Our tour commenced at Longfields Antique and Classic Automobiles in Pefferlaw. This restoration shop is only 1 year old and has a small staff that, based on what we could see, is very experienced. They kindly had fresh coffee and donuts waiting for us and after we all got our food and drink they gave us a tour of the facility explaining about the various cars they were working on.

The first one as we came in the door was a gorgeous 1911 Interstate, which participated in the first Indianapolis 500 race wearing the number 3. It has been restored to original and road tested by the staff on local roads to a speed of 95kph (no tickets) and will participate in celebrations at this years Indy 500. Next to the Interstate in the show room was a beautiful 1927 Chrysler Imperial Roadster, formerly owned by Earl Carpenter. Beside the Chrysler was a 1912 American Under slung Model Scout and a 1934 Bugatti Type 57. We also had a tour of their shop where we saw other cars they are restoring.

From Longfields, Keith Corby had laid out a nice scenic tour to Fenelon Falls where we had reservations for lunch at the Lake House. The service and food were very good, boy are we a noisy bunch when we are together. After lunch we headed out of town onto County Road 8 and a visit to the Horseless Carriage museum owned by Richard and Evelyn Bennett. It is well worth a stop if you are in the area. Richard and Evelyn are very knowledgeable about the large collection of artifacts and small collection of rare vintage automobiles, including a 1907 Reo Model A Touring, a 1910 Reo Model H Truck, a 1895 Sawyer and Massey Traction Engine, a 1899 Stanley Steam Car, (which climbed Mt. Washington in 2 hours), a 1905 Cadillac Model F Touring (which has never been restored) and a 1923 TT Ford 1 Ton Truck, and finally a 1911 Maxwell. They also have a collection of early "record" players, which Richard demonstrated for us. You can spend at least an hour here wandering around.

We departed here and headed back into Fenelon Falls where we visited an original (#7) member of the MBCC, Bruce Forster and his wife at their antique store. Marg had made coffee, butter tarts and date squares for us to nibble on. It was nice to see them both and they are keeping well. After our visit we once again headed out on the highways and byways of Ontario on our way to Lindsay and the Lindsay Inn, our home for the night. The MBCC Homecoming was held here in 2001 hosted by Brice and Lis Balson who unfortunately have left the club. This hotel was owned by Denure Tours and sold to the current owners last year; they are renovating the rooms and office area. It is a nice clean hotel. We were on our own for dinner and ventured out in heavy rain back into Lindsay to find a place to eat.

Sunday, after a light breakfast, we mounted up again and headed across country to Bobcaygeon and a visit to the Kawartha Settlers' Village, a small collection of vintage homes, barns, a church and other farm buildings. The manager had called Keith Corby after hearing that our group would be in Bobcaygeon for lunch and invited us to visit. Not much fun in the cold and rain, but most of us hung in to see all the buildings, including a small house where a group of local quilters held their meetings and displayed their work. We had a short drive around the corner to our lunch stop at the Embers Grillhouse. They had a nice buffet ready for us. After lunch some of the ladies visited the shops, then everyone headed for home.

A great tour, thanks to the Corby family for organizing it.

by Keith Horsfall and Rob Fraser