April 2013
Surgeon General Report
March Events
Detroit Autorama Report: March 8-10
Mother Nature cooperated this year as many of our members travelled to attend this awesome yearly ritual. There were many high caliber vehicles debuted this year that vied for a spot in the “Great 8” and vying to win the coveted Ridler Award including the 1956 ford pickup that we saw a couple years back being built on our tour of Boot Hill Restorations in Erin Ontario. He didn’t win but showed some innovative and meticulous workmanship.
SOCP’s own, Alan Wood participated showing in the Autorama Extreme area of the show with his “new” old 1933 Mercury pickup. What’s that you say? Merc? Hell Yeh,Henry made one…or maybe Woody! Either way it was certainly well received as Woody won the coveted “Auto Extreme” award for his truck. Look forward to seeing it at events this summer!
Megaspeed Report: March 22-24
Megaspeed is the new premier car show in Toronto and we were a part of it. It’s been 10 years since we participated and showed trucks at the show so we were overdue. We would have liked to have more trucks to showcase but many of us were in rebuilding stages this winter.
Preparation for the show began weeks before with the building of the display. Jason Hustler, Rick Lane and Gary Pratt got together to modify the existing stanchions that Geeno built, to add to the perimeter. We also updated the club banner with some repairs and new colour. Don Cox built a stand for a sign he had, and he and his son Brandon designed a really cool club display poster for the show. Also a big thanks to the Pawson family for allowing club mascot, McMerc to be with us for the weekend!
Larry Hill brought his‘27 T pickup to be the club vehicle and on “move in” day we had plenty of help to get things together. Gary Pratt, Gene Dwelsdorf, Gene Yakymchuk, and Larry Hill got the truck moved in and the display set up.
We had a lot of interesting feedback and conversations at the display, and have several new prospective members from being there. On Sunday, we were surprised with an award for Best Club Banner and a cheque for $100. As well, we got a cleaning bucket that will be raffled off at a future club event. Move out thanks to Dan Tanton and Gene Dwelsdorf and Vlada. Thanks to booth monitors for weekend: Don, Dan, Gary & Larry.
April Event
Winter Beater Tour!
Fuel up your everyday driver or if you’re feeling frisky, get your truck out for the first tour of the season. On Saturday April 27th, we will be starting at the home of Gary Pratt
in Enniskillen, Ontario and heading back towards the south for the rest of our stops. Gary lives at 8196 Old Scugog Road, Enniskillen, ON. The tour starts at his place at 10:30 and will be leaving for the next stop at 11 am sharp. Please contact other members if you want to travel there with them for the morning run. There will be a scheduled lunch stop or bring your own. We will likely be touring until about 3:30 pm.
Note: For anyone interested in touring to Tennessee in May, please be on the tour to discuss plans for the trip!
2013Calendar of Events
May 16th-18th: F-100 SuperNationals in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee
Currently there are several members making plans to travel to the F100 SuperNationals in Tennessee. If you’ve never been there, it’s a Ford truck lover’s dream. Close to 1000 trucks will be there. Register before April 30th for only $30, after it goes up to $40. We will be having a conference call on ???????? Call in number is ?? and code is ?? Just be on the call at ? pm to discuss the plans
June 15th: Gravenhurst Car Show
A fond SOCP favorite event is the Gravenhurst Car Show. Held at the home of the “Big Muskoka Chair” this friendly show is one to be at. SOCP will have their own area once again near the tennis court. Note that we will not be running a picnic there but you can get food from vendors or bring your own picnic. It’s a great way to treat Dad on Father’s Day weekend. Watch the club website for caravanning to the event details.
