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Story and Photos by Frank Colgoni
This was a tough article to start (bad opening
for an article). Why you ask? While I’m usually
not at a loss for words, I find that, in respect
to this event and the entire experience of this
event, I simply found it difficult to organize what
to portray, or conversely, to omit. After a lot
of deliberation, I decided to omit virtually nothing.
To make a summary remark first (another odd way
to open an article), Northwest Deuce Day was not
a “day” but a weekend and what a weekend
it was.
The no-brainer here is that Northwest Deuce Day
is primarily a celebration of 1932. Having said
that, parking was provided for vehicles to 1951
and you didn’t have to drive a Deuce to win
something (as you’ll find out later –
much later – bear with me).
Because this was a weekend event, I’ll bring
you through it in chronological order starting with
Friday night. To digress slightly, the weather in
British Columbia was as hot as the cars (or vice
versa). On Friday it peaked at 34C/93F, dropped
all the way to 31C/87F on Saturday and then settled
in to a really comfortable temperature for the day
of the event – all under clear skies (thank
you God. Right Al?).
Friday July 23
We arrived on the Island and boogied into Victoria
in time for lunch. We decided on an outdoor café
overlooking the harbour. It’s hard to keep
a cold beer cold when it’s that hot. It makes
you drink fast (how’s that for an excuse).
After lunch and a look around, we headed to the
host hotel to check in. By then, the cars were trickling
in and by late afternoon, there was a pretty decent
assemblage of cars.
Because both Canadian and American friends had
tipped us off, our plan was to get back down to
the harbour to greet an entourage of about 45 vehicles
that were motoring up from Northern California.
We were happy to find that a large sized group of
BC rodders had the same idea. Right on time, the
Coho ferry from Washington pulled in. The cars got
through customs in short order and it was obvious
that friends were greeting friends (“comrodderie”).
It was a nice touch that roses were presented to
the ladies.
Cars were buzzing all over downtown Victoria as
the evening wore on.
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