Acton 2025

I didn’t bring anything to trade, but it was the Ottawa Senators’ fault.

Eric Vettoretti and I had been planning our Acton trip for a couple of months, and it was his turn to drive. But the Senators finally made the NHL playoffs for the first time in seven years, and Eric had scored tickets for the two home games of the first round, including game 4, starting on Saturday night. This meant that we’d have to head home from Acton no later than 12:30, so we’d have to bow out of any after-events. Tearing a table down at noon takes time, and if anyone is going to lose track of time while at a swap meet, it’s me. So, to ensure a quick escape at go-time, I decided not to bring any trade stock. I can’t remember ever attending a meet without bringing traders. It was a strange feeling, not craning my neck from across the hall to see if I was about to miss a sale at my table.

We drove down on Friday night along Highway 7 and we passed through Norwood at about 7:30. We were surprised to find the overpriced antique barn guy open. We knew his prices would be out of range, but it was a good chance to stretch our legs. He charges over $100 for 1966 plates.

“You know why,” he said. But of course we didn’t.

“Classic car guys?” Eric ventured.

“No. Because of Route 66,” he stated. A highway that used to start almost a thousand kays away, and headed in the opposite direction of this place. Eric and I chuckled to ourselves. Later, we saw his price on a pair of 1967 Ontario plates. “The price is marked on the back,” the proprietor said. Eric flipped the plate over out of morbid curiosity. The number 267 was written there. How does he stay in business?

We arrived at about 7:30 to the familiar sight of the hockey endboards and glass, with the trade tables and collectors visible beyond. Dave Steckley still uses the sign that the late John Powers donated many years before—it ushers people in the correct direction toward the registration table. Acton has come a long way from its modest beginnings in the shuffleboard room of the arena. It was twenty years ago that Eric and I made our joint discovery of a pair of 1939 Ontario doctor plates on our way to Acton. We scrubbed some plates down with CLR in our hotel room sink, while watching an old Wayne and Shuster rerun (with old plates visible!) and were thrilled to arrive at the meet in the small room, with maybe two dozen other people. And now the event fills an ice pad, and it drew over 100 collectors this year.

My first find of the day was at Terry Ellsworth’s table. He had a 1944 school vehicle plate which I was sure I needed. I should have started collecting them years ago when I started my career as a teacher, but the fire didn’t ignite until much later. I later looked at my pocket want list, and realized that I had read it wrong— I needed a 1942 and 1943, but I already had a 1944 from a deal years prior with the Dick Patterson estate. But I offered it to Dave Steckley, and it turns out that he needed one.

I re-visited Terry’s table later on, and was floored to find a 1927 dual purpose pair (which I definitely needed for my run). This type, characterized by the letter X and commonly known as “station wagon,” made its debut in ‘27. Not only was I getting a first-year issue, but the number couldn’t be beat: X2-222. What a lucky find!

Thomas Zimmermann, now permanently located in Banff, made the trip to Acton for the first time in a couple of years. He somehow managed to acquire a quantity of blank military “Canada” plates, along with unused maple leaf and number decals. These sometimes pop up; I picked up something similar in Acton back in the “shuffleboard” years. At that time, I used the numbers to fashion a fictitious “7135” plate (my ALPCA number). Some of the guys at Thomas’ table were buying them to put their birth years on the blanks. I decided to go for something a bit more technical. I used four leading zeroes and a one, and made a number-one plate: An accurate representation that conforms to the strict five-digit format. I’ve actually seen 00029 in person, but never lower. But to make sure that no one is fooled in the future—I wrote an explanation on the rear of the plate, detailing how it was made from surplus parts but not actually issued for use.

I caught up with Norm Ratcliffe for the first time in forever, and we commiserated about our stint on the ALPCA security team in 2002 and 2003. ALPCA now hires professional security guards as part of its contract with the convention centres it uses, but back then, security was a new consideration. Norm and I each had shifts on the day-long task of trailing a certain eccentric collector to make sure he didn’t “unwittingly” remove plates from trade tables that didn’t belong to him.

As many collectors know, former Acton co-host Gary Edwards passed away last summer. Dave Steckley paused the meet with a moment of silence in Gary’s memory, and then presented a commemorative plaque to Gary’s family, who attended the meet. The plaque featured a bright yellow 1940 Ontario plate, which was Gary’s birth year. Dave also announced the new people’s choice display award winner, which was Krystian Kozinski with his board of Ontario VIP plates. Jon Ilnytzky won the Long Distance award, having travelled from BC to attend. Both awards featured 1925 plates restored by yours truly (left over from my YOM stock liquidation) and mounted on a handsome wooden plaque. On a related note, Don Goodfellow handed me two toppers that I’ll be painting over the summer as part of our Grimsby meet awards this coming fall.

Paul Frater spends much of his working time in Hungary now, but made the trip back to Canada to attend Acton. The last time I saw him was the previous July when we were gettin’ soused during the ALPCA donation auction in Lansing. I made two key adds to my collection with assists from Paul. The first was a Sault Ste. Marie cartage plate from 1971. The Soo is the only city I collect, and it’s a tougher one, having a small population with no unissued leftovers to find like so many others. 1971 was one of the few years I was missing. I still have some holes in my collection from the 1950s and earlier, but I’m complete now from 1957 up to 1976, which I think is the last year municipal plates were issued in Sault Ste. Marie.

As Eric and I were getting ready to leave, Paul came up to Eric and asked if he still needed either 1942 or 1943 dual-purpose plates. Eric didn’t need either of them, but 1943 was a key item on my own want list. I made a healthy offer to Paul, considering it was a shorty, and took it off his hands. We were chatting about our upcoming drive home, and how the crazy European guy in Norwood was the only open place we’d seen on the way down to Acton.

“Albanian,” Paul corrected. Apparently, on a previous visit, Paul recognized the accent and the proprietor was impressed. He even offered to cut the prices on some of his wares. So that’s Paul’s advice for next time we’re in Norwood: Talk kindly about Albania.

We wouldn’t get a chance on this day, as we had to move quickly to get back to Ottawa in time for the hockey game. Eric got us home with nearly no time to spare—and he was in the seats to watch the Senators beat the Leafs in overtime, thus forcing a fifth game.