MyStarCollectorCar is based out of Central Alberta, a region much closer to the North Pole than the Caribbean, so we know summer is a short but sweet season in our neck of the woods.
We celebrate our May long weekend one week before the Memorial Day weekend in the States, and it can be a crap shoot for local car show organizers because of the strong possibility of horrible weather.
Jim Sutherland
Mirror is a small community of roughly 500 people in Central Alberta, and they host a community celebration every May Long weekend-rain, snow or shine. The event is partly a car show with entrants given a choice to participate in the parade.
The formula works best when the weather is good, but there are no guarantees about a sunny day in mid-May for Central Albertans who want to throw an outdoor event in this region.
However, the people behind Mirror Days do not worry about the weather, dive into the deep end of their event, and forge ahead to produce a well-organized event every year.
We live about 40 miles from Mirror and drove through a thick fog with patches of rain en route to their show yesterday. However, the precipitation got lighter as we got closer to Mirror and was non-existent when we arrived at the show.
We got to Mirror a few minutes before the parade and grabbed a great position to take photos of the participants. The parade had a Mountie (RCMP) and County Mountie (County of Lacombe peace officer) leading the way, along with a pipe band and Shriners in tiny cars. There were numerous vintage vehicles in the parade, including a convertible hauling a local politician.
Small town parades are famous for their generous donations of candy, and the Mirror parade had plenty of people who tossed treats to both kids and adults along the route. It is a candy dream for kids who attend the event.
As mentioned earlier, the day was grey, but there was a sea of blue in the Mirror parade because several vehicles flew the blue Alberta flag in the event.
The car show portion of the Mirror Days celebration was a bonus for us because we found a couple of interesting vehicles in the festivities.
The first vintage ride we encountered at the show was a 1952 Ford Mainline two-door post (sedan) kept in original condition by its owner. It was a stripper (barebones) car with a three-on-the-tree manual transmission and Ford’s famous flathead V-8 engine.
Additionally, the 74-year-old Ford sedan did not even have a factory radio, but it did have a great back story that will be told in a future MyStarCollectorCar article.
Another vehicle we encountered at the Mirror Days show was a 1957 Chevy 3100 pickup truck that has a strong father-daughter connection. The ‘57 Chevy has been in their family for 52 years and will stay in their clan for the next generation. Learn all about the ‘57 Chevy ½-ton in a future MyStarCollectorCar article.
In closing, MyStarCollectorCar would like to thank the Mirror organizers for their warm hospitality on a cool day.
Jim Sutherland
BY: Jim Sutherland
Jim Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer whose work has been published by many major print and online publications. The list includes Calgary Herald, The Truth About Cars, Red Deer Advocate, RPM Magazine, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Windsor Star, Vancouver Province, and Post Media Wheels Section.
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