Hi Bruce, Just wanted to drop a line to let you how Old Town went this year...weather sunny, once day broke, 0 - 10 degress....Brian and I are getting old, or maybe wise...we stayed at the Milford Motel, only about 2 miles from the Old Town store, across the river in Milford, after a somewhat restful night - we packed up and headed for Old Town around 3:45 am, hoping that we would be in the lead pack for the opening sprint

- Well, we made the top ten, and we were pleasantly surprised to be recieved by two other Bluenosers - turns out they had emailed, or spoken with either you or gordon - all they knew was that it was a gonzo who helped prepare them for the canoe (dry land) event of their lives - in true young gonzo style - we found then sleeping on a two inch foam mattress right in front of the gates. They were well prepared (I guess the staff discount at MEC is good!), warm sleeping bags, two litres of OJ, headlamps, and most importanly a game plan.Rounding out the top ten were 3 guys from NB, who brought along a friend of theirs visiting from NFLD, a couple of guys from Boston and a guy from Maine.As always the crowd filled in and by the time the gates opened at 5:30 am there were about 100 people there.

Having been through this once before we were ready, had our game plan, knew where to run, had our flashlight and comfy shoes and warm clothes for the long wait.We found a Loon 160T (for my Dad, were aren't adding to our own fleet yet - although Brian was tempted to say the least) picked up our boat, headed for the front drive way to await the slip writing folks(who found us as soon as they came into the lot around 7 am.Paddles and lifejackets were cheap again this year, so we picked up a few, well, for that matter everything was cheap, as always, there were great deals to be found.While waiting I found our bluenosers form MEC, back in their sleeping bags, this time sleeping in the boats wanted - happy campers!

We left Old Town for home about 8:00am - I think we were the first boat to come through customs that day.Home around 5:00 pm, Dad, Mom and my older Brother at the house to check out his new boat by 5:15 pm - they were all very excited to say the least - and can't wait to hit the water!Another successful trip, tons of fun, great people, great deals, and a very happy Dad!Talk around the gate this year was this may be the last one, apparently they have increased there quality controls and are not producing as many boats - although, the yard was full, and by 8 am when we were leaving they were bringing in the 18 wheelers to restock the yard - they sold out faster than anticipated! Take care, see you on the water soon, perhaps with my Dad!

Maureen--