sa国际传媒

Skip to content

Happy birthday Boler: An anniversary gathering of the cutest campers in Winnipeg

Hundreds of the unique trailers in Winnipeg to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Manitoba invention

Angela Durand sits outside her camper which is decorated to look just like the yellow submarine in the well-known song by The Beatles.

In a lawn chair beside the blue-and-yellow 1968 camper painted with pictures of John, Paul, George and Ringo sa国际传媒 a little yellow propeller attached to the back sa国际传媒 Durand strums her ukulele and sings about the community thatsa国际传媒檚 developed around the small moulded fibreglass Boler.

sa国际传媒淚 bought it. Then I did research on the Boler. Then I became addicted to Bolers,sa国际传媒 she said. sa国际传媒淚 love it.sa国际传媒

Hundreds of the unique trailers have descended on Winnipeg to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Manitoba invention.

The Boler camper became famous on highways throughout North America as the sa国际传媒渆gg on wheels,sa国际传媒 said event organizer Ian Giles. About 10,000 of the ultralight fibreglass trailers were manufactured and sold between 1968 and 1988.

RELATED:

Giles describes it like two bathtubs joined together to form a hollow container.

sa国际传媒淲hat is unique about them is most of them have no wood inside of them at all, so there is nothing to rot. They have no seams, so there is no possibility of leaks,sa国际传媒 he said.

sa国际传媒淭hey are like a boat sa国际传媒 a fibreglass boat sa国际传媒 so you can repair them. That is why so many of them are still around today.sa国际传媒

Giles said itsa国际传媒檚 not just the way the camper is built that makes it special. Itsa国际传媒檚 the community it inspires.

He picked up his Boler, named Buttercup, eight years ago because it fit his and his wifesa国际传媒檚 camping needs. He wanted to make a couple of changes to his camper, but struggled finding fixes online or anywhere in Calgary where he lives.

Giles created a website to share what hesa国际传媒檇 learned about modifying his Boler and soon enthusiasts from across North America were reaching out with tips or asking questions. It quickly became a large and entertaining online community. A plan hatched to get together.

sa国际传媒淲hen you buy one of these trailers, you are almost joining a sorority,sa国际传媒 he said.

sa国际传媒淲e are all very similar. Each of us want to make our trailer our own. We all have phenomenal memories of camping in these units and the friends we made.sa国际传媒

All of the 450 campers parked at Red River Exhibition Park for the weekend are either an original Boler or a trailer inspired by the Bolersa国际传媒檚 design. Some still have the original paint job but others have been redesigned with bright colours and flowers.

RELATED:

Theresa国际传媒檚 a rumour swirling that No. 3 sa国际传媒 the third Boler ever made sa国际传媒 is going to arrive.

Giles said he figures itsa国际传媒檚 the largest gathering of moulded fibreglass trailers in history.

J.J. McColmsa国际传媒檚 Boler-Chevy combo unit called sa国际传媒楥sa国际传媒 Plus catches the eye of everyone passing by. The Lloydminster, Alta., resident bought the 1975 Boler to travel to car shows with his 1938 Chevy Master Sedan. But soon the little trailer was stealing the limelight.

sa国际传媒淭he car without the trailer, people walk right by it. With the trailer, they tend to walk right to it.sa国际传媒

The Bolersa国际传媒檚 birthday party includes demonstrations from experts, the first 3D-printed trailer and musical acts every night. The camp is open to the public on Saturday.

Bolers have been about creating memories for the last 50 years, Giles said. Thatsa国际传媒檚 why campers from as far away as Texas, California, Newfoundland, Yukon and Vancouver Island have made the journey for the party.

sa国际传媒淲hen you park in a campground, you have people coming up to you telling you stories about when they were youngsters and a relative or friend had a Boler,sa国际传媒 he said.

sa国际传媒淎nd they are still making memories today.sa国际传媒

The Canadian Press

Like us on and follow us on .





(or

sa国际传媒

) document.head.appendChild(flippScript); window.flippxp = window.flippxp || {run: []}; window.flippxp.run.push(function() { window.flippxp.registerSlot("#flipp-ux-slot-ssdaw212", "Black Press Media Standard", 1281409, [312035]); }); }