Grimsby 2025

This year’s Grimsby meet was a resounding success. Each one is a little different in some way. This one was a record breaker, it was the first to have official cooperation with a charity, and baseball was foremost on the minds of many of us, as opposed to hockey.

The event hall was booked the previous evening for a wedding reception. This meant that Don and I wouldn’t get previous-night access to the hall to set up tables, so we were resigned to the fact that we’d have to organize early-morning volunteers to set everything up. I’d be coming heavily-loaded with extra items to unload, so I met Don at the hall at 6 am.

These extra items belonged to Ken Murdoch, a Grimsby regular who passed away a couple of years prior. Ken’s wife had already sold off his plate collection, but she continued to discover various collectibles in boxes while downsizing. She contacted me to see if I could find homes for these items: Plates, stickers, War Amps key tags, literature, and various other collectibles, which I picked up from her a month earlier. After some consideration, it seemed that a silent auction would be the best way to go, so I divided the items into about a dozen lots. This meant that I wouldn’t have space in the car to bring a display, but I was OK with that.

The War Amps table, with CHAMP Grad Ben on the left, and current CHAMP Greg.

Our table-moving volunteers arrived before sunrise and helped us set everything in place and mark the reserved tables. That usually takes about an hour. We set one table aside near the doors for our special guest. I had been in touch with the War Amps about running a promo table during the meet. Mike McClashie initially made the suggestion, but I loved the idea because my son Greg is an amputee and a member of the War Amps’ CHAMP program (CHild AMPutee). CHAMP was launched in 1975, and provides funding toward the purchase of limb prostheses for children. Each prosthesis must be custom-made and fitted for each child, so there are no economies of scale, and the financial burden is significant. I knew Greg would jump at the chance to volunteer at a table. The War Amps volunteer, Ben, arrived with a box of swag, including new key tags for their key return program.

We had everything in place by about 7:45, so we decided to open the doors early (advertised start time is 8:30). Don and I greeted the arrivals at the registration table with our student volunteer Rachel. The hall was jumping with trading activity in no time. We have roughly 60 rectangular tables, and we had many people wanting to reserve. We decided to cap the reservations at 50 to give ourselves a buffer. Luckily, no one went without a table, and the vast majority of them were occupied. I wondered if our attendance would approach our previous high of 143 from two years prior.

Top: Two longer-distance collectors—Keith Murphy (Alberta), and Ryan Samson (Nova Scotia). Bottom Left: Dave Steckley with his latest acquisition. Bottom right: A few older guys that we couldn't kick out. Will Loftus and Norm Ratcliffe are paid a visit by Chuck Sakryd and Dave Hollins, who drove from BC.

Keith Murphy generously relieved me early from my first shift at the registration table so I could do some shopping. I went to Terry Ellsworth’s table first, because he had some early Ontario PCV plates. My run is nearly complete, going down to 1931. I’m missing all the plates from 1930 and prior, and I was in the market to upgrade the condition for a bunch of the PCVs that I did have. Terry, as luck would have it, had what I needed.

Terry also had for sale a ServiceOntario office marker plate, but it didn’t have a price. These were all made on the loon graphic base, and a serial that starts with OFF, followed by the three-digit office number. Sam Mazmanian was right next to me, and he runs several ServiceOntario offices, and has been actively looking for one of these to collect. No one I know has ever acquired one. Terry wouldn’t give Sam a price for some reason, and Sam was twisting in the wind. I had buttered Terry up enough with my imminent PCV purchase that I just threw an add-on number at him that was steep, but affordable– and Terry accepted. The idea from the get-go was to get it into Sam’s collection. Sam didn’t have enough cash to cover it right then, so I promised him that I’d enjoy it on my wall for the next six months —it’s a rare bird, after all— and then sell it to him in Acton for only what I paid, and not a penny more. This way I can enjoy it for a while, and then Sam can enjoy it even more.

That was pretty much the extent of my transacting, aside from settling a couple of deals that were agreed in advance. I’m often called away from browsing so that I can make announcements, help people find other people, or take payment on plates that I have at my own table. Luckily, I chose a table right next to the registration area, so I was easy to find. My trade stock had become bloated over the summer, after buying a couple of collections, so there was lots of action at my table.

I got an unexpected gift from Tiger Joe Sallmen. Manitoba Joe Koehler lurks in the background.

Don Goodfellow, his daughter Katie (our former student volunteer), and Rachel, our current student volunteer.

Terry Ellsworth shows Ben a collection of War Amps keytags. Ben later purchased a different batch of them in our silent auction!

