Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2000 09:43:40 EDT
Reply-To: RAlanen@AOL.COM
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Frank Condelli <RAlanen@AOL.COM>
Subject: Omerville Westfalia rally report
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Well, Volksies, I just came in last evening from the Omerville Westfalia
rally and to sum it up in one word......WOW ! This was Westfalia heaven ! I
left my place a few minutes before 8am Friday morning heading towards
Prescott on Hwy. 401 where I was to meet up with Albert & Marielle and their
'78 Westy. I had met Albert & Marielle the previous week beside the road
with a seized rear brake and got it loose for them and on their way again. I
had told him about the Omerville rally and he decided go. We thought we
would get there early and to our great surprise when we got to the Omerville
campsite around 3 pm the place was already crowded. I wanted a spot in the
thick of things so I could show off the STEBRO/Vanagon mufflers. So I drove
around a while before picking a spot. Got set up and from time to time I
went over to the entry point and watched the Westys that were arriving in a
steady stream. Every colour, year, and configuration you could imagine. They
were parking and setting up camp everywhere. By the time I woke on Saturday
morning I was surrounded by Westys. So now I was in the centre ! All parked
in haphazard fashion in the woods and fields of the six acre site we had been
allotted. To see all of them parked with tents touching tents and awnings
overlaping others and nose to nose and nose to tail and tail to tail and
whatever was an awesome sight. By 5 pm Saturday afternoon when they did the
official count to announce at the community super they tallied up 371 Westys.
I'm sure there were more as they were still coming in and setting up after
5.
At the supper, held under a huge circus tent there were more than 1000
people all brought together because of their Westys ! Unbelievable. Of the
371 Westys there were only about 10 or so buses. ALL THE REST were about
half Vanagon Westys and half Eurovan Westys or Eurovan Winnabegos. There
were only four or five of us from Ontario. Myself and Albert from Athens,
Steven Heller, a List member, from Toronto with his '84 Westy and a fellow
from Sudbury which I never did find. There was one lone American couple from
Ohio with a brand new Eurovan Winny, on their second honey moon, headed for
Nova Scotia and had read about the Omerville Rally in a VW mag and thought to
stop in. Boy were they ever surprised. He, a long time VW nutcase, kept
mumbling something about why there weren't any reps from VW or Westfalia
there to see this. HA ! They mighta got hung ! All the rest of these
Westys were Quebec plated ! The membership of this club is around 1100 so
not all the members were there ! Ha ! Too bad if they were ! They did have
a bigger attendance at their rally three years ago, 460 Westys. They have
submitted this event to the Guinness Book of World Records and it's supposed
to be published in the 2001 or 2002 edition.
Another incredible sight was that the vast majority of these Westys were
in pristine condition. All were running smoothy. Most all had LITTLE or NO
seam rust. Most all were as shinny and polished as the day they came off the
dealers lot. This is in a country that has the harshest weather anywhere.
So all of you winning out there about your various mechanical problems and
seam rust think about this for a while. And, if you thought all the Westys
were on the West coast, well.....wrong ! They're in Quebec !
If you ever wanted to see Westfalia tent and awning configurations, this
was it. Every type and style possible. If you ever wondered about how to
transport your bikes, well I think there were 371 variations here. Roof top
carriers, galore. Ever heard of a BAGAWEST ? Made from white fibreglass, by
one of the club members, it fits perfectly into the Vanagon Westy's rooftop
luggage space. It's about 3' tall and shaped in front just like the air
spoiler on big rigs. Access is through a locking hinged door, accessible
through the poptop's screened front opening. $500 CND, so quite a deal for
you gringos. Lots of them were sold over the week end and lots of them were
already on the Vanagon Westys that were there.
Insulated poptops were in evidence all around. A sort of flexible
aluminised material that was perfectly fitted to the Vanagon Westy's poptop
canvas. Stayed in place with the poptop down to boot !
Small trailers, ha, all kinds, some with bike carriers on the deck !
Storage compartments attached to the trailer hitch, ha , all kinds.
One really surprising thing was that there was only one Syncro ! Don't
have a clue what that was all about. I did meet a young couple at a gas stop
on the way home last evening with a '88 Syncro Westy with a Subaru motor that
they had just bought two days previously. When I told him about the
Omerville Rally he was surprised as he lived just a few miles from Omerville
and was on his way there from a wedding in Hull. I asked if he knew about
the Vanagon List and he said he did. Pretty quick for a new Vanagon Westy
Owner. He didn't know about the Subaru List so I gave him that info.
OH Yes, speaking of vanagon.com ! I was the only one sporting the List
Sticker ! So there ! Maybe we need a French translation of the List
messages (:-))
The community supper was great. Steven, his girl friend/wife?, the
people from Sudbury, Albert & Marielle and I were applauded for coming from
Ontario as was the couple from Ohio. I sat with Steven and his girl
friend/wife and had a great time of it, enjoying their company and sharing
their bottles of wine, THANKS !
After the supper out comes the Club's "Westfalia Camping Car Club Band"
made up of musical members that play together only once a year for this
event. The opening number set to Sergeant Peppers Lonely Heart Club Band and
called "The Westfalia Camping Car Club Band" was just great. The second tune
was about all the troubles of Westfalia ownership and the third tune was
about the troubles of the infamous Dometic fridge. Steven and I were rolling
with laughter as was everyone else ! This musical group made up of members
from every region in Quebec played every style of music over the next three
or four hours, into the wee wee hours of the night Rock & Roll, Blues,
Jazz, Quebecois, 'ol timey fiddle & whatever. Pretty amazing for a gang that
plays together only once a year ! They had a 50/50 draw and some lucky
sucker won $445 ! Was not Steven or I nor anyone we knew.
I did sell a few STEBRO/Vangon mufflers and told a lot of folks about The
Bus Depot, so, Ron if you get a lot of orders coming in from Quebec it's
because of me !
Steven, I hope you had a safe trip home to Toronto. Sure was great
meeting you and good luck with the body work.
That's it that's all, that's enough. I got tons of pics on my video cam
and will start sorting them out and uploading some good shots on to a website
soon as I get some time so you all can have a look see. I'll post a message
when that's ready. Meanwhile, If you all start planning to go this event
next year we could make it REALLY BIG !
Cheers
Frank Condelli
'87 Westy & Lionel Trains
<A HREF="http://www.vanagon.com/">Vanagon List</A>, <A
HREF="http://www.bcn.net/~limbo/">LiMBO</A>, <A
HREF="http://www.westfalia.qc.ca/CIW_English.asp">IWCCC</A> & Capital City VW
Club member
Vanagon/Vanagon Westfalia Service for the Ottawa Valley
<A HREF="http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/stebro.htm">STEBRO/Vanagon Stainless
Steel Mufflers</A>
Almonte, Ontario, Canada
<A HREF="http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/busindex.html">Frank Condelli &
Associates</A> or http://frankcondelli.com
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