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Page 8 The <strong>Rover</strong>-Lander • <strong>April</strong> <strong>2007</strong><br />
Canadian Land <strong>Rover</strong> Club Founder – Harold Huggins<br />
Editor’s Note:<br />
I was rummaging through some archival <strong>Rover</strong>-<strong>Landers</strong>’<br />
boxes awhile back and spent some time perusing through a<br />
few back issues <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Rover</strong>-Lander that were done before<br />
I came on the scene. I discovered this article written by former<br />
<strong>Rover</strong>-Lander member Tom Hinkle on Harold Huggins<br />
and have re-inserted it into this issue just as Tom had writ-<br />
ten it in 1998 in hopes that some <strong>of</strong> our newer members will<br />
understand the meaning behind the words Founder’s Day<br />
and what it means to the <strong>Rover</strong>-<strong>Landers</strong> <strong>of</strong> BC and just who<br />
was at the start <strong>of</strong> it all.<br />
I personally have not seen Harold at any Founder’s Day<br />
events for a few years now and hope that he is still rovering<br />
around the lower mainland and is happy and healthy. PB<br />
Taken from the Fall 1998 issue <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Rover</strong>-Lander, Volume 2 – 5 Written by Tom Hinkle<br />
Many Land <strong>