I can still remember the red and white bag that sat in the basement of my childhood home which was filled to the brim with a cacophony of toy cars. If there was one thing that was certain about me in my youth, it was that I wanted to go fast.

Naturally, cars became the vehicle for me to imagine myself zooming around cities, and probably planets too based on how wild my imagination was.

I never did end up buying the Batmobile, or figuring out how to get my hands on a interplanetary flying vehicle, but at RetroFest in Chatham-Kent, I did see a few Batmobiles, and a whole bunch of cars that had me feeling like a kid all over again. Funny enough, I think a lot of the car buffs I met at RetroFest still had that childlike enthusiasm for cars. I mean, child or adult, who isn’t going to want to rev an engine that makes everyone on the street stop and wonder just what the heck is going on?

I’m perfectly satisfied (and even elated) with my spacious and reliable Honda CR-V, but I certainly didn’t mind imagining myself behind the wheel of a 1989 Ferrari Testarossa, or a red and white 1965 Ford Mustang.

This special edition of RetroFest that I attended (celebrating 40 years for RM Sotheby’s under Rob Myers) is, objectively, about an appreciation for classic cars. However, at the heart of it, it was also a window into the warm, supportive Chatham-Kent community, and it helped me understand the power of one person to give back and prop up and revitalize a deserving area of Ontario.

We’ll get to all that later, but let’s pull back for a second and give more insight into RetroFest by talking about Chatham-Kent itself.

Also, just note that if you want to get the full experience of what our time was like in Chatham-Kent, you can check out my saved highlights on Instagram.

All About Chatham-Kent, Ontario