Christmas Gala - Tuesday, December 10^th, 2019

The 2019 annual GBBCC Christmas Gala was considered a great success by all 66 people in attendance.  A number of recently joined members as well as long time members enjoyed a very nice sit-down turkey dinner provided by the newly appointed catering firm.  

Again, this year Wayne Buttery provided superb music which resulted in an extremely busy dance floor.  Graeme also prepared a continous slide show with about 400 photos of some 19 past GBBCC 2019 events.  Draw prize winners were Paul Hurst, Erna Holgate, Ann Smith, Martina Shaw, and Henny Bimblich (accepted by Joe).

The food donations and money to the Salvation Army Food Bank was a great success (best ever) and it took four of us to deliver it all next day to Major Evenden.

Ear Muff Run - Wednesday, October 30^th, 2019

24 GBBCC members took part in the final cruise event of 2019 - the annual Ear Muff run.

The event began with a gathering of ear muffs and other unusual head attire, as well as motor cars, in the harbour at Thornbury. 

PC Bill and Prisoner Sharon showed us their handcuffs, whilst Don and Cathy fashioned the latest “bee-style” head gear. David Niven (aka Paul Green) also joined the team, whilst Graeme scooped the trophy with his devilishly different head gear.

Led by Mike and Gillan, we took a short but rainy drive from Thornbury to Walter’s Falls. Whilst the weather was disappointing, everyone enjoyed some good conversation over a fine meal at the Walter’s Falls Inn. 

We attracted 5 Jaguar cars on the day, and a sole MG, as well as more regular daily drivers. No one was brave enough to lower their convertible tops - not even the German soft top that managed to slip in

Adopt A Road Fall Cleanup - October 6th 2019

Twenty five members turned out to assist in the cleanup which was completed without incident.  While we had an unfavourable weather forecast, the rain held off and no one got frostbite!  At the conclusion, several members gathered at our meeting place and we were entertained by a number of hilarious stories regarding the pieces of trash that had been found in the ditches.  The judges chose stories from Ian, Fred and Paul who each received appropriate prizes.  Many thanks again to Bill and Sharon for all their work in running this event.

We then proceeded to the Arkless' beautiful home and thoroughly enjoyed a "Cake and Coffee" apres cleanup soiree.  YUMMY!  Many thanks to Gillian and Mike for opening their home to us and being so hospitable.

King Place Retirement Living, Midland - September 8th 2019

Bud, Wayne, Jane & Graeme met behind Tim Horton's in Collingwood.  Led by Graeme, they made their way to Elmvale where Jim joined them for the drive to Midland.  They entered Midland by driving through the very beautiful Little Lake Park and met other members (Tom & Lin, John, Fiona, and Barry & Judi) beside the Midland Curling Club.  Our 8 British cars joined many North American classics including several Corvettes at King Place Retirement Living where we were met by our past, long time GBBCC member Basil.  We were made very welcome by the residents and ate a delicious BBQ in the grounds of the home.  Basil's daughter Tracy and her friend David joined us and we had a most enjoyable afternoon.  After leaving King Place, several members went with Tom to see his wonderful collection of Austin Healeys, including Tracy's old Bug Eye Sprite which he had procured several years ago.

GBBCC Annual BBQ - August 18th 2019

Our annual BBQ was held at the home of Kate and Doug Simpson.  A smaller than usual crowd was in attendance.  Still, 41 members and guests enjoyed a wonderful sunny and warm day.

Brian Wootton was on hand once again to conduct the Corn Hole Challenge.  The challenge was won this year by 'Team Healey', which consisted of Yvonne Pryor and Mike Arkless. This keeps the title in the Arkless family for one more year!   Many thanks to Brian for being there again to provide leadership for this event.

Burger Bob and Dianne did a great job ensuring all were well fed.   Thank You!

Thanks also to Bill Rogers for again being the official photographer.   Please note, the group photo is not a true representation as we had a number of members who wandered off to the parking area inspecting our LBCs (Little British Cars) during the group photo time-slot.

