As members of the Okanagan Mopars Car Club, we would like to express our disappointment in the cancellation of our annual car show that was to be held at O’Keefe Ranch July 14 and 15.
There were many car enthusiasts that had plans to attend, some from as far away as Terrace and the Lower Mainland.
We feel it is necessary to inform the public as to the reason for the cancellation for our show.
We had held our show at the O’Keefe Ranch several times since 2003. We had always provided the ranch with much-needed extra attendance income on those occasions without asking for any financial consideration in return.
Our contract for the show weekend this year started out with very similar terms to our earlier shows.
However, just three days before our event, the ranch unilaterally changed the terms of our agreement and added significant fees to our participants without notice to our club members or executive.
This last-minute change was deemed very unacceptable.
Therefore, we were forced to cancel the event.
Of course, this harmed the good reputation of our club and disappointed hundreds of participants and spectators alike.
There has been a considerable amount of discussion in The Morning Star lately regarding the lack of financial resources to support the O’Keefe Ranch.
With this poor decision by the ranch, there was a loss of the extra income to be realized by the spectator attendance for this year’s show.
This is not the only loss to the ranch’s income, however.
Our club has already booked our show into a new venue for 2013 outside of Vernon. This now creates a loss of business income for the merchants of Vernon as well.
For some good news, we would like to invite all Mopar fans, and all past and present members of our club, to our Okanagan Mopars 20th birthday bash in 2013. It will be held at the Lumby ball park and Lions Campground July 26 to 28.
Vic Porcher and
Brad Albrecht
Okanagan Mopars Car Club