SaturdayJuly6th: SOCP 25th Anniversary Picnic
For many years, we had our club picnic at Orono Park in the heart of Orono. Many of us have fond memories of that location and we’ve decided to go back for this year. The weather will be great, the swimming pool will be open, and it will be great to get back to this location. On top of that, we are inviting all past members to come back and make it a reunion of huge proportions. We are asking present members to contact anyone you know that’s been a member in the past to come out, but let us know who and how many people. If you don’t know anyone, please contact us and we will give you a couple of names of people in your area to contact. We want to have an awesome reunion and get to see all old members, their kids, and maybe even grandkids too!
August 9-10: Bothwell / ELTA Weekend
Old Autos hosts a super weekend including a car show and flea market in Bothwell Ontario: Either day is a good one to attend. Our plan for the weekend is to travel to London on Friday and stay Friday night. An early morning start on Saturday will see us head out to the show. Mid afternoon we will head back to our rooms and get refreshed for the evening. After dinner, we will head out for the East London Timing Association’s unofficial show. We suggest you “Google” ELTA to get a perspective on the event. For a quick intro,check out at
Woody promises us a fun evening that we will want to come back to again. Sunday’s schedule is as yet unplanned but we could plan a couple activities for the morning for interested members. We will block some rooms in London but can only hold till mid July. Watch the website for all the details at
August 17th-18th: Orillia Car Show/ Arthur Ford truckshow
SOCP members will be attending the Orillia Car show on Saturday and then the Arthur Ford Merc Truck Nationals on Sunday. Pick one or pick both. Let’s have a great showing at both events that weekend. Again, keep an eye on the website for up to date information on caravans going to the events.
September 6th-8th: Frankenmuth, Michigan Tour
Frankenmuth is known for its great car show…and its shopping: a weekend to make both the guys and the gals happy! Michigan Rick has all the details and it looks like another weekend that you should plan to take Friday off and spend the weekend with the club.
Membership Renewals
Many of you still haven’t renewed for 2013. Please be sure if you are paying by cheque that you address it to “Southern Ontario Classic Pickups”, not SOCP. For some reason our bank doesn’t like the short form! Renewal is $30 for another year of fun and some great new stuff!
SOCP - 30 William Davidson St. - Whitby, ON - Canada-L1R 2H8
Git R Done update!
Rumor has it... there are several members really close to having new trucks on the road. If you’re one of them, let’s see you with the truck at one of the above listed events. We have your $ for making it, and want to bestow the honour this year on you!
Club website update!
Several of you visit the website but still haven’t posted or gotten the full value of the site. We encourage you to send Gary an email ()
Did you know?
…you can access the current newsletter anytime you want on the site?
…you can post for sale or wanted ads
...we have some awesome pictures of collectible toytrucks
Obsolete Pickup Parts
PICKERING, ONTARIO
Phone: 905-839-8551Email:
PROJECT TRUCKS CURRENTLY FOR SALE
1949 Mercury M47 ½ tonComing soon!
1947 Ford ½ ton$4200
1950 Mercury M-47 pickup$4200
1951 M-3 cab, doors, frame, partial engine $500
1941 Ford ¾ ton Pickup$3800
1954 Mercury M-100 Pickup$3800
53-55 Cab with doors $900
WE HAVE A LONG LISTOF NEW ITEMS AVAILABLE AT OUR SHOP
NO MATTER WHAT YOU’RE SEARCHING FOR, GIVE US A CALL FIRST
Visit our new Website to see pictures of these trucks at
Southern Ontario Classic Pickups
Your Network Source for Fat Fendered Fun, Parts, Know How and Information!
Contact 411:
Don Cox: Club Administrator 905-725-2477
Jason Hustler: Photographer/Events Coordinator 905-824-2288
Larry Hill: Director at Large 705-325-1826
Pam Hill: Newsletter Editor 705-325-1826
Gerry McLellan: SVAO Rep 416-769-0350
Gary Pratt: Special Events Coordinator 905-263-2661
Steve Silverthorn: Media Liaison 905-824-4354
Postal Address:
SOCP
30 William Davidson St.
Whitby, Ontario
Canada L1R 2H8