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A total of 69 Land Rovers crowded into the Agriplex.
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There were several demonstrations on hand, particularly this water crossing display.
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Series I, II and III Land Rovers.
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Stuart Longair proudly standing in front of his “Best Equipped Land Rover & Best Series IIa.”
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Our intrepid author, Pamela Blair with “Prince Caspian,” her 1951 Series that won Best Series I.
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Scott Dumas flexes his Range Rover Country more than any other.
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Prizes.
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Land Rover has a long tradition of military vehicles, nearly each generation can be seen here.
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Something you’d normally see at a rock crawlers gathering however, the Rover-Landers also like to get their flex on.
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David Vervaet’s rare example of a Series Light Weight took Best Military honours for the second year in a row.
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Articulation.
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Classic.
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Defender.
Story & photos by Pamela Blair - Additional photos by Dave Blair, Craig Sheridan, Bill Eastwood and Andy Deane
This year is a big milestone year for BC’s premier Land Rover Club, the Rover-Landers of BC, as 2014 marks the 30th anniversary of the Club. The Rover-Landers held the first of their 2014 planned anniversary celebrations in conjunction with their annual crowd pleasing indoor event – Founder’s Day.
Founder’s Day has been held inside the Agriplex at the Cloverdale Rodeo Grounds for about the last 14 years. We did have a few years where we were moved due to double booking to a smaller building but we were still on site at the rodeo grounds. Founder’s Day is typically held off-season in late January or early February for the Club, as it gives us something to do and makes a great get together in the winter months.
It is Land Rover only inside the venue with vendors, yearly themed displays, a head table with Rover-Landers branded merchandise and raffle items, technical demo sessions, articulation ramp and we are hard pressed to squeeze in over 70 Rovers by the end of the afternoon. Typically, Land Rovers come in from the Lower Mainland, Interior, Vancouver Island and Washington.
We had hoped to break our 2013record of 70 Land Rovers under the roof this year, but had to settle for 69. However, it was noted that there was over a dozen hanging about outside in the parking lot. That being said, by 5 pm we were literally stuffing the trucks in what ever left over space we had.
So, what is Founder’s Day? It is a get together of the Land Rover community. One does not have to be a Rover-Lander member, but many are eager to sign up on the day or the next after having gobs of fun. They look forward to being part of the bigger picture, which is something the Land Rover world is famous for.
Founder’s Day is held in honour of those hard working, dedicated Land Rover enthusiasts back in the early 80’s who had a vision to form a club and made it work in BC. A special thanks to Keith G, Tom H, Aart V, René B, Ray W, Nick S, André M, Harold H and all the many other great members back in the day; it was their hard work that was shouldered for the common good, without them there might not have been a Rover-Landers club in BC.
To quote from our Founding President Keith Green, “The Rover-Landers have displayed a remarkable ability to do it right and to press on, regardless of the adversity and the work involved. Sounds like an advertisement for Land Rover.”
The Rover-Landers are crazy proud of their club and its accomplishments over the years; uniting Land Rover owners and enthusiast, as well important trail preservation in BC’s back country.
Land Rovers themselves have come a long way too in the last 30 years. Not too many of us are out there pounding the dusty or muddy trail in our old and bruised Series Rovers anymore. We have graduated to the creature comforts that the modern Land Rover offers us today. Land Rover owners quite literally “love their Rovers.” What’s not to love, we believe they are the BEST4x4xFar, bar none.
At Founder’s Day one can see the whole fabulous spectrum of Land Rover models under one roof from an un-restored 1950’s Series I to an ex-military Series III LW or a military ambulance or 101 Forward Control. A “go anywhere and through anything” Defender or a tricked out Discovery or brand new Range Rover Evoque will all be collected in a single space.
This years theme was “Land Rovers Over Water,” designed and set up by Pete Lembesis, Shawn Doherty & Chris MacPhee.
Technical demo sessions to enthusiastic crowds were handled by Craig Sheridan doing “Fault Finding Diagnostics”, Dave Blair with iPads and Off-road Navigation, followed by Pete Lembesis and “Re-beading your tire on the trail” and finishing off with David Vervaet demoing “How to hand crank a Series Rover”.
Thanks to our sponsors, our annual raffle table was a huge success with members cruising the floor selling arm lengths of tickets. At the head table Jill Deane, wife of R-L President Andy Deane, had a great display of Club merchandise that showcased the limited 30th anniversary truck badge, anniversary t-shirts and hoodies.
Yours truly could be found all day at the main door checking in and parking a steady stream of Land Rovers, processing memberships and collecting ballots for the popular People’s Choice Awards.
Looks like that brings us to who won what at FD2014!
Winning the 11 People’s Choice awards for 2014 were:
Best of Show & Best Defender 110 - Don MacDonald, North Vancouver, 1993 Defender 110 (NAS#1 out of 25)
Best Equipped Land Rover & Best Series IIa - Stuart Longair, Vancouver, “Summer” 1969 Series IIa 109
Best Defender 90 - Mark Bichin, Vancouver, 1997 Defender 90
Best Range Rover – all models - 3rd FD consecutive win for Scott Dumas, Mission, 1989 Range Rover Classic
Best Discovery I & II - Brian Holmes, Nelson, 1994 Discovery I (Brian & his wife Suzie bought and drove this truck new off the lot in Seattle in 1994!)
Best LR3 – from LR2, LR3, LR4 & Freelander - Matt Mepham, Victoria, 2006 LR3
Best Series III - 2nd consecutive win for teenager Dean Minner, Carnation, Washington, 1972 Series III 88” (Dean’s dad Allen is a Rover-Lander and dedicated Northwest Challenge volunteer)
Best Series I - Pamela Blair, Armstrong, “Prince Caspian” 1951 Series I 80” (this truck was the oldest Land Rover at FD and he’s still running!)
Best Military Land Rover - 2nd consecutive win for David Vervaet, Maple Ridge, “Hermione” 1979 Series III 88” FFR Lightweight
Finally, the Jim McEachern Memorial Award, which is awarded each year for the most dedicated member, was presented by outgoing recipient Jill Deane to Pamela Blair. Jim’s widow Debbie, sons Jeremy & Trevor and grandkids Caden & Payton were also on hand to present the award.
Big thanks from The Rover-Landers of BC for this year’s sponsors and donators:
Rovers North; Rovalution; Hesp Automotive; Global Roamer; Land Rover of Richmond; Kakadu Camping; All British Cars; Kevin Schiewe, Stuart Scantlebury, Stewart Craig and The Too-Far Off-Road Club for loan of the Articulation Ramp.