The Wasaga Beach Cruisers car club approaches automotive madness with a mission.
by Roger Klein // Photography by Roger Klein
When the Wasaga Beach Cruisers get together on a Monday evening, the result is a spectacle to behold. A lonely, dry patch of grass at Stonebridge in Wasaga Beach transforms into a rumbling cacophony of voices and engines. Hundreds of modified, vintage and historic automobiles line up, all polished, appointed and pimped to perfection.
The deep green paint on Norm Rumney’s 1956 Chevy Bel Air is so glossy it appears wet, and the car’s chrome details brighten the cloudy sky. The gleaming conveyance is a source of pride for Rumney. He says it took him six years of work to restore the car and get it back on the road.
“The car actually came out of Texas in the early ‘70s and it sat with another eight or 10 cars that a gentleman owned. He went through a divorce so he had to liquidate a few of the cars. I purchased it in 1992,” Rumney recalls with a smile.
John Leonard is smiling too. He drives a dazzling red and white 1955 Crown Victoria. Leonard says the car is originally from Nova Scotia. “I had one when I was young and as soon as I saw it, I knew I had to have it,” says Leonard. “We bought it and we’ve been having fun with it ever since.”
Rick Seip is one of the Wasaga Beach Cruisers’ founding members. His ’51 Mercury pickup truck is from Saskatchewan. It looks beat-up, but Seip says don’t be fooled by the patina. “It’s rough, it’s crumpled, it’s got bangs in it, but underneath it has a ’95 Mustang motor with Posi-Trac (limited-slip differential), power steering and power brakes.”
Hundreds of modified, vintage and historic automobiles line up, all polished, appointed and pimped to perfection.
The Wasaga Beach Cruisers hold monthly meetings through the fall. Annual memberships are $40 before January 1. Cruises take place every Monday evening from mid-May through September and are free to attend.
Every set of wheels in this dusty field has a story. It’s the stories that spark conversations, and before long the conversations lead to new friendships. Anyone who spends some time wandering between the fenders and lawn chairs will soon discover that the Cruisers’ Monday night gatherings are actually more about people than the cars.
“It’s a fun group of people who do trips and many tours during the year. We just have a good time,” explains George Johnson, the club’s promotions manager. There are more than 220 member families and regular meetings continue year-round. “It’s a great big social event and it doesn’t quit in the fall. We have a Christmas dinner and auction where we raise money for local charities and regular meetings once a month through the winter,” says Johnson.
Ron Decoste is the proud owner of ‘58 Chevy Impala. He looks forward to meeting his friends on a regular basis and, from his point of view, the fundraising for local charities is what gives the club its purpose. Indeed, the club’s mission statement is “to drive our cars and have fun with the aim of assisting our community through fundraising.”
Decoste says he’s impressed with the Cruisers’ organization and transparency when it comes to handling the money raised. “It’s really important to me,” he says. “I want to know where it’s going.”
The Wasaga Beach Cruisers president Brian Currie says that managing the fundraising is a point of pride. “We have some awesome people on the executive,” he says. Last year the Cruisers donated about $20,000 to three local charities: The Wasaga Beach Ministerial Food Bank, Campbell House at Hospice Georgian Triangle in Collingwood, and My Friend’s House.
The fundraising raffles, weekly prizes and events have all combined to make the Wasaga Beach Cruisers a going concern in the community and, according to Currie, the Monday night cruises are drawing new people and cars from surrounding communities—Midland, Orillia, Barrie, Alliston, Victoria Harbour, Meaford, Collingwood and Dundalk—making the Cruisers one of the largest car clubs in the province. “It’s family-oriented—that’s a big part of why our club has grown to the size that it is today,” says Currie.
