The car culture in Red Deer, Alberta is one of the strongest in North America.
It’s defined by the commitment from the guys who get their hands dirty all winter to produce a classic ride in the spring.
Car guys are community oriented by nature so this trait is seen in car clubs from Tampa Bay, Florida to Whitehorse, Yukon.
Car clubs raise funds by the truckload and the reason is because car guys generally come from humble beginnings.
The hot rod culture was born when guys with limited budgets and infinite talent figured out how to strip down a Model T and add a non-stock engine from a junkyard.
They didn’t build Indy cars but these hot rod pioneers built them on a fraction of the budget and the real car guys never forgot their roots so when the community needs support these guys are there with their wallets. This is evident every December when the Red Deer car guys gather at Comfort Collision and Restoration for a fundraiser built around a Christmas party.
This is your typical community effort because the dinner is potluck thanks to the contributions, expertise and support from these car guys’ wives. This is really successful like any great community gathering because the key word is “community”.
The goal is simple-raffle off a Coke fridge for the Red Deer Food Bank. Trevor Comfort donates his expertise for the paint job and Dave Heykants gave it his personal touch with custom “one-off “ pin striping. This fridge raised over 2000 dollars for the Red Deer Food Bank after it was donated back by the raffle winner.
Trevor is a poker player so he always has a second card to play and this time he added a second beer cooler to the game for the benefit of the Salvation Army.
Fred Scaife paid 600 dollars to own the fridge and this spoke volumes about Fred’s own commitment to the community at large because he is also the Executive Director of the Red Deer Food Bank.
Freddie is a hardcore car guy too–his old ’53 Poncho is a regular at local shows when he’s not working and he puts thousands of miles on the old Chief.
There is an old adage about “shooting fish in a barrel”.
Fundraising via car guys is one of those real life “fish in a barrel” scenarios because these Red Deer guys prove their commitment to the community every December.
Jerry Sutherland
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