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Collecting Ontario licence plates for 40 years
THE
BACK
BUMPER
2CENTS ARCHIVES
First started as "My 2 Cents" in 1997, I have written posts numbering into the hundreds. New posts arrive continually. Find an article by clicking the tag cloud below, or selecting a category, doing a search (see magnifying glass below on the right), or just scroll down to see the articles in chronological order.
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Back to Basics in Lindsay
It’s official – Lindsay is the new Barrie. A few years ago, I mused that the AACA automotive flea market event in Lindsay might...
Jun 2, 2024
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Stirling '24
I hitched a ride with Eric Vettoretti to the 2024 Stirling Antique Flea Market. He couldn’t make it last year, but was able to this year,...
May 11, 2024
106 views
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Fall Barrie '23 Photos
The Barrie Flea Market continues to be a shadow of its former self. It continues to offer fewer vendors, with much less to find in the...
Sep 14, 2023
129 views
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Goodbye Bonfield
Four years ago, Eric Vettoretti and I decided to try the first edition of the Bonfield Automotive Flea Market. It was a fairly remote...
Jun 20, 2023
119 views
1 comment
Stirling '23
This spring has been a tough one at work, and I’ve been feeling run-down at the end of the week. A nice day outside among old cars is...
May 21, 2023
110 views
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Barrie Bust / Country Collection
I write about the Barrie Automotive Flea Market every time I go there. But the way things are going, I might not write about it again...
Sep 16, 2022
192 views
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Lindsay '22
May ‘22 was a busy month for me as a plate collector, with no fewer than three out-of-town trips to gather metal rectangles. The previous...
Jun 1, 2022
153 views
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Acton & Stirling '22: Back in the Saddle
Thirty months. It sounds like a jail sentence. But that’s how long it’s been… Thirty long months since our last indoor swap meet in...
May 7, 2022
328 views
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No Food on the Plate in Barrie
I wrote a 2Cents post two years ago that says, “The trick to enjoying the Barrie Automotive Flea Market these days is to keep one’s...
Sep 14, 2021
148 views
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Downfall Barrie
I hate to say it, but the trick to enjoying the Barrie Automotive Flea Market these days is to keep one’s expectations low. If I make the...
Sep 11, 2019
219 views
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Leavings in London / Bargains in Bothwell
I was already thinking about taking my son on a road trip, when I suddenly received a phone call from a guy named John in London. He was...
Aug 30, 2019
148 views
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Bonfield of Opportunity
Eric Vettoretti and I made some last-minute travel plans at the end of June so we could try out the new Bonfield Automotive Flea Market,...
Jun 23, 2019
268 views
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Barrie, Orillia, and the Midland of Nowhere
I decided to go to the #Barrie Automotive Flea Market again this spring after a three-year hiatus. I've always gone to the fall edition...
Jun 15, 2019
128 views
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Lindsay to Stirling: "This weekend's not big enough for us both"
With the end of April comes the beginning of May. Or, put another way, first there’s the Acton weekend, and then there’s the #Lindsay /...
May 13, 2019
169 views
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Being a Boy in Barrie
15 years ago, or so, I brought my wife to the Barrie Automotive Flea Market. She figured it was just a weekend getaway of camping and...
Sep 15, 2018
172 views
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Lights-out in Lindsay (and everywhere else)
A mere five days after arriving home from our sojourn to Acton, Eric and I were at it again, although with a more mercenary mission, this...
Jun 7, 2018
151 views
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Not quite what the doctor ordered
It’s the first Friday after Labour Day. I’m tired. It’s been a frenetic week at work, but I’m finished there for the day, and I’ve...
Sep 11, 2017
186 views
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It never rains, but it pours
It was four years ago that the AACA moved their automotive flea market away from the town of #Stirling and into the city of #Lindsay, an...
May 9, 2017
124 views
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More flea, less auto in Barrie
My present weekend-after-Labour-Day ritual is to escape my city life—by driving for a few hours through the wilderness, so I can camp for...
Sep 13, 2016
58 views
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Stir it up
I’m in that phase of parenthood where the kids come along for the ride. Trouble is, it's a long drive for many of my hobby-related trips,...
Jun 12, 2016
24 views
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