The victory rides may continue, after all.
After council’s Aug. 19 decision to discontinue using the town’s fire truck – and volunteer firefighters – to give victory rides to all-Ontario champion sports teams, two area firms have come forth in the hopes of continuing the tradition.
Bob Nothof, owner of Robica Forman, sent area media, including the Journal Argus, a letter last Friday, stating the company’s offer to lend the town its calliope to use for victory rides.
"I was disappointed when I read it," Nothof says of the stories about council’s decision to stop giving the rides to winning teams due to the potential for town and fire department liability if an injury were to happen. "I understand council’s position, and the firefighters’," he says. "I’d thought we’d make the offer."
In his letter, Nothof says that using the calliope is "a ‘win-win’ for everyone, including the winners."  
The calliope was originally a steam engine built over a century ago; Robica Forman purchased it from the town (it was going to be used as a tourist train along the tracks where the Riverview Walkway now exists) and refurbished it.
Nothof explains that the calliope "is designed to have kids on it," thanks to railings along its edges and entry gates. It can seat up to 30, he adds. "It’s built for people."

Since its refurbishment, the calliope has been used in parades, often with teams or scouting troupes riding it, and is a fixture at St. Marys’ Canada Day party. Most recently, it was in the Homecoming parade in July.
But it looks like town council – if it chooses to reopen the matter – will have another choice.
Orr Insurance of Stratford also came forward, offering its own fire truck for the town to use. In an odd twist, Orr Insurance actually bought the truck from the town about a decade ago to replace another vehicle, and has been offering rides for about 30 years in total.
"I understood what council was doing, being in the insurance business," says Jeff Orr, one of the company’s co-owners. "But we still have to have fun in our lives; we’ve had teams of six year olds to the Stratford Cullitons on our truck and they all have fun, as long as people are safe."
Orr explains that his company’s truck has bars installed across the top to make it safer for riders, while he, his brother, and another Orr employee drive the truck.
As for rules, he says, "we make sure they all sit down in the back, and parents often stand on the back of it." Otherwise, the only rules are "to sit or kneel, and yell as loud as you can," Orr says.
"It’s safe – we’ve not even had a ball cap fall off," he says, adding that the truck only goes a few kilometers an hour, negating most risk.
The two offers could come on the table at council’s next meeting, on Thursday, Sept. 9. However, the town’s procedural standards say that, for a motion to be reconsidered, two of the councilors who voted against it have to agree to reopen it, and even then, it has to pass by at least two-thirds of council.
Fire chief Dennis Brownlee brought the issue forth for a council decision based on a presentation by the town’s insurance company on risk management.
Speaking to the Journal Argus last week, he said that "we’ve been doing it for years and nothing’s happened… but my main concern is that if something happened, an individual could be hurt severely," and potentially sue the volunteer firefighters operating the vehicle, the fire chief, or even the town.
Brownlee says that the only hard-and-fast rule for riders is that if anyone tries to stand up, the ride will be over immediately.
In all the years of offering the ride, he adds, it was only stopped once – because the fire department got an emergency call.