The silent auction was progressing reasonably well, although I had to get on the mic to goad people into bidding on a couple of lots. A dozen antique milk bottles were getting no love with a $25 opening bid, but that fixed itself soon enough. Don and I decided to close the bidding at 11am, and close the display voting at the same time. Then I could make all the big announcements at once before taking the group picture.

The displays were pretty cool. Mike McClashie had some cool boards with various types from 1938 and 1943, plus all the Lieutenant Governor plates that his late grandfather, John Rubick, had collected. This was in addition to the framed display of War Amps tags that Mike displayed alongside the promo table. I was impressed with Liam Kivits’ Ontario trailer display. They’re hard to find in nice condition. The winner of the secret ballot voting for best display was Krystian Kozinski with his combination of Ontario VIP plates with a healthy dose of Blue Jays graphic plates. With the Jays battling the LA Dodgers in the 2025 World Series that very week, many of us had Jay fever, including me (more about the Jays later).

Once the clock ran out on the silent auction, the bids added up to a total of $350. Don and I were initially thinking that we’d need to keep some of that to keep the meet self-funding, but our new price structure for tables meant that the hall was paid for. So with the War Amps having accepted our invitation to run a table, what better place to donate the proceeds? When I announced the donation over the microphone, two other collectors came forward to add to the donation pile, bumping the total to $410. The Warm Amps weren’t expecting a donation, and they were very thankful when I contacted them later with the news. The tax deduction receipt would go to Sue Murdoch, whose generosity made the donation possible. I contacted her later with the surprise news, and she was over the moon.

Greg promotes the War Amps in Grimsby.

Our Long Distance Award, which we’ve been doing for a while, is always unpredictable. It’s gone to folks from BC and Alberta previously, and last year it went to Andrew Braun, who lives in the Carolinas. This year, it went to Paul Jenkins, who lives about a three-hour drive outside of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. There’s probably no topping that. But if Paul hadn’t attended, there might have been an unexpected recipient: A backpacker from England was in the area, heard about our swap meet, and stopped by on a whim. I didn’t meet him and wasn’t aware that he was there until after he had gone. How weird would that have been?

People stuck around until afternoon and bought lunch at Dog Got It, the food truck that we now invite each year. Around one o’clock, the hall had started to thin out, so I started putting away some tables and chairs. Not that I wanted to boot anyone from the hall… far from it. But I had something important to do, which meant I had to be gone by two o’clock. Ordinarily, I’d stay until the end with Don and count the entry proceeds and attendance (which ended up being 144... a new record!) But that would have to wait.

I had tickets to game 2 of the World Series. Yes, I had to buy them on the resale market, and yes, they were expensive, even for seats in the 500s. But I adore baseball, which has long since overtaken hockey as my favourite pro sport. Seeing a Word Series game is a lifelong bucket list item, whether or not the Blue Jays are involved. So, with the Jays having disposed of the Seattle Mariners the previous week, and with Greg and I already in the area on that Saturday, how could I not get tickets to the game?

We had to get to our hotel downtown, and traffic along the QEW is always stupid on a weekend afternoon. I was taking no chances of being late. It turned out to be the right call. The QEW was so badly snarled that my GPS took me all the way to the 401 before dropping me down the 427 and onto the Gardiner. We got to the hotel with time to spare, and walked to the “Dome” in time for the gate opening time at 5 pm. This World Series game would be a one-time outing, so I wanted to drink everything in. We bought T-shirts, giant hot dogs, and checked out the Dodgers’ portion of batting practice.

By the time the pre-game ceremony started, the crowd was buzzing. It was too cold outside to keep the roof open, and it felt a bit like a pressure cooker. I’ve been to my fair share of regular season games, but this was clearly different. There was something almost palpable in the air. It seemed like the crowd was reaching back for a little extra. Extra noise, extra signs to cheer the team on, and extra pipe power to sing “LET’S go BLUE Jays” over and over again without tiring. Something historic was happening. No MLB game had ever been played this late in the year, not even for the previous championships in ‘92 and ‘93. Vladimir Guerrero Junior had been playing out of his mind, as had George Springer, Max Scherzer, Kevin Gausman, Ernie Clement, and… well, shit, everybody. The Team That No One Was Expecting was hosting the big party. The crowd was simultaneously booing and ogling Shohei Ohtani, the likes of whom has not been seen in pro baseball since the Babe Ruth era. I could go on, but actual books will be written about this playoff run. Game 2 didn’t produce the score I’d hoped to see, but the Jays were on equal footing with last year’s champs, and our hopes would definitely survive another day.