Steps by the municipality and police to discourage an unauthorized car rally expected in Grand Bend Friday and Saturday appeared to work.
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Doug Cook, mayor of Lambton Shores, said leading up to the weekend there was concern hundreds of modified vehicles could arrive in the Lake Huron beach community for an event promoted on social media, but only a few appeared to show up.
Along with announcements and social media posts discouraging the event, Lambton Shores installed temporary speed bumps on Grand’s Main Street, leading to its beach, and a large contingent of Ontario Provincial Police were sent to the community, Cook said.
“It was a pretty quiet weekend,” he said Monday. “We heard that maybe a few (cars) showed up, but I think anyone who did show up was taken off the road because they didn’t meet the road standards.”
Last week, a social media post identifying the rally as “H2OI,” indicated it was to begin at 7 pm Friday at a plaza parking lot in Grand Bend and continue Saturday. Instagram posts for the event had been taken down by Monday.
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Similar events attracted hundreds of modified cars to communities in the past and in August 2023, Wasaga Beach won a court injunction preventing a planned H2OI rally.
“I give the OPP a lot of credit,” Cook said. “They got out in front of it with their messaging, plus they did a lot of social media stuff.”
The OPP also brought in a command center, a helicopter and drones, Cook said.
“They feel quite a contingent,” he said.
“They were very high visibility, high profile” Friday and Saturday, Cook said.
By Sunday morning, the temporary speed bumps were removed and “everything was back to normal,” Cook said.
Cook is hopeful the response discourages plans for similar events in Grand Bend.
“I think if they know we can do it once, we can easily do it a second time,” Cook said.
“I think it was very proactive on our part, for the safety of the community.”
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