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Car event may be “as big as Hot July Night”

Over 100 vintage cars to be on display on June 8
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On June 8, 100 Mile House will be rumbling with over 100 classic old cars. The event, supported by the 100 Mile Cruzer’s Car Club, is part of the Vintage Car Club of Canada “Canada 150 Tour.” The event is expected to feature cars largely from the 1950s and 60s but has also registered some cars dating back to the 1920s and 30s.

Starting in Chilliwack on June 6, the tour will run until June 14, with other stops in Kamloops, Quesnel, Barkerville, Prince George, Williams Lake and more.

“At three o’clock, we’re going to have the show and shine at the ice rink. We’re going to have a band called The Front Porch. They’re going to be playing. We’re also going to join them with our cars. So there’s going to be at least 130 - 140 cars there,” says Jim Williscroft, president of the 100 Mile Cruzer’s Car Club. They will also stop in 108 Mile Ranch the next morning.

There will be food sales, with half the food sponsored by Save-on -Foods, and a 50-50 draw, the funds of which will go to three good causes, he added.

“The Wranglers are going to get some money, The Heart and Stroke [Foundation] is getting some money and then we have one of our members, her husband died so we’re trying to raise some money for her.”

The event is a repeat of a similar tour made for Canada’s 100th anniversary and Williscroft says the event presents some unique challenges.

“They’re worried about the Highway 24 hill, so we’re going to have a flatbed sitting at the bottom in Little Fort for them to carry them up the hill if they need it and then we have three garages of either members or local companies that are going to provide mechanical services if they need them. Usually, when they do these things, they have a lot of breakdowns because these things are pretty rickety,” says Williscroft, who’s optimistic about the event.

“This is going to be very, very good for 100 Mile House,” he says. “The rest of Canada is putting on something for the anniversary and this is our end of it. 100 Mile, compared to a lot of these other places, is pretty small and we don’t always get a chance to wave our flag. So it is quite exciting.”

He adds that it will also bring a lot money into the community with 100 hotel rooms rented, fuel, food and more.

“This is definitely going to be a money maker for the city … We think it’s going to be one of the best events of the summer. We’ve been working on this for a couple of years now,” he says “We need about 30 to 40 volunteers to put this on and we’ve had an incredible amount of people step up.”

The event may also provide a boost to the Cruzer’s themselves.

“The Vintage Car Club runs all the car clubs in Canada basically, so it’s given us a chance to affiliate with them and I think down the road we will probably have an affiliation or something because we’ve done this for them. They were at a loss with who they were going to get do it,” he says. “By the sounds of it, we’re putting on equally as much or better than most of the cities are so they were quite ecstatic about it when we met with them.”

Williscroft won’t be joining the tour due to some personal health issues but is looking forward to being part of the event in 100 Mile House.

“Myself, I’m just going to take it all in. I’m going to have a camera going,” he says and will be observing the event from a rocking chair in the back of a pickup truck.