Drive to Lytton for the 2nd Annual Canyon Cruise

In July of 2024 Global News featured a story from Lytton BC about the town coming back from the horrible fire of 2021.  The goal for the town was to remind the general public that they are still here and invite people to visit. The BMW Club thought it would be a good destination to host a drive and invite other clubs to join us.  After meeting with the town mayor we realized this would be a welcomed event however the logistics of promotion would not make it possible in 2024.

Turns out we were not the only car people with the idea of a Lytton destination.  Pete Polderman ran a small event in 2024 called the Canyon Cruise.  The mayor put Pete in touch with us and Jellybean Autocrafters to help promote what Pete hopes will become an annual event.  Hence the title “2nd Annual Lytton Canyon Cruise“.

Despite reaching out to other car clubs, the BMW Car Club of BC was the only brand specific car club to attend.  However the classic and hot rod car community stepped up and 300 cars were expected.

The morning of Sunday May 18th was met with rainy skies.  This is usually a death sentence for a Classic Car event as many owners don’t enjoy wet weather.  However despite the early start and rain over a hundred cars of various makes and ages met in Hope.

This was the first year of a large participation for this event.  There were a few learning experiences that will make future years go smoother.  The drive was great with the exception of the 2 bathroom stops on route.  Feedback was given.

In Lytton the BMW Club had 4th Avenue reserved for us to park our group.  We were the only group with reserved parking and it was nice to group our cars and fly our flags.  Too bad the new Legion on 4th Ave was not yet open for business.

One goal of the event was to raise money for local charities suffering from the lack of tourism in the town.  There were 50/50 draws and food sales.  Despite the volunteers doing the barbecue being overwhelmed everyone remained in good spirits as they waited for very tasty burgers.

For some of the BMW Club members, Duffey Lake Road was calling and we hit the road shortly after noon for what turned out to be a very pleasant trip through the mountain pass even though we followed a truck and horse trailer that was oblivious to the traffic behind for what seemed like an eternity at 30kph.

I know the organizer of the Canyon Cruize and Denise O’Connor (the mayor of Lytton) are thankful to all the people that took the time to drive to Lytton on what was a rainy and windy day.  We thank the members of our club that came out to show support.  If the Canyon Cruise becomes an annual event I’m sure our club will once again be invited and perhaps other car clubs will join in too.  It is great to see the car culture come together despite what you drive, old or new, import or domestic.  We share a common trait and that is passion.