In the summer of 1995, I worked a three month internship at The Warroad Pioneer, which I'm sorry to say has since ceased operation. This was the first professional newspaper that I worked for in my career, and it turned out to be a wonderful experience. I had only worked at Bemidji State University's newspaper for about a year and half before landing the internship. At The Pioneer I gained experience in sports, feature, beat and government reporting. I designed pages, took and developed photographs and was responsible for community relations. The best part is that I remain friends with the owners nearly 30 years later.
Aug. 15, 1995
By Devlyn Brooks
For Clint Castle of Winnipeg, Manitoba, car shows are more a way of life than a hobby. "It's a bit of an obsession," he said. "This is my version of someone else's fishing or hunting."
Castle has been participating in the annual "Run to the Lake" car show that is sponsored by the Patch Motel for five years. He has been collecting cars for a lot longer.
He bought his first collector's car from his dad, and when he recalls it, his eyes sparkle. It was a '52 Chevy, and he paid $100 for it in 1962.
Clint, and his son, Adam, have seven cars altogether. Among them are three cars from 1958, Clint's favorite year of cars. They own a '58 Chevy Impala two-door, a '58 Chevy Bel Air four-door and a '58 Chevy Bel Air two-door.
The only '58 Chevy the Castles do not own is the convertible, and Clint said that one day they will find one.
"They're kind of expensive because there aren't that many around," Clint said. "But one day, we'll find one. Maybe not me, but my son is young enough."
There are a number of reasons that Clint is attracted to '58s. It was the first year Chevy made the Impala. It was the first year to have four headlights, and an "x" frame construction. It was also the first year that Chevy started making big block engines, Castle said.
"('58s) moved Chevy into the next era of big engines ... the heavy muscle cars," he said.
Castle said that he visits car shows all over the region, including Fargo and Warroad. However, he said, that by far, Warroad was his favorite show for a number of reasons.
First, because Warroad is in good driving distance of Winnipeg, where Castle makes his living working for Manitoba Hydro.
He said that he also likes the Warroad show because all the people in the show can stay at the one motel and do not have to drive great distances between the shows and the motel.
Castle said that the Warroad show is a good show for socializing too. Most of the participants drive their cars to the show and are there to have fun. They are here for fun, not the awards or prizes.
Castle does not much care for people who bring their cars to shows on trailers. He said that takes all the spirit out of the collecting.
He said some owners will not drive because one rock could ruin a $6,000 or $7,000 paint job.
"Trailers are for horses, not cars," Castle likes to say.
"That's when it stops becoming a hobby and starts affecting your life," Castle said. "I want this to add to my life, not take away from it."
Castle said that he has formed a network of friends through the car shows he has attended. If he needs a specific car part, he can usually find it because he knows who collects what in the area. It also works in reverse, he said. If he knows of a car or part that someone he runs into might need, he'll give them a call.
The networking also works when it comes time to fix up a collector car, Castle said. Sometimes car collectors will trade skills instead of merchandise. Such as somebody who is a good mechanic might trade some engine work for somebody else to work on the body of his own car.
He said that the people he meets are a lot of the same people at every show, and they tend to be older than 30. People who have settled down and made a little bit of money.
"This is not an inexpensive hobby," he said, "and you need to have a stable income."
Another reason that Castle likes the annual Warroad car show is that it is a community that is the "right size" so you cannot get lost.
"No matter where you go in town, everybody is just so nice and friendly," he said. "We really enjoy our American friends down here.
"It must be the best car show we go to. It's the only one that my wife will go to. She really enjoys the Crazy Daze on the Saturday of the car show."
Collecting cars and going to car shows has also taken on a new dimension for Castle as he has gotten older.
A few years ago, Castle became legally blind, and he cannot drive anymore. So he relies on his son's interest in cars to help foster his hobby. Castle and his son will ride to shows together, his son doing all the driving.
"I've been doing this since I was a teenager. It's just killing me not to drive," Castle said. "However, it's just as much fun now as ever. I'm just a passenger now instead of a driver."
Just like any other hobbies, enthusiasts focus on different aspects. The Castles' interest is restoring cars back to their original condition, "when they rolled off the assembly line."
Other collectors make their cars into muscle cars, but Castle said that he will leave that to other collectors.
"Lots of folks will come up and say, 'My grandfather's car looked like that.' I like that," Castle said.
"Don't get me wrong," he said, pointing to another car on the lot. "I love that hot rod '33 Chevy, but it didn't look like that."
Castle's cars also serve him in a therapeutic capacity. After a bad day at work, or wherever, he said that it really helps to go out and polish up one of his seven cars.
But most of all, Castle just thinks it is fun.
"I really enjoy it when you'll be riding down the street and someone will give you a thumbs up," he said. "That's nice."
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