Wednesday, February 14, 2007 · Page 19 Homer Sabbe's 1931 Model A Ford In a recent email, Lari Sabbe writes: "Homer Sabbe (of Colchester, Ont.) is my father-in-law. He is 84 years old. He loves reading your CarStory column and wrote his story one day after reading your column." It's a charming story and here it is: "You might say I'm kind of a pack rat. The other day was looking for some lack paint to make a sign, hen I came across a can of anadian Tire Armour Coat auto paint I had left over from when I painted my first car in 1942. When I opened it up, the paint was still in perfect condition. "In 1942, most of my school friends had old $100 cars. They were over almost every night working on their cars because my dad had an old workshop with electricity, quite a few tools, and a wood stove that he kept going. You couldn't buy tires during the war so you had to patch them every night. "One day on Centre Street in front of McDonalds Box Factory I saw this nice Model A Ford with a sign: `For Sale $200 Leo Arquette: CASH inquire within.' I talked my mother out of $200 and on Saturday night went into the factory where he was making boxes for shipping war parts and asked about buying his car. "He told me it didn't run right but he would let me have it for $140 cash. I gave him the money and took the ownership. "I then went into Russell Walter's garage to talk to my long-time school chum, Melvin Fox, now an apprentice mechanic. We went for a test drive as far as the East Harrow gas station, where he pulled in under the lights, pulled out a pair of pliers and took my distributor apart. He adjusted the timing and we jumped back in. She ran like new. It went 55 miles an hour wide open. With a little soap and water and a can of black paint, I now had my own wheels, even though the back two wheels were bald. I only had one flat and that ended up happening in the DetroitWindsor Tunnel, which was quite traumatic! "Now I was able to get me a date. I wined her and dined her and took her to the show. After three years she insisted we get married. Well, if you thought having a flat in the tunnel was traumatic, I then had to sell my first love for $250. "I never saw my Model A Ford again, but now, when I look at her picture, I get a couple of tears in my eyes. If I had kept her instead of the can of paint, I could be going to all the antique car shows and winning big bucks!" Do you have any photos of old cars to share with our readers? Email bill@car story.com or write to Bill Sherk, P.O. Box 10012, Leamington, ON, N8H 2C3. CARSTORY I S SPONSORED BY Your Security. Our Responsibility. Atom A Forest Machine On Friday, Feb. 9 the Forest Machine Essex Ravens Atom A team traveled to the Unico Rink in Leamington to challenge the Riverside Rangers in our first Bluewater playoff game. Despite our slow schedule over the past two weeks our boys were ready to play. Josh Myers was between the pipes working hard with many impressive saves and Salty threw some big hits, creating lots of scoring chances for Essex. Riverside managed to sneak one in to make the score 1-0 at the end of the first. Our boys answered quickly early in the second with a nice wrist shot from Huddy assisted by Salty. With our kid line of Adam Zanier, Dalton Langlois and Dillon Jarvis backchecking hard, playing physical created all kinds of scoring chances. Jordy, Will and Fuerthy did a great job killing penalties, while Brett and his quick hands won most of his face offs. Riverside pulled ahead in the second, but Essex kept the pressure on. The strong defensive play by Santa and Miller and the Twin Towers, Davey and Derek, kept Riverside at bay. Late in the third, Huddy Bantam A Essex Source for Sports The Ravens traveled to Leamington Feb. 6 for Game 2 of their second round of playdowns against Southpoint. Missing a few players, Chad Hedrick and the rest of the team fought hard to tie the series at one game each. After allowing an early goal, Essex tied the game with four and a half minutes remaining in the first period when Alex Thomson scored on the power play, assisted by Ryan Morris. got his second of the night assisted by Fuerthy to tie it up 2-2 final. Nice effort boys. Defenseman Kyle Zelko made some great plays taking the body and moving the puck well. AP Awstin Pettit answered the call creating scoring chances. Unable to take advantage of numerous power plays, the Ravens were down 3-1 going into the third. Working hard to come back, a couple of late penalties sealed their fate. Facing elimination at home Friday night, Essex celebrated Ty Queen's return to the lineup 15 seconds into the game when he scored, assisted by Lyle Little. Tony Spidalieri opened the scoring in the second period assisted by Blain Little. Southpoint made it 2-1 soon after, but Spidalieri responded, assisted by Jessy Amyotte. With 54 seconds left in the period Queen scored from Morris. Except for one goal by Southpoint the third period belonged to the Ravens. Goals were scored by: Queen unassisted, Tyler Raymont from Amyotte and Lyle, Queen from Amyotte and Raymont, Colin Delaet unassisted, Blain from Delaet and Spidalieri, and Amyotte from Morris. Final score: 10-2 for Essex. With Essex looking to even the series, Game 4 was played in Wheatley Saturday night. Both teams played well defensively, with Travis Henricks and the rest of the defensemen limiting Southpoint's chances. Trailing 2-0, Thomson finally put Essex on the scoreboard, unassisted, with 4:40 remaining in the game. The Ravens never gave up, but even with the extra attacker, all scoring attempts were turned away by Southpoint. Despite good goaltending by Evan Howson, you have to score to win, and except for one game this series, the Ravens had trouble finding the back of the net. After clawing your way into first place for the play downs, we feel your disappointment boys, but hold your heads high. You are a class act and we are proud of you. Have fun the rest of the season, and entertain us with those great passing plays you are known for. 2007 Registration Dates Saturday FEBRUARY 24th 8am 1pm Saturday MARCH 3rd 8am 1pm @ the ESSEX ARENA House League: T-Ball Rookie Mosquito Pee Wee Bantam Jr. Girls Int. Girls Sr. Girls (2002-2001) (2000-1998) (1997-1996) (1995-1993) (1992-1990) (1998-1996) (1995-1993) (1992-1989) Travel: Rookie Mosquito Pee Wee Bantam Midget Junior (2000-1998) (1997-1996) (1995-1994) (1993-1992) (1991-1989) (1988-1987) Fees for 2007: 1 player $80 · 2 players $150 · 3 or more $200 · T-Ball $40 Registration fees may be claimed as a credit for 2007 income tax purpose for children under the age of 16. Financial assistance is available to parents who are eligible to receive the National Child Benefit Supplement. Contact the town of Essex for details and please bring completed forms to registration if eligible. House League coaches and assistants wanted. Late registration will be subject to availability and an additional fee of $20 per player will apply.