Wednesday, August 27, 2008 • Page 15 Paul Harrington - a Canadian Duke Surviving Cancer Scholarship created
BY ANDY COMBER
Family, friends, cars, and the Dukes of Hazzard are some of the things closest to the heart of Paul Harrington, Good-bye motorcycle, hello my first car a 44-year-old Ruscom Station resident, and the man Jim Oates enjoys reading CarStory in the Essex Free Press. Jim was not the first behind the 6th Annual Hair owner of his first car, but he definitely was the last: Dare Dukes Weekend, held “I used to ride a motorcycle when I was a youth a long time ago. As I grew both Aug. 23-24 at Leamington physically and mentally, I thought I should have four wheels under me. I traded my Fairgrounds. bike for some woodworking tools and a phonograph. Still needing transportation, I "The support this year was bought a 1936 Chev from the blacksmith up on Hwy. 2. astounding," said Harring- “As the price was within my budget, I thought I was getting the best of the deal. I ton, who held a car show, didn’t know a great deal about cars in those days, only that you drove them as fast as swap meet and hair cut-a- possible with the radio cranked up as loud as possible. It had a bit of rust but that did- thon to support a new n’t matter. The motor ran and the wheels turned. Sure, it looked as if it had seen better "Surviving Cancer Scholar- days but it still had lots of life in it. ship Fund." Harrington and “Maybe I should have kept the bike. The universal joint shook itself to pieces, and his sister, Debra-Ann Taylor with a clatter, clatter, and thump, the driveshaft dropped. With a shudder, the old established the scholarship Chevy reared its with St. Clair College for back end up off the students who have survived ground as the dri- or are battling cancer. Paul Harrington uses his passion for cars and the TV series veshaft plowed "Almost everyone out Dukes of Hazzard to help raise funds in the battle against cancer. Harrington's 1969 Dodge Charger itself into the grav- there knows someone who "General Lee" was featured at the 6th Annual Hair Dare el roadbed. A has battled cancer," said Dukes Weekend at Leamington Fairgrounds, Aug. 23-24. friend helped me Harrington, who held his as I tied the shaft first Hair Dare event in Steve what we were plan- General Lee for sale in up with a piece of Essex in 2003, in honour of ning this year as a charity Georgia. He purchased the baling wire so it his mother Ann, a cancer sur- and he said, "That's great, vehicle with the help of his wouldn’t drag on vivor. Themed around the Paul." I will remember those parents. the ground while television-famed Dukes of words for as long as I live." "I started attending many he towed me Hazzard, the Hair Dare event Harrington's connection local car shows that follow- home. I got a new has raised over $28,000 for to the Dukes of Hazzard ing summer," said 1936 Chevrolet with built-in trunk in sales catalogue universal joint, the Canadian Cancer Society series began as a young Harrington, who trailered installed it, and I in the last five years. teenager, when he dreamed the Charger for a trip to was off again. In February of this year, of having a 1969 Dodge Covington, Georgia, in “Not long after this incident, I was driving through the town of Tecumseh. That was cancer struck again at the Charger like the infamous 1996. Covington was one of in the days before traffic lights were installed at Lesperance and Tecumseh Road. heart of Harrington, claim- "General Lee" from the tele- the locations used to film the Someone didn’t yield. Anyway, my Chevy and a pickup truck drove through the inter- ing the life of his boss of vision program. Dukes of Hazzard series, section. I turned left and the pickup proceeded straight. over 10 years and close fam- "My first car was a Dodge which followed the adven- “Yes, straight into my right rear fender! Did I mention CARSTORY IS ily friend Steve Stowe. Charger, but not a 1969," tures of Bo and Luke Duke, rust? That fender was held in place by rust. Not only did SPONSORED BY Stowe helped Harrington said Harrington, who kept two cousins living in the fic- it bend, it fell on the ground. And wouldn’t you know become a licensed automo- his dream alive long after a tional Hazzard County. The it? There wasn’t a scratch on the pickup. No charges tive technician. A memorial stint with the air force, series aired on the CBS tele- were laid and we both went on our way. Me? I had a was held at the fairgrounds which he had joined at age vision network from 1979- crumpled fender lying on my back seat. And he? He left on Sunday in honour of 17. 1985. The Canadian Dukes with a smile on his face. Stowe. While visiting a friend in of Hazzard fan club was “That old Chevy taught me a lot about cars and life. Your Security. "We lost a great man," the U.S. in 1991, Harrington founded in 1997, said When I tried to trade it in on another car, I discovered Our Responsibility. said an emotional discovered a 1969 Dodge Harrington. that nobody wanted the old thing. Somehow, I got the Harrington. "I mentioned to Charger replica of the SEE HAIR DARE, PAGE 16 impression that they thought I was joking every time I drove onto a used car lot. “Swallowing my pride, I went out and bought a used 1948 Ford. The ’36 Chevy went to the scrap yard where it suffered a few more indignities.”
As a thank you, if your story is published in CarStory, you will receive a copy of Bill Sherk’s book “60 Years Behind the Wheel: The Cars We Drove in Canada 1900- 1960.” If you have stories or photos to share, email [email protected] or write Bill Sherk, 33 Oak St. E., P.O. Box 10012, Leamington, ON N8H 2C3.
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