It was a good end to a long career.
Cathy and Ian Harry, former owners of the Boston Bar Kal Tire spent the last Saturday of their business operations hosting a Stuff the Cruiser pancake breakfast fundraiser, surrounded by their community of nearly three decades.
The couple operated their shop together for 27 of the 34 years they’ve been married and have been repeated partners with the RCMP in running the holiday event for many years.
“The guy who purchased it, he decided he wanted to get in early so I told him he had to wait until after Stuff the Cruiser,” Cathy said. “It’s a big fundraiser for the community for the food bank so we didn’t want to change the dates.”
It’s a pretty important event for the Harrys and for the Boston Bar community, propelled not just by the charity but also by a long-standing rivalry with Hope.
“I told all my friends on Facebook and everybody’s coming down,” Cathy said just before the event. “I told them we’re going to beat Hope hands down. The challenge is on.”
And her prediction came true two weekends ago when the Boston Bar crew took in a total of 1,210 pounds of food and $2,166 in cash donations compared with Hope’s Stuff the Cruiser event which raised 1,200 pounds of food and $1,234 (a record year for that community).
The Harrys said they loved living and raising their kids in Boston Bar but that they haven’t had a break in a while.
They will both take time off before going back to work for Kal Tire, this time as employees.
“We came in when we were young and didn’t know much about towing or anything,” said Cathy noting support from the community throughout their stay.
“You couldn’t ask to raise kids in a better environment than to be in a small town because everybody knows you and helps you.”