STANDARD TRANSMISSIONS
Shakin' all over
By Rik Davie/The Scugog Standard

Aren’t earthquakes just the most unnerving little things?

We were busily putting together the weekly paper when my desk started to shake like a good thing.

Now firstly, whenever something like this happens I have to ascertain whether or not it is simply a flashback to some substance I may have ingested in the 1970s. Once that was done I said, “*&*^%& did you guys feel that?!” Actually I said #@#@$%, but I toned it down because this is a family paper.

Then came a thing that only a newspaper person can truly understand. The scramble to get the story. The rush to tear apart the front page and get to people on the street to try and find out what the heck happened.
One reporter hit the street to talk to people and get a feel for what had happened. Another hit the Internet to find out what exactly had happened, where it had happened and who all was affected by it.

For reporters breaking news is like a syringe full of adrenalin that sends one out after the story and rewriting furiously to get as much as you can in the few minutes left before we go to press.

It is interesting to note that we reporters have to hide our excitement over things like this lest we be seen as callous dreks who feed off the suffering of others. It’s probably true but we do have to hide it.

The other trait we exhibit in any kind of a story like this is the genetic malfunction we share with cops, firefighters and emergency workers. When the rest of the world runs away from the burning building we run toward it. Oh well ... gotta get the story!

Before the quake I was saying.....

Every year at this time, my column becomes a stroll through the automotive junkyards of vehicles gone by.

It’s not hard to figure given that on Saturday your very favourite newspaper (no not the National Enquirer, geesh, I wish!). Anyway, The Scugog Standard will once again host Chrome by the Lake.

Water St. will fill with the Detroit dreams of our youth and thousands will descend on our streets to view these shiny artifacts of the road.

A few hundred car guys will roll in with their special creations shined and decked out to perfection and drool will run freely as guys and girls look at the cars that were cool in high school, no matter when you attended.

The folks at The Standard and a crew of dedicated volunteers will man the gates and sign in cars. They donate their time and all the funds go to the Scugog Schores Museum Print Shop Project so when you see them give them a wave. Without them, no community project gets off the ground.

There are others who make it possible, too. Great sponsorship from the likes of The Great Blue Heron Charity Casino, Pizza Pizza and Vos’ Independent make the show possible and local business gets involved at all levels with Emmerson Insurance, UxPort Tools, Canadian Tire, Port Perry Muffler and Micklegate Reality being just a few. Every automotive-related business you can think of donates prizes. This year, we have partnered with Pineridge Impress to create T-shirts to sell at the show and raise yet more funds. There’ll be a little blast from the past for me as three very old friends show up with their customs and we have a chance to reminisce while we critique the other cars. That’s what car guys do at shows, you know. Like women at a wedding, we sit in groups and make fun of what the other folks are wearing.

“I wouldn’t have chopped that top like that.” “He should have flammed that thing ya know”.... and so on.

My brother will be here and at some point we will have to reminisce about the 56 Chevy that had six different coloured body panels and boasted revers and first on the column with second and third operated by a rod through the floorboard while he figured out how to rig the Hurst shifter for it. It had buckets out of a 64 Chev and only his was welded to the floor so that every time he dumped the clutch he dumped me. But he really shoulda’ flamed it!

See ya on Water on Saturday. And remember, when in doubt ... chrome it!