Sarnia at Brampton, #16 Steve Ferry of the Sting and #9 Matt Duchene of the Battalion, following the play into the Sting end of the rink.

A few issues back, we mentioned that we have never really been Snowbirds (RV’ers who go south in the winter for three months or more). When the snow fell, we would stay home and do our thing on the RV Show circuit.
            Now most readers might assume that the Wagonmasters spend all of their time in the RV, and that seems to be a logical assumption, so if we don’t spend the winter in the sunbelt, what do RV enthusiasts do for entertainment? We received several e-mails asking if we ever went winter camping, and we reflected on the question - besides doing the RV Shows, what else do we do in the winter?
            Yes, we have tried winter camping, a long time ago. We traveled by motorhome to Barrie, Ontario, for the Winter Festival. Several of our friends in the RV club had planned this trip, and our Wagonmaster scheduled a full roster of events to create a fun weekend with friends. It started on a very memorable note - when we arrived in Barrie, we were told that we would be parking on the ice on Lake Simcoe. The first thing that went through my mind was the image of waking up in an RV submerged at the bottom of the lake! We decided to either find another place to park, or drive home. After a bit of driving around, our group of dedicated RV’ers found a suitable land-based parking lot and set up camp for the weekend.
            Our experiences with winter camping have included other interesting RV adventures; one year we went to the Elmira Maple Festival and we traveled home in a blizzard – not an unusual situation for Canadian winters.
            We had another winter weekend RV getaway planned for Niagara Falls, and we made arrangements to park at one of the local campgrounds. Just in case the weather was a bit wild, we gave club members the option to stay in the hotel across the street. That weekend, we had one campsite booked and the RV club members occupied 35 rooms at the hotel. That was it for winter camping, unless we had a good reason to hit the snow covered road.
            Our true love in the winter is hockey, but despite the fact that we lived in the greater Toronto area, we have not been to a Maple Leaf hockey game in 25 years. We just cannot justify the cost of the tickets and apparently nobody who knows us has season tickets. Instead of following the NHL teams, we have become big fans of the Ontario Hockey League, we feel this is the best hockey and we really enjoy it.
            About 10 years ago, Brampton received a franchise in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). We really didn’t pay too much attention to the new team the first year, but in the second year I decided to go to a few games. One evening, Karen and our daughter Heather declared “girls night out” and our son Rob and I were home doing nothing. When I suggested that we should take advantage of the opportunity for a “guys night out”, and go see the Brampton Battalion hockey game that evening, he was all for it. The two teams played a great game and Rob and I were hooked. When we got home Karen and Heather were waiting for us, and they wanted to know where we had been. We told them that we went to the hockey game. Well, let me tell you, it was as if World War III broke out. What were we doing, going to a hockey game and not taking them with us? Of course the fact that they had left Rob and me at home alone while they went out didn’t seem to count.
            We were told in so many words to find out when the next game was, and get four tickets, so the whole family could go. Sure enough, the next game was on a Sunday afternoon, and the whole family went, and I must say we had a great time.
            The next year we bought season tickets to the Brampton Battalion games. Thirty-four home games plus the playoff tickets. Rob became a volunteer at the games, and Heather didn’t want to sit with Mom and Dad, she wanted to sit with her friends, so she bought her own tickets. The whole family fell in love with the Brampton Battalion and all we could think about during the winter was “when is the next game”, “which team will we be playing”, and “we had better win!”
            As the season went on, Karen got the bright idea that we should go to some of the away games so that we could cheer on our team. Road trips to Guelph and Kitchener were planned, and we traveled to Oshawa and Toronto to see St. Mikes play Brampton. One year, we went all the way to Erie, Pennsylvania, to watch the Brampton Battalion, and we went for the weekend so Karen could shop. Boy did that game ever cost me a bundle.
            As loyal fans, we joined the Brampton Battalion Booster Brigade. They had bus trips to away games, and before you knew it I was the President of the Booster Brigade and Karen was publishing a newsletter and baking cookies for the team. At many of the away games we would find other RV friends who also supported their teams, and it was fun rooting for our team and listening to our friends root for their team. Between the RV Shows and the Brampton Battalion hockey games, our winter months were flying by. We discovered there are only two seasons on the Canadian RV calendar - RV’ing, and Hockey.
            The OHL season starts with training camp in August and the first games are in September. Since RV’ing does not end until the end of October, we had to work a few things out. If we were out camping one weekend and Brampton had an afternoon game on the Sunday, we would plan on leaving the campout in time to get to the game in Brampton. There was many a time our motorhome could be found in the parking lot of the arena.
            As we followed the team, we got to know many of the players, and today some of them play in the National Hockey League (NHL). Mike Griffin, President of the Brampton Battalion, showed us the inner workings of an OHL Hockey Team, and it sure opened our eyes to what these young men have to go through to make it to the NHL. Jim Mallory, Marketing & Sales Manager of the Brampton Battalion also showed us many things, and worked with the Brampton Battalion Booster Brigade to help us with road trips and other projects.
            When Karen and I decided to move from Brampton, we made one decision, wherever we moved to it had to be within a half-hour drive of an OHL hockey team. As you know, we recently moved to Petrolia, Ontario, just twenty minutes down the road from Sarnia, home of the OHL Sarnia Sting. Today, we are subscribers to all home games.
            The toughest game for us will be when the Brampton Battalion comes into town for a game. Who will we root for?  Will we wear our Sarnia Sting sweaters, or our Brampton Battalion Jerseys?  We will be rooting for the home team, but whoever wins, it will be a great game of hockey and an entertaining night for the whole family.
            We live in a wonderful country, where there is always something interesting for RV enthusiasts to do during the winter season. In western Canada, you can enjoy the Western Hockey League action, and in eastern Canada you can go to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League games. Here in Ontario, the real hockey fans can be found in the arenas of the Ontario Hockey League. It’s great hockey, entertainment for the whole family, and before you know it, the RV season is back. So why drive all the way to the sunbelt, when you can stay in Canada and enjoy the two most important seasons of the year, RV’ing and Hockey.

Take care & happy RV’ing
M.B. & Karen Wilson
Wagon Masters
E-mail   wagontrains@msn.com