Village News

For some of our readers, the words “Heritage Classic” will immediately bring to mind our annual golf tournament, the Heritage Classic Golf Tournament. However, those who visited Mennonite Heritage Village (MHV) this past Sunday will more likely think of our Heritage Classic Car Show. Both are valid associations with the term.

The first Sunday in June has traditionally been the date of the Lions Club’s annual Wheels of Hope Lions Charity Car Show. For many years MHV has been the venue for this event. When the Lions Club gave notice that they would not be planning a car show for this year, we at MHV decided that such an event was too good and important to drop. And at that point MHV’s Heritage Classic Car Show was conceived.

Patricia West, our Development Coordinator, clearly brought much of the energy and passion to the project. She had been attending the show since she was a small girl and couldn’t bear to see it disappear. So she rallied some staff participation, wrote a plan and a budget, recruited some volunteers, and delivered our first-ever MHV car show last Sunday.

The project wasn’t actually quite as simple as this might sound. It has been suggested that some classic car owners won’t even consider taking their vehicle out of the garage if there are any significant clouds in the sky. We were also told there are other car shows within driving distance of our facility almost every weekend at this time of year, and possibly some during the week. Despite these potential hindrances, close to 100 classic cars and trucks, plus a few motorcycles, registered for judging at our newly minted event.

MHV’s Heritage Classic Car Show is a great family event. Everyone who came last Sunday to see the beautifully restored vehicles also got to see the entire museum. We provided significant play value for children, offering horse-drawn wagon rides, barrel-train rides, painted tattoos, an inflatable bouncer, a petting zoo and a lot of open space for running around. By planning and hosting such events, MHV serves our community by adding to the quality of life of its residents.

We would like to begin planning our second annual Heritage Classic Car Show very shortly and would value suggestions and ideas about how we could make the show even better. Contact Patricia West at patriciaw@mhv.ca or at 204-326-9661.