GEARS and GREENS
Classic cars and classic scenery collide at the Gearheads Car and Truck Show in Rosebud:
A car’s everyday environment is pavement.
Most highways, streets and parking lots are covered in asphalt and not grass.
On the occasion of a good car show, however, that environment can change to green lawn.
For example, there’s the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
Since 1950, the Pebble Beach show, which takes place every third Sunday in August, has witnessed some of the world’s most stunning vehicles. And, they’re all displayed on the 18th fairway of the Pebble Beach Golf Links in Carmel, Calif.
In British Columbia, there’s the Columbia Valley Classics Autumn Show and Shine. Almost 1,000 vehicles turn out for the late September event held on the greens of the Spring Golf Course in Radium.
In Calgary, there are no golf course car shows. There is, however, the European Classic Car Meet held on the grass of Stanley Park in the inner city (see sidebar).
Now, there’s a new show to add to the list of “green” events.
Husband and wife Ed and Jeanne Sonmor and son Lars developed the High Eagle RV Park on the south shore of the picturesque Rosebud River. Nestled in the valley, with plenty of mature trees for shade, the park is just minutes away from the artistic Rosebud community.
“A client of ours who stays here frequently commented that the RV park would be a great place for a car show,” Ed Sonmor says. “Being a car guy, it was kind of a no-brainer, and we came up with the Gearheads Car and Truck Show. “
Sonmor grew up on a farm near Loverna, Sask. When he was 10, Sonmor inherited a pair of Model Ts from his grandfather.
“My father and I had to get on them and work on them, they’d been sitting out in the field for a long time and they were rusty shells,” Sonmor says. “We got them in the shop, and made one good one out of the two.
“I’ve still got them, actually.”
After the Model T restorations, Sonmor would scour the classifieds or attend farm auctions and purchase what he calls “diamonds in the rough”, vehicles that he could either hotrod or restore.
“I would keep them until someone needed it more than I did, and I’d sell it to fund the next project,” he says.
Now, he’s got several project vehicles awaiting his attention, including a pair of 1955 Studebakers, a 1951 Chev panel truck, and a 1961 Chev truck. During the summer, his wife Jeanne drives a 1969 Mercury Marquis Brougham convertible on long road trips, and a 1977 Mercury Marquis coupe around town. Son Lars is now restoring a 1974 Ford F100.
Vehicles used around the RV park are also oldies, including a 1960 Chev Apache one-ton truck with a dump box on the back.
The family started developing the five-acre RV resort in 2007. Originally an old and overgrown wayside park at the side of Highway 840, to convert the space to hold 50 trailers and motorhomes, plenty of deadfall was hauled away and services, including power, were installed.
Some 700 new trees were planted, and grass was sowed.
“We’ve got it developed into a nice RV resort,” Sonmor says. “We like to think of it as the emerald of the Badlands. It’s close to Calgary, Red Deer and Leth- bridge, and we’re now in working partnership with the Rosebud Theatre.
“There wasn’t a place to stay here before, and we’re booking Stay and Play packages — two nights camping and two dinner theatre tickets.”
In 2011, the Sonmors hosted the first Gearheads Car and Truck Show, and this year’s third annual event takes place on Sunday.
In the past, vehicles have ranged from dragsters to Model Ts to mid-1970s Cadillacs, and a little bit of everything in between.
Vehicle registration is $20, and all funds go back into the show in the form of cash prizes for, among other awards, People’s Choice, Furthest Driven, etc.
There will be a live band, hamburgers and cold drinks on site. All makes and models welcome up to 1985, show registration begins at noon, public welcome at 1 p.m., cars depart at 6 p.m.
Call 403-655-2577 or e- mail 4gearheads@gmail.com for more information.
Badlands-area automotive companies — including Drumheller Napa and Drumheller Fountain Tire — are chipping in with door prizes.
“Everybody likes a car show, but standing on hot pavement gets old in a hurry,” Sonmor says. “Come and enjoy the shade and the grass.”