Gathering of the Classics (Edenvale) August 10th 2019

Early morning on August 10^th, about 18 GBBCC members with their British cars met at the Community Centre parking lot at Sunnidale Corners. The group, led by Bill Rogers then left in convoy and travelled to the Edenvale property where we were directed to a parking area near the east-west runway. A number of additional GBBCC members joined us at the site. We were also joined by a number of cars driven by members of the Toronto Triumph Club.

The weather was bright and sunny, but there were very strong gusty winds out of the southwest which we were advised may have been responsible for a lower number of small aircraft in attendance. In any event, there were a number of very interesting miscellaneous aircraft and open cockpit airplanes on display.

The star of the show was the presentation of the replica AVRO ARROW RL203 which looks monstrous when you get up close to it.

It was a great day and we suspect that attendance records were broken for the number of classic cars attending as well as a record for the high number of spectators.

July 8^th 2019 – GBBCC July Monthly Meeting

With great weather, over 20 members showed up with their British vehicles for our "Show & Shine" in the parking lot at the Blue Mountain golf club.  It was a great display of cars although there were a couple of “For Sale” signs.  Many members enjoyed a good “Burger Bob” buffet supper before our meeting which started just after 7 pm. 

OPP Constable Martin Hachey gave us a very good presentation of some of the issues of driving in our area and then he opened up to an active Q&A session. He is quite a “gear head” himself and actually he brought his beautiful yellow Mustang.  Following his very interesting talk, Mike showed us photos of great vintage cars, many being British classics, taken at the VARAC 40th Anniversary Vintage Grand Prix at Mosport last month.

June 22^nd 2019 - Cruise and Visit to Model Railway Club

Bob led eight British cars on an enjoyable morning cruise from Thornbury, south along Beaver Valley, across the causeway at Lake Eugenia and back on the Pretty River Road ending up at the Nottawasaga Model Railway Club, headquartered at Bygone Days on Sixth Street in Collingwood.

Three other GBBCC members joined us there and we spent a great time with some of the Model Railway club members looking at their marvelous reproductions.  The club’s HO scale setup has its emphasis based on CN’s Meaford sub-division which ran from Allandale in Barrie to Meaford.  This features the Collingwood area and its shipyards during the era of 1955 to 1965 when CNR transitioned from steam to diesel.  Many familiar buildings and businesses are included in the model railway setup, including the Collingwood Terminals, the Craigleith Depot, as well as the fish ladders in Thornbury.  The technology of the new model railway systems has certainly advanced, since many of us had model layouts back in our younger days.

Many thanks to Bob for a very good and enjoyable event.

Adopt-A-Highway Spring 2019 Cleanup - May 5th 2019

It was a bright and sunny morning with a moderate outside temperature which made it comfortable for 18 members attending this Spring Cleanup. There was some concern early in the week that there would not be enough attending, but our cries for help were answered.  A fair amount of roadside litter was picked up including a kitchen/bathroom sink with all of the taps, etc.  A few prizes were handed out to members who had found some interesting items.  This is a great event for our club to participate in helping the local community.

First Event of 2019 – April 25^th Evening Cruise to Eugenia

18 GBBCC members and partners took part in the first cruise event for 2019 - a drive from Thornbury harbour through the Beaver Valley to the Eugenia Falls, followed by dinner at The Flying Chestnut Kitchen.  The weather was quite splendid and the warm temperature ensured that roofs were lowered and sun glasses worn!  Following from the recent heavy rain and with additional contributions from the snow melt run off, Eugenia Falls showed at its very best - almost like a small Niagara Falls.  Some local members noted that they had never seen so much water coming over the falls - it was quite the sight, as the photos show.

The service and meal at The Flying Chestnut Kitchen was excellent and there was a good level of social activity.  Altogether a most splendid evening - many thanks to Mike and Gillian for arranging the weather, the drive and the restaurant !

The British Car Council developed the Order of British Car Enthusiast’s (OBSE) award for member car clubs to nominate one of their members for this recognition annually.   The club member should have demonstrated great enthusiasm for, and robust knowledge about British cars, as well as much enthusiasm for club meetings and club events at the member club level.