Estevan was briefly transformed into a classic automobile lover's paradise Sunday.The members of the Coasters car club, who are currently in the midst of their 2010 coast to coast tour, made a stop in the city Sunday and spent the night at Woodlawn Regional Park before carrying on with their journey Monday.Formed in 1967 to recognize Canada's 100th birthday, the Coasters make the cross country trek every 10 years. This year's group includes roughly 250 people and 120 classic cars, trucks and even an ambulance. The tour began July 7 in St. John's, Newfoundland and is expected to wrap up August 21 in Victoria, B.C.Although the bulk of the Coasters hail from Canada - there is at least one person from every province - there are also a handful of Americans and one couple from New Zealand.Among the American contingent is John Moore from Helena, Montana. A retired member of the U.S. military, Moore is on his first tour and said he is having a fantastic time."I don't regret a single day that I decided to this," said Moore who is driving a limited edition 1955 Chevrolet Cameo truck across the country. "Some days are not quite as much fun as others, today was a hot, long, make-you-tired type of day."Moore said there have been a number of highlights already, noting they have been treated great everywhere they have gone."Prince Edward Island was neat, Newfoundland was neat, all of the fishing villages and that stuff," he said. "We have been taking the two lane roads and seeing all of the country stores and the grain elevators like the highways used to be. We are staying off the four lanes as much as we can and it's kind of a throwback to yesterday."I went to a war museum and a lot of provincial capitals. At the Manitoba Legislature, they fed us some buffalo burgers. We have been welcomed by a lot of mayors and government officials, it has been a really nice deal."Vic Rogalsky of Coaldale, Alberta said like Moore, the way they have been treated along the tour stands out as a highlight for him."The people we meet every day, it's hard to explain, it's just so much fun no matter where you go in Newfoundland or here in Saskatchewan or Manitoba," said Rogalsky who is travelling with his wife Doreen in a 1976 Chrysler Cordoba. "The stuff people have done for the Coasters, I could write you a book."One of our guys in Picton, Ontario put on a party and we had a big supper in this restored barn, we had a big dance and he had a girl come and sing Canadian songs that she had done at the Olympics. When that was over he put on a fireworks show like you don't see even in a big city."Rogalsky said another highlight is the opportunity to meet new people and make friends from across the country."Last Christmas, the first card we got was from Newfoundland and the second we got was from Vancouver," he said. "It's awesome."The next tour is scheduled for 2017 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the first tour.
