A small amount of rain and a smaller version of Coasters Car Club’s Sleepy Hollow Rod Run, featuring about 120 vehicles, rolled from downtown Sechelt through Halfmoon Bay on Aug. 6.
Both were warmly welcomed by the people who gathered along Highway 101 and Redrooffs Road to see the parade of collector vehicles ranging from antiques to classics and from muscle machines to electric-powered vehicles.
This year’s event, which featured mostly locally based vehicles, was organized as a “thank you” to the community for its efforts to keep the COVID-19 pandemic under control on the Coast.
Club president Ken Begg said the “Covid Appreciation Cruise” went off without incident and that many participants followed Redrooffs both to and from Sechelt, giving spectators double the viewing opportunities.
The cruise had some unexpected participants when vehicle traffic coming off a late afternoon ferry arrival at Langdale got mixed into the procession.
“They likely got one of the biggest surprises of their lives,” Begg said, as they were greeted by roadside gatherings of cheering residents as they drove along the route.
Begg noted that there were fewer event spectators than in previous years. Part of the confusion, he said, was that the club’s website indicated that the annual Rod Run, which he calls “the biggest and best in the Northwest,” was cancelled for 2021.
The club is planning for the 25th anniversary of the Rod Run in the summer of 2022.
