Lowell and Betty Bailey, all the way from Idaho in their 1915 Reo roadster

     Sunday was arrival day, with the eager participants picking up their tour packs and readying their cars for touring the next day.  Monday dawned sunny and hot, and before departure, everyone enjoyed a Canadian style breakfast buffet.  Co-chairs Steve Passfield and Andrew Smith gave words of welcome and offered some brief updates of the week’s itinerary.  Appropriately girded up for the day’s run, we left for a backroads tour to Peterborough to the north, with the destination being a wonderful Canoe Museum.  In the evening, back at the hotel, there was a wine and cheese party in the hospitality room where people chatted about the day, renewed old acquaintances and made new friends.

Martha, Dan and Cecilia Tatarnic with their 1915 Ford 

(Cecilia, just six weeks old,  was the youngest participant for the week)

     Tuesday’s tour took us around scenic Rice Lake, with a stop for a ride on a restored antique carousel, a visit to a local car, tractor and memorabilia collection, and a catered lunch beside the Trent Canal in lovely Campbellford.  Everyone enjoyed the food, which featured juicy, poached chicken breasts, salads and a tasty strawberry cake for dessert.  By now, we started to accept the quiet, well maintained roads through the hilly countryside as the norm, and indeed, we did have great tour routes that kept us off busy highways almost completely.  In the evening, there was an ice cream social with local ice cream, fresh fruit and other toppings.  Entertainment was provided by Sharon Andrews and Bill Graham, who put together a program of music geared toward the horseless carriage era.  They included such gems as “In My Merry Oldsmobile” and “He’d Have To Get Out And Get Under”, much to the amusement of the audience.

Joan, Andrew and Andy Rosenberger with their 1909 Kissell Kar

 Peter Fawcett, accompanied by Ernie Mee, plays Chopsticks in the “Music Festival”

      On Wednesday morning, Andrew had a local fun tour arranged for us, in which we were encouraged to interact with each other and the “locals”, and document in our adventures in a scrapbook format.  There were scheduled stops at a local church, the art gallery, a horseshoe pitch, Tim Horton’s coffee shop, and Dressler House (home of early film star Marie Dressler).  At the church, we thought we were attending a local music festival, but hosts Susan Smith and Ernie Mee soon made it clear that we were the competitors in the festival!!  Somehow they encouraged us to showcase our talents, either singly or in groups, so everyone came away a winner.  It ranged from Dan and Martha Tatarnic and Jeanine Passfield singing Amazing Grace in three part harmony, to Peter Fawcett playing Chopsticks, to Darryl and Kathy Kemmerer playing a duet version of Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, to Barbara Lindsay singing a moving rendition of God Bless America.

A lovely model in Jane Grove’s fashion show of period automotive clothing

      In the afternoon, we adjourned to the waterfront for A Century of Horseless Carriages.  For this day only, other Southern Ontario members were invited to bring their pre -16 cars to join the group, making a total of over 100 cars, a turnout the likes of which hasn’t been seen in Ontario since, say, 1920.  The event had been fairly widely publicized locally and across the province, and helped by  the good weather of the day, there was a big crowd on hand to enjoy the opportunity of seeing the cars.  The city allowed us to park the cars on the huge pier which juts out into Lake Ontario, and it proved to be a spectacular place to showcase our vehicles.   Cobourg also provided us with a stage, sound system and tent as a venue for a ceremony to honour the approximately two dozen cars that had reached the 100 year mark.  Musical accompaniment was provided by The Klaxons, with Susan Smith on keyboard, Jennifer Fawcett on violin, Ernie Mee on banjo, and Steve Passfield on drums.  Jane Grove had brought her collection of dusters, hats and parasols, and with models chosen from the tour participants, did a fashion show of period dress.  MC John Smith introduced a number of 1908-1915 cars, then each of the century cars was introduced, and HCCA Board Chair, Don Rising, presented the proud owners with the Century Plaque.  All this caused us to work up a great appetite, and just as the award ceremony finished, the caterers were ready with a wonderful steak barbecue supper.

Herb and Maureen Coons and their 1904 Oldsmobile Model 6C 

      On Thursday, our route took us along the shore of Lake Ontario to Oshawa, with a coffee stop at another local car collection.  Miraculously, we were able to get right into the heart of the city with a minimum of traffic issues.  The destination was the Canadian Automotive Museum which features a large and varied collection of interesting cars.  We were able to enjoy a visit to the museum and then partake in a delicious box lunch served in the park across the street.

      Suddenly it was Friday, the last day of touring.  In the morning, Ray and Gail Hayhurst distributed butter tarts (a well loved Canadian treat) to everyone, as the focal point for a “make your own” morning coffee stop.  Most people paused to enjoy their snacks in Brighton, a lovely little town on the morning route.  Later on, we visited the Royal Canadian Air Force Museum in Trenton to see, among other artifacts, their recently restored WW 2 Halifax bomber, which was fished out of a lake in Norway some years ago.  In the evening, we all enjoyed a prime rib and chicken buffet, with a wide array of salads, desserts and other treats, then Steve and Andrew wrapped up the week with words of thanks to the committee and participants.  Manny Rein also spent a few minutes to recount the establishment of our cross border tradition of touring which took place way back in 1977.  There were thirteen cars on that first tour, which was hosted by Art Hart in Maine, and  with six of those first families  represented in Cobourg this year, it speaks well for the tradition.

      Nick Rein is heading up the organization of next year’s tour, which will take place in the Hershey, Pennsylvania, area.  It’s safe to say that almost everyone has been to Hershey, but do we ever see anything beyond the flea market and car show, other than the occasional restaurant?  I think it promises to be a great tour, and many of us are already looking forward to it.   

      The future for Horseless Carriage touring looks bright in Ontario and North Jersey.  We had an amazing turnout of cars and people, including many young families  (thirty-six children and teens!).  A few years ago, the Southern Ontario region weekend tours typically had only eight or ten cars, but things have changed and now, in 2007, we are getting 25 to 30.  Amazingly, we had 31 families from our region alone signed up for the week long tour.    It’s great to be part of something that is alive, well and growing in popularity.  I think it is safe to say that everyone attending the Ontario Shores tour had a wonderful time.  Thanks to the committee who worked hard to put it all together and thanks to everyone who came from near and far to enjoy the week of fun.

Bob and Louise Nunnick’s 1914 Pierce Model 48 touring

Neil and Beth Butters and their 1910 McLaughlin Model 8 touring

 Roger and Eleanor Hadfield and their 1907 IHC