neighbours, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. Alberta however, remained absent from the list.

Recently, a local enthusiast by the name of Albert Ogusuku began a campaign to change that, and on July 14th 2017 a number of us gathered to witness the result of his work – the signing of the declaration officially introducing Collector Car Appreciation Day in our province.

The location for this event was the Glendeer Circle A&W, a perfect spot given that it is a regular meeting location for many local enthusiasts. Donny and his staff put in an incredible amount of work week after week, providing a fantastic location to meet and hang out, and also thanks to their efforts a lot of money is raised for MS. This A&W and its entire staff are important supporters of our community and so there was no better place to host this celebration.

Stephanie McLean, Minister of Service Alberta and the Status of Women, signed the proclamation and made the day official, as plenty of owners and enthusiasts watched and cheered. She also had the opportunity to meet and chat with many of the folks at the event and learn more about the stories behind some of the cars present.

A smaller, framed copy of the declaration was awarded to Albert (in the light blue shirt, above) as recognition of his efforts.

This has perhaps been a slight change of topic as compared to most of what is seen on the site but I wanted to share it here to highlight what has been an important step forward for our community. Anything to help gain and promote further appreciation and understanding of our hobby/lifestyle, as well as the importance of these vehicles – is always a win in my book and a lot of work was carried out to see this through. A big thank you again goes to everyone involved in bringing the day to Alberta, and of course to Donny and his staff at the A&W as well for their work and providing the location.

-Bill

EXTRAS:

Just before we wrap up today, in case some of you hadn’t seen it yet, above is the short video from the day as well. I also had one more photo that I couldn’t resist sharing, but it needed a wee bit of explanation to make any sense…

Naturally there were quite a few dogs around at the show, and as a friend of ours was trying to get the attention of these two so he could pet them, I crouched down to grab a photo. Well, this one saw the camera and immediately wandered up to it to check it out. I had my telephoto on so I couldn’t focus on him at that close range, but I thought the view was too funny to not grab a photo anyway.

And with that, it’s back to Sunday School prep! I’ll try to get one more post live before the show but if I don’t, you’ll know why! We look forward to seeing everyone out this Sunday; Max Bell, 11am-3pm. We can’t wait!