UNITY — Car enthusiast, Kelly McLellan, had a garden party Aug. 19 and it did not include typical garden party paraphernalia. Instead it included more than a dozen Camaros parked on and near his property, owned by members of the Western Canadian Camaro Club. One of the participants joked that their gathering temporarily increased the property values in McLellan’s neighborhood.
McLellan says the cars came to Unity to join up with Unity Camaro owners and would travel together en route to the annual Cruise Night in Saskatoon, as part of a club activity.
After the group gathered at McLellan’s they cruised their way through Unity, causing many passersby to stop and admire the vehicles before they hit the highway.
McLellan is an avid car collector owning nine customized vehicles at present, but he says that number goes up and down frequently.
“I’ve always loved cars. It started with the Dukes of Hazzard, the A-Team, Smokey and Bandit and Knight Rider, to name a few,” exclaims Mclellan
It’s a family affair for the McLellans as Kelly, his wife Tammie and youngest daughter Kade love to participate in car show events. From a young age, Kade has been fully involved with cleaning, polishing, and maintaining vehicles in her charge. The McLellans other two daughters, Faith and Katelyn, have also been part of the family involvement in car show and car club activities.
Unity residents often say they make sure to drive or ride past McLellan’s home when out for an evening cruise as they can always capture some of the family’s customized car collection on their driveway or nearby.
McLellan says the best way to describe his passion for car collecting is that he modifies everything. He credits his wife, family and friends for maintaining what he describes as a circus, running a full-time business and car collecting, as well as participating events such as the Camaro club.
How did he get involved in the Western Canadian Camaro Club? McLellan responds, “My wife wanted faster, newer cars in our collection, thus acquired their Camaro. We looked for a club and got involved in this one and I am now the admin of our club’s Facebook page.”
The McLellans enjoy the activity and social side of car clubs and activities and participate in a number of get togethers throughout the year. They have also undertaken participation in Red Line Run. They have also been part of Royal Rally, which is a cannonball run style scavenger hunt, as well as taking part in another car rally known as “East Bound and Down.”
The Chevrolet Camaro is a mid-size car developed in the United States. It first went on sale in 1966 and was designed as a competing model to the Ford Mustang. It soon developed and maintained the reputation of being a sports vehicle and some even refer to it as a muscle car, although there are varying opinions on this distinction.
