It took Milner resident Louis L’Abbe’ eight years of searching for his dream truck to locate "Lady Blue," his classic 1950 Chevrolet five-window.
"I found her in Winnipeg," said L’Abbe.
Originally, it belonged to a man who lived in Abbotsford, who had found it in Colorado and "brought it back and stripped it right down to the ground, [then] rebuilt it right up."
By the time L'Abbe' found her online, Lady Blue had been passed on to the son of the Abbotsford owner, in Winnipeg.
"They gave me a whole photo album [of the rebuild] and everything to go along with it," L'Abbe said.
Since he acquired Lady Blue, he's done more work, and only recently started taking her to car shows.
On Sunday, June 23, his gleaming blue pickup was one of more than 300 vehicles on display at the biggest Stay Gold car show fundraiser yet, held at H.D. Stafford Middle School.
Aldergrove resident Lauren O'Meara brought "Ruby," her 1953 Nash Rambler wood wagon.
Rudy doesn't hide in a garage between car shows, O'Meara explained.
"I drive her a lot, in fair weather,"O'Meara said.
"She's insured year-round."
O'Meara said the appeal of older cars is "harkening back to a simpler time [that] brings up a lot of fun memories of old cars and and the people. A lot of it is also the just the social aspect of going to shows and sharing a common interest."
It will be a week or two before Stay Gold founder Paul Frost will have an exact tally but given the increase in the number of cars and an obvious increase in people coming to see the cars, it will likely show another increase.
"Every year we're adding new cars and we're making more money" Frost told the Langley Advance Times.
Stay Gold was started by Frost to raise money in the name of a longtime friend and avid car enthusiast he’d known since he was 15.
His buddy had been struggling with a number of health issues, and it was his efforts to get counselling – and the financial barriers he faced – that motivated Frost.
In partnership with Langley Community Services Society, Frost launched the Ken Laviolette Stay Gold Fund where LCSS could allocate the funds where they felt it was most needed to benefit the mental health of those needing assistance.
Stay Gold also distributes a portion of the proceeds to H.D Stafford to help students and families access programs during and after school that aid in social development and promote mental health awareness.
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