Gary Davis is a typical car guy-winter drives him crazy because you can’t drive your old iron in January when you live in an area where winter is an all too painful reality.
With all due respect to Al “I make huge money off the myths of global warming” Gore, this is a real winter.
‘That’s why Gary organizes an annual mid-winter gathering of car guys…and these are serious car guys.’
They range in age from 20 to over 75, some are ¼ mile guys, some are old school hot-rodders and some are restoration guys but all have one thing in common-they love cars and they hate winter because their cars are in hibernation mode.
He throws a great event with a caterer and a shop full of car guys and that takes the edge off the season that stops 396 Camaros in their tracks.
This year two serious car guys were honored for their contributions to their local car scene-Gerry Paquette and Challenger Dave.
Both guys deserved the accolades.
GERRY AND GARY
Gerry is tireless behind the scenes at virtually every local car event with his personal contributions, his participation in the shows as an entrant and his financial support via his employer Kipp Scott Pontiac Buick Cadillac. He’s not a spotlight guy and he was actually humbled by the acknowledgement he received at the car guy gathering.
But most guys that know Gerry realize that he’s in it for the good of the hobby. The last thing he cares about is whether he gets to be the center of attention but Gerry’s a guy that clearly is an unsung hero.
Challenger Dave was the other recipient of a plaque for his efforts in running the Thursday Night Show and Shine in Red Deer. This could well be the world’s most thankless job but Dave thrives on the challenge.
He’s taken this show from about 20 or 30 cars to several hundred in a matter of few years and, while success is a good yardstick to measure anything-in Dave’s case, it come with more problems.
Now he has to deal with turn away crowds and all the fun that comes with telling a guy that there is no room for his ’57 Chevy.
The one (’57Chevy) he spent truckloads of cash and 4 years building.
But Dave does this without any misgivings because he believes that the heat he takes is simply a symptom of a very healthy local car scene.
CHALLENGER DAVE AND GARY
A parking lot with only a few cars would bother him a lot more than a little flak from fellow car guys.
‘Guys like Gary, Dave and Gerry are the lifeblood of the old car hobby because most people look out for number one in life-these guys don’t, and in their own way, they assure the future of the car guy and the car guy world.’
Jerry Sutherland
