Sask. Boler trailer fans join Winnipeg celebration
Owners of iconic tiny trailers to converge on Winnipeg to mark 50th anniversary
REGINA A 17,000-kilometre road trip with three children under the age of six in a 10-foot Boler — Shawn Fraser and Nichole Huck lived their dream for four months.
Camping and travelling is in Fraser’s blood so he was excited when he saw a 1972 Boler advertised online.
“There was only one for sale in Canada and it was in Pense,” said the former Regina city councillor. “I thought, ‘That must be an omen, I should buy it.’”
He and his wife, Nichole Huck, are seasoned travellers who have lived in Africa and Thailand. After their third child was born in May 2016, Fraser decided not to run again for city council.
The couple felt the call of the road, so Fraser took a leave from his job at the YMCA while Huck was on maternity leave.
The Fraser family of five made an epic road trip from Regina to the West Coast, down the coast into Mexico and back up through middle America. But on a back road in California, the Boler broke in half.
“Luckily it was CAA to the rescue and what could have put a damper on our vacation was an exciting chapter of our trip,” Fraser said. “We were held up for two days and CAA put us up in a hotel for a couple of nights and we found a welder and the trailer was better than when we started the trip.”
Huck wrote a feature about their adventures, which appeared in CAA’S magazine. As a result, the couple was invited to talk about their adventures in Winnipeg — the birth place of the Boler.
Caravans of trailers, which range from the original 1968 models to new trailers, will converge on Red River Exhibition Park to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the iconic moulded fibreglass trailer.
Al and Barbara Zacharias from Swift Current will be among the convoy of happy campers heading to Winnipeg from across Canada and North America.
“There will be a caravan coming from Victoria and Vancouver,” Al said Monday. “I don’t know how many will be on the road, but they ’re spending the night in Swift Current (Monday night) and heading to Brandon in the morning.”
They’re looking forward to the five-day convention that will be a mix of social gathering, trade show and showcase.
The Zachariases bought a Boler six years ago so they could attend Boleramas — gatherings of owners who share their passion for the tiny trailers.
“Going to Winnipeg will be our seventh Bolerama,” Al said. “In the middle of July we were at one and there were 60 Bolers there.”
Up to 1,000 trailer owners are expected to be at the celebration in Winnipeg. Many owners retrofit their Bolers, so Al is looking forward to the open house where Rvers can tour each others units.
“We have a brand new trailer that we bought last August and it has everything in it, so we only use the Boler three or four nights a year,” Al said. “The highlight will be to get to see more trailers, matching trailers and trucks and get to know more people. That’s what the whole thing is about.”
The Fraser family will travel in the Boler to Winnipeg — this time, just a short trip.
“Probably living out of a 10-foot trailer your whole life might make you go a little nuts, but doing it for four months was family concentrate,” Fraser said.