Hey everyone! It’s Sylvia, your brand new FunChaser! Just to break the ice a little, I’m going to share a few things about myself before we start. I graduated from Duchess Park in June and I am going into my first year of university on Wednesday! I’m going to be taking History, Geography, and Political Science courses with the hopes of figuring out what I want to do with my life by the end of my first year. I help coach five different sports in the community; I’m a junior coach for speed skating, a Rascal coach for track and field, and I help coach Special Olympic ClubFit, snowshoeing and track and field! I love listening to music and reading books (when I have time) and I have a small obsession with red shoes. Needless to say, I’m always out and about in the community whether I’m driving the Jeep or my VW and formerly my Intrepid, Oliver.
OKAY!
Enough about me! Let’s see what I did this weekend!
Saturday
I started off the day at the Prince George Farmers Market. Now this is where I admit that after living here for 18 years, this was only my second time going! (Yes, the first time was last week) It was so full! It was so nice seeing everyone smiling and enjoying the beautiful day. I got to talk to some lovely people and enjoy the weather!
After that, I headed up to Pine Centre Mall to see Carol. She was live on location at Freedom Mobile. I only spent a short amount of time there and then I headed up to Petland to see Rick Kelly, who was also on location. This little guy doesn’t have a name but sure has a bunch of energy!
He and his four brothers were left on Luv 4 Paws’ founder Andrea’s doorstep! If you want to help naming these cuties, make sure to check out her Facebook page Luv 4 Paws.
After Petland, I did some driving around to find more fun events. I stopped by the skate park and talked to the boys who were doing tricks. I have to admit, it is so nice seeing all these kids out and about this summer because we can ACTUALLY BREATHE! After the skate park, I headed up to PGARA for the annual Hit to Pass.
I hate to admit this, but I’ve only been to PGARA once. It was last week for a TV Ad. Like the Farmers Market, in all my 18 years of living here, I’ve never been. I had no idea what I was expecting or what was going to happen. I showed up, and thankfully my awesome former locker neighbour got a spot set up for the Jeep right beside his racecar. I was nervous but I was also super excited. I set up the swag table and people just started coming and saying hi and picking up stuff. It was awesome!
After awhile, I went to take some pictures. I was in the pit for a bit but then I walked around the outside. I ended up at the far side of the track beside this lovely couple. They let me stand in their truck to take pictures and we spent two hours talking about literally everything. They thought it was hilarious how excited I was getting over the Hit to Pass. Thank you Darcy and Annette for being so welcoming and letting me spend your evening with you!
Sunday
The day started early, but I was so excited because it was the Labour Day Classic! I think this is where I should mention that my last name is Masich, so this race is extremely important to my family. This year marked a special anniversary; it has been 40 years since Terry Fox ran in the race and realized that he could do his Marathon of Hope. Anyways, I got there and all of a sudden I saw a ton of kids I coached in track. I was so excited because I love coaching and the kids whom I’ve coached have been amazing. I was able to watch them run in the kids’ race and a few in the 5KM race. Chopped Leaf stopped by with some “Chopped Water” and that was very popular amongst everyone.
After the Labour Day Classic event, I headed up to PGARA once again for the final Hit to Pass.
I was a little more organized and I was able to park the Jeep in the pit. The first hour and half of Hit to Pass were a little difficult; I was stuck in the pit and didn’t know what to do as we all waited for the cars to be repaired, I walked around the pit and talked to all the teams and racers to see what was going on with their vehicles. (Thanks Kurt for the motivation!) It was all hands on deck to get these cars and trucks ready. Some needed new engines, others weren’t even straight anymore, and one was leaking transmission fuel like crazy.
Thanks to everyone for answering my questions and telling me more about the vehicles you were racing! It was really cool getting to hear more about the cars, the drivers and the pit crews.
When the racing was about to start, I was able to go out with the Chieftain Auto Parts Car and do a few laps (in the Jeep)! It was super cool. I actually got to do it a couple of times throughout the day and it was definitely a highlight.
The racing was insane. Cars were in terrible shape. Part trucks were getting tipped over for parts and cars were being brought back into the pit with the forklift. I don’t think all the cars were out there at once. It was wild and by the end of the Hit to Pass, the three cars out on the track all needed to be brought in with the fork lift. It was that intense! I will be back for Hit to Pass next year, and I cannot wait!
Thanks for the good first weekend Prince George, see you next weekend 😉
Sylvia, the FunChaser