Grimsby 2026
This year’s Grimsby swap meet was the first one in a while to feel “routine” to me. When we switched to the West Niagara Agricultural Centre in 2022, I found myself in a whirlwind of jobs to be done, and hopes that I wouldn’t screw something up. Don Goodfellow and I were concerned about table setup, crowd control, finding volunteers… all the back-end stuff. We managed to pull it off that year. And now, with 2026 being the fifth year at the WNAC, It finally felt like we have it down to a system.
Don's greeting display in the lobby. Can you figure out the theme?
There was a stag and doe at the hall the previous evening, so we couldn’t get access for table setup until Saturday morning. But that’s not an impediment. We had enough volunteers that we could have the hall ready by 7:15… We still advertise 8:30 as a start time, just in case we need a buffer. Thanks to Frank Crooks, Krystian Kozinski, Mike and Alannah Franks, and my son Greg for helping Don and I set the hall up. Greg tagged along to help with registration and earn his volunteer hours at school. We may get one more year out of him before he’s off to college! We also had valuable help at the table from Dave Colonna, Evelyn Steckley and Patricia McClashie. Don and I are grateful for the time away from the table to shop. I managed to come away with some goodies; some pre-planned, and some spontaneous.
Left: Me, Don and Greg at the registration table. Right: Me ruining a decent shot of the trading floor.
My favourite Grimsby find this year was a long time coming. I have always been wanting an Ontario Star Trek graphic sample plate bearing the numbers TREK96. I’ve always been a Trekkie, and 1996 was a memorable year for me, plate-wise and Trek-wise, so the TREK96 sample variant just makes personal sense to me (as opposed to the more-common 000SAM valiant, or next-from-box serial numbers that were intended for issue). So thanks to Matt Embro for making that plate available!
Paul Frater is continually looking for Ontario alpha serials from his stomping grounds of Orangeville. While looking for those at the ALPCA Convention in Fort Wayne last summer, he came across a couple of Sault Ste. Marie issues. He knows I collect those, and he set me up with two of them, from 1931 and 1934. We sealed the deal in Grimsby, and I brought them home.
Ever pick up a plate that you didn’t actually need? I misread my want list while I was working out a trade with John Harris, and I took on a 1953 dual purpose plate. I need a 50 and 51, but not a 53. So into the trade box it’ll go. But while looking through his stuff, I found a December ‘64 quarterly truck that upgrades a plate that I didn’t think needed upgrading. So I picked up two plates for the wrong reason, and I’m keeping the one that I meant to be a trader!
Left: Tyler and Sam chat while Mike looks for more Newfoundland plates.
Right: Chuck plays on the floor.
Left: Terry scoots around his table, about to open yet another box of goodies while Jake waits. Right: Mike McClashie chats with folks at his table.
Left: Mike Franks shows a few of the harder-to-find plates from his 1973 Ontario issuing office run.
Right: Just a few of the goodies on the trading floor.
I had quite a few boxes of plates to sell from the lots that I acquired over the summer. I had little choice but to put my sale table next to the registration area. In addition to my upper-tier traders, I had three pails of plates for one, three, and five dollars respectively. They were steady sellers.
There were three displays entered this year for voting. Krystian Kozinski won the award plaque for his display board of Canadian veteran plates, both full-sized and motorcycle. Mike Franks was a close second with his twin boards of Newfoundland trailer plates. Paul Jenkins came third with his board of Northwest Territories plates. But Paul wouldn’t be leaving the meet empty-handed… as the only person in attendance from Australia, he brought home the Long Distance Award for the second year in a row.
This was a “slimmer” version of Grimsby, with a few notable names absent and no add-ons such as donation auctions (no causes at present), promotions (we forgot to call the War Amps) or passing out of specially-made souvenirs. Because of that, it was quite a bit less stressful to host this year. By the meet’s end, we had 136 collectors attend, with a total of 59 vendor tables. Not a new attendance record, but a strong showing nonetheless.
There were quite a few first-timers, having heard about the hobby through social media or via Mike McClashie’s bio article in the St. Catherines Standard. Mike has accepted the torch from his late grandfather, John Rubick, and is following in his footsteps by promoting the hobby at a grassroots level. Johnny’d be proud. Mike saved a copy of that day's newspaper for me. He's a front-page story!
My loot taken home from Grimsby 2026. A few arranged in advance, and a few others were love at first site on the trading floor.
Low-number papal plates on the podium! A 1-2-3 finish with Joe, Darrell and Krystian.
My "haul" pile tends to be small in Grimsby, simply because I'm at the registration table or helping collectors locate each other. I don't mind. I spent many years combing the halls as an attendee, leaving no stone unturned. I get just as big of a kick of helping to run the event as I did finding plates in my earlier days. Dave Steckley and I were discussing that. He has logged quite a few more years as a neet host than I have, but he considers Grimsby his chance to get most of his shopping done, since he's busy being the host of Acton. I tend to do more of my digging and scoring in Acton, since co-hosting Grimsby with Don keeps me busy. But it's a great time either way.
Speaking of hosting, the tentative date for the 2027 Grimsby meet is October 23, to be confirmed soon.
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