At 1 pm the Volkswagen Van Painting Contest began and again proved to be the
highlight of the weekend. Four VW Vans were entered, one being a free-for-all to keep
all the wee ones amused. The winner chosen by this years judges,
April Alanen-Condelli, Mathew Rivers-Moore and Ken Lindsay was
Dominic Geisler and Breandan Butterworth both of Ottawa with their flower painted
'87 Sunroof Bus. These two gentlemen were about to embark on a cross country adventure
immediately following BusFusion. We wish them good luck and a safe travels.
See a picture of them and their bus below.
BusFusion 2003 Van Painting Contest Winners Brendan Butterworth & Dominic Geisler & his winning bus.
Rush hour in the rain on Friday the 13th, with the full moon and stuff, A few hours later we're at a
VW Microbus convention and quickly known for our cross-country plans. Food, shelter and the
day is almost done.
We've made it out to Mississippi Mills, to the BusFusion VW Microbus convention. We've got the
BusFusion Day One
Door prizes at noon, where we are introduced to everyone while winning a mug (we were hoping
Not quite a parade, but judging isn't till 4 and still a ways off. We hang around the van, see Sara
We're packed by the time folks come around to gather everyone for the group photo, Sitting on the roof, with our plaque and all sorts of good stuff, we just cry "I need attention!".June 14, 2003
On The Road
only creatively painted van, and the others intend to use washable paints to take part in the van
painting this afternoon. And so the adventure, that began at rush hour on a rainy Friday the 13th, with a full moon, is seriously begun.
We make friends with our immediate neighbors Matt and Jen who have a Devon (instead of the
common Westfalia) conversion and who happen to have won the van painting contest last year.
for the solar panels) then off to paint the van (we're considered favourites 'cause of the
commitment - todays painting will be done with temporary paint) as the rain fades to simple
clouds. Ominous, but simple. Matt and Jen help, as does Mandy (who desighned the BusFusion
logo for this year) and is organizing the painting and on and on. Our competition doesn't stand a
chance!
Slean looking at vans (Many seems all shy as her dad shows Sara around) and finally the prize,
First Place (beautiful plaque) is awarded to us. No small number of folks are intrigued by our
story - the local paper takes to us a bit, later CJOH does a bit of an interview.
June 15, 2003
BusFusion Day 2
so are one of the first to arrive. Which puts us in the front row. Center.
And then we're off, with some honking, waving, and miscelaneous benevolent and hopeful farewell
gestures.