Chatham-Kent earned a fan and may have even added a couple of residents after last week’s visit by automotive pioneer Malcolm Bricklin.
“Oh my god, I have not enjoyed myself like this in I can’t remember,” he said in an interview prior to riding in the RetroFest OLG Classic Car Cruise. “I am totally in love with the people here.”
Bricklin, who spent five days here, said he and his wife Sania are actively looking at buying a waterfront home here.
“I came here because Sania thought we would have a good time, and she was right, as always,” he laughed. “She’s already looking at real estate.”
The couple spends much of their time in Manhattan but the attitude of local residents has amazed them.
“Now that I’m older (he turned 77 in March), I appreciate people my age who have learned to live their lives with fun and continue to live their life with fun. They’re not storing themselves until they die.”
“The people in this town live adventuresome, they play with their fire engines, they play with their ambulances, they play with everything; they walk around with smiles on their faces…you don’t get that everywhere.”
“A lot of people are worried about how many pills they’re taking or their next doctor appointment and it’s really depressing.”
Sania Bricklin was impressed with the generosity shown by locals.
“We went to someone’s home and she saw rhubarb growing,” he said. “She’d never seen it before and the next minute someone’s making a pie for her. Where do you get that kind of person?”
“It was delicious,” Sania said. “It was so thoughtful.”
“You’ll be seeing more of us for sure,” he said. “For my wife to be as happy as she is, that’s priceless to me. If she’s happy, I’m happy.”
