July 29th Hudson Meet Review
Tuesday, August 01, 2006 (10:04:42)

Posted by 51hornet

The July 29th Hudson Meet held at the Leduc West Historical Park was a complete success and marked the beginning of a Canadian National Hudson Meet.

This the first time we have held the meet in July and it turned out to be a great day. The week leading up to Saturdays event was hot and dry. As is the case with all events of this type weather is the deciding factor between having a good day or a bad day. The night before the meet Norm and I stayed at the site getting things ready. The skys were overcast and rain was in the air. That night it rained continually we feared the worst. We got up early in the morning and it was warm and slightly overcast but no rain.

John Mireault was the first to the site having dropped off his 1940 Hudson Traveler the night before. We staked out a nice section of the park by the fence and began backing in the vehicles to start our lineup. Al moved his 26 Hudson Super Six Coach in beside John and we had the beginnings of a Hudson Meet. Warren arrived with his 46 Pickup we helped unload that and back it in to place.

The Callfas family arrived in their beautifully restored 1936 Hudson 8 and 1953 Hudson Hornet Sedan. Next came Ken Smith in his two tone 1952 Hornet Sedan. Things were really shaping up now. Cary Treasure arrived in his immaculate 1953 Hornet Sedan. My 10 year old daughter Romy had great fun guiding the cars to "Hudson Alley" Martin Tabbert arrived in his beautifully restored 1940 Hudson Pickup which turned out to be a real crowd pleaser. Ryan Ankney guided his 1953 Hornet Coupe into the end of the line and we now had quite the lineup of Hudson cars.



Foot traffic around the Hudsons was constant I think we were a real crowd pleaser and my favorite line of the day was "I didn't know Hudson made a Pickup" the pickups got a lot of attention. In the afternoon Dave Ferguson arrived in his 1953 Hornet Sedan Dave had been waylaid by a dead battery so he bought a new one and came on down. Later that afternoon Bill Stewart arrived in his 1953 Super Wasp.



This event was special for us because Ryan Ankney and John Mireault had travelled across Canada to attend making it our 5th annual meet and first National Hudson meet. From now on our meet will be a National Hudson meet with people and cars attending from all over Canada.

The Leduc West venue proved to be a hit with everyone. With its excellent location and grounds with loads to see and do. Where else can you attend a Hudson meet see a parade of cars and watch a tractor pull. The evening was capped off by a large beef roast put on by Leduc West. Everyone got their fill of good food and we sat around and told stories. I particularly enjoyed the stories about Hornets out running the police back in the day. Those stories are a treasure trove of information.

My favorite part of the day was sitting behind the row of Hudsons and trading tall tales with my fellow Hudnuts. And as one Hudnut commented we throw in some truth every once and a while to confuse people. Judging by the amount of people we had viewing the Hudsons I would have to say we were a crowd favorite this was backed up by the Leduc West coordinators who said we were a hit. I was especially happy to add some new names to my list which means even more cars and people out in the future.

We will be sending out a newsletter to all those on our list with pictures and information about the event and promoting next years National Hudson Meet which will be held at the same time and place. We hope to have lots more cars and familys out for what is fast becoming a really great event. Check out the gallery for more pictures of the meet. Meet Pictures