/home/srmag/public_html/assets/magazine/sr5/polarbear/tinkeeper.png The 11th Annual Polar Bear Run - Issue #5 (pp 9-10)
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Submitted by Fred Fann

The 11th Polar Bear Run was held on Saturday January 31st. This  annual mystery run is always the last Saturday of January. We started  at the East Coast station at the intersection of Route 10 and I-295. It was in the low 20’s and everyone was ready to go! I think they were tired of standing in the cold and wanted to get that old heater working. A few of the cars did not have a working  heater, one car - the white Thunderbird and neither did the ‘65 Plymouth Sport Fury factory 426, 4 speed convertible, which the  driver was a bit chilled but his young son didn’t seem to be a bit  fazed by the cold due to his excitement to be riding in the Fury with  all the other old cars.  A couple of other cars had to be jumped to get them going. Yes, it was cold but the good news was that it was  sunny and was going to break into the lower 40s! Perfect Polar Bear weather.

We headed up I-295 North. All vehicles had to get up to 60 mph and  endure idiots in modern vehicles who couldn’t drive without getting  themselves tangled in our parade. We got off I-295 onto Route 1 North and headed through Ashland, VA. There was no pit stop this year as  there wasn’t a station large enough to hold all the vehicles on the  way. We arrived in Ladysmith and headed to the Virginia Bazaar - a  67,000 square foot building on 100 acres. There our mission was a simple one - shop until the economy was fixed.

Future “Keeper of the Tin” didn’t seem to be a bit fazed by the cold due to his excitement to be riding in the Fury with all the other old cars.

Some bought, some looked and some went outside to the flea market to  get the real bargains. The Bazaar had a loud speaker system and they  announced many times that the Car Club Council of Central Virginia had many beautiful cars in the parking lot ... it’s nice to be wanted.

After trying to fix up the economy we headed to eat. All car hobbyists like to eat and eat a lot. As we headed to the “eat-all-you-can” and still go back and eat more buffet at Country Market in Carmel Church we could see some snow on the ground from the snow a couple of days earlier. The sight of snow and ice made the Polar Bear Run more realistic. After eating way too much the hobbyists listened to Big John of Still Runnin Magazine. He spoke about the Pole Car on 301 in Mechanicsville,VA. We signed a petition in hopes of keeping the Crosley wagon up high on that pole. It’s been there for many years and the county wants it to come down despite the owner’s wishes  to keep it. Many clubs were represented on the run. In fact the T- Bird club has a group picture. I’d like to thank everyone for  participating in the run ... we’ll do it again the last Saturday of January 2010.

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