New to the Shilo Museum:WW1 Cadillac Ambulance

[rob love]

Trust me, rob love doesn't like headlines.

One of the editors from Ottawa caught the story in the base newspaper or some other museum journal. I didn't write the article, but did provide a lot of the information for the curator who did write it.

The Ottawa Army news lady wanted the curator to give her my information, but the curator knows I am not keen on facebook or other social media, so forwarded her to me. I made it clear I did not want the article to be about me, but rather the vehicle. She asked me to answer 7 questions about the project and my involvement with the hobby which I did. She came back indicating she liked my writing style and wanted more. She also wanted to do a page on me. I replied that I was torn between the publicity that the museum could use when dealing with other areas of the military, and my own personal preference to privacy. I explained that I lived just outside the base on an acreage, and while most people did not know who I was, they know where I live. The problem with anything too revealing in any article, is that strangers then feel they somehow know you, and take libertys when visiting the yard. I already get many people dropping in....some are confused as to the location of the Shilo museum, some want to do me a favour and purchase one of the half dozen cannons around the yard for the price of scrap, and others have actually gone through my sheds and buildings when I am not there. I have had people pull up while I am sandblasting on the company clock, so luckily the dog lets me know. They want me to tour them around, which I will sometimes do, but not in the middle of sandblasting. So to that end I asked that maybe my inclusion to the article be kept to a minimum.

I saw the article online....I did not realize it was in the Maple leaf newspaper.

Looking at the article now, maybe there is a little more there than I would have liked, but it is a reasonable balance.

I have planted several rows of fir trees along the highway which are starting to take, so at some point I'll have a little privacy again, but not soon enough. It's a tough life for a tree in Shilo.