Car enthusiasts head to car show in Rosetown
BY JOAN JANZEN
joanjanzen@yahoo.com
Car enthusiasts headed to Rosetown on Sunday, September 27th, to attend one of the few car shows this year in western Canada. The show was located at the Rosetown AGT Centre from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., where fifty buffed up vehicles were on display inside, and approximately twenty-five more cars and trucks were lined up outside, ready to be viewed.
The Dusty Wheels Car Club put the show together. Their 35th annual auto show was designed to bring people together to share their mutual love of cars. Sixty-one local businesses also sponsored it.
The car club’s Vice President, Barrie Churchman, was excited when the club heard that the provincial government allowed car shows to occur. The organizers were careful to adhere to all the necessary guidelines for the show to move forward. Part of the regulations required a limit of 150 people on the ice surface at a time.
Young and old attended the show, pausing to look at various makes and models of antique vehicles. In fact, I almost bumped into an elderly gentleman while taking photos, but like most car enthusiasts, he was very good-humoured about it. “That’s how I met my wife,” he smiled. “She backed into me, and here we are together 55 years later.”
As I moved down the aisle, a car owner asked a little two-year-old boy if he would like to sit in his customized car, but the toddler kept shaking his head. Finally, his mom asked if he was sure he didn’t want to sit in it; the kid looked at his mom and diplomatically answered, “We’ll talk about it later.”
Later I discovered every vehicle at the show had its own individual story. Vehicle owners came from Lloydminster, Kindersley, Dundurn, Calvert, Saskatoon, Elrose, North Battleford, Unity, Warman, Biggar, Admiral, Kerrobert, Martensville, Oiler, Swift Current, Wiseton and Rosetown.
A 1951 Studebaker Champion was purchased in 1983 by Joe Giesbrecht’s father, Abe and then sold in 1989. However, just by chance, Joe found the car for sale online in 2016 and purchased it once again, bringing the car from Warman to the show in Rosetown.
A 1956 Pontiac Laurentian belonged to Jerry Demeria and his family from Saskatoon, since 1978. He had found it sitting in a compound, where it had been parked since 1962, and it was in sad shape. The hood and front fender were lying beside the car, the motor and transmission were missing, and the owner was planning to trash it. But since the body was complete and totally rust free, Jerry bought it and began the long process of restoring it.
“The car has been an important part of our family, and we expect it will be a part of our family for a long time to come,” Jerry noted.
The Dusty Wheels Car Club members are also expecting their annual auto show will be an important event in Rosetown for many years to come.
PHOTOS BY JOAN JANZEN
