The intermittent rain didn’t dampen the spirits of local automobile enthusiasts as the Timmins Tuners held its second annual car show on Saturday in Porcupine for a good cause.
Last year, the Tuners’ first show was able to raise $1,665 for The Yo Mobile, and this year’s beneficiary was the South Porcupine Food Bank.
Eighty-six vehicles registered for the event and people of all ages gathered around Narduzzi’s Family Restaurant, beside the Porcupine Mall.
“Just getting together and trying to raise as much money as possible,” said Tee Jay McDonell, the founder of Timmins Tuners.
When all was said and done, Saturday’s event raised $3,604.50, through entry fees and donations.
“We got $1,000 from one of our sponsors, Natasha Gaudet of Allstate Insurance, and another one of our members donated $250,” McDonell said.
He started the Timmins Tuners four years ago as a social group on Facebook.
“I moved back to town,” McDonell said.
“I grew up here and I lived in Ottawa for 10 years. I was into the car scene down there. Got up here and didn’t know anybody, so I started a group, and it just grew.”
“A few years later, we decided to have a meet and 63 cars showed up. So, at that point, I implemented memberships and we got insurance for our club.”
They are registered with the National Association of Automobile Clubs of Canada and this year registered with the Timmins Chamber of Commerce.
Beyond their shared passion for cars and engines, the group is dedicated to fundraising and helping those in need.
“Any event we put on, we do it for the community, and to give back,” McDonell said.
Last year, they sold calendars featuring members’ vehicles and they have organized two poker runs. They also publish a monthly newsletter.
In the last two years alone, the group has raised more than $20,000 for local causes.
They have one more formal event planned in 2020, at the 705 MX Park in Kamiskotia.
The group has a weekly informal Cars and Coffee meeting on Wednesday evenings, although the COVID-19 pandemic has limited the numbers over the past few months.
“We waited a bit,” McDonell said.
“It took a while to get going. Once we were allowed to gather outside, we slowly started them. Every Saturday, we go on a cruise … Kirkland Lake, Cochrane, we’ll go for a bite to eat somewhere.”
The events keep getting bigger and bigger and they are garnering more and more interest.
“Last year’s poker run, we had 39 entrants. This year we had 115. We were able to raise more than $12,800.”
McDonell isn’t overly surprised at the amount of local car enthusiasts in the community.
“We’ve got a mix of everything in our club,” he said.
“We’ve got trucks, SUVs, bikes, tuners, classics, muscles, we all get along.
“We just all love the same thing. That’s what this club is about. It doesn’t matter what you drive.”
On Saturday, there were attendees from as far away as Hearst and Quebec.
The vehicles on display ranged from vintage pickup trucks from the 1920s and 1930s, to sports cars such as a Lamborghini, to a vintage police car with functioning sirens and lights.
The Best in Show award went to Craig Lapierre and his red 1958 Dodge Mayfair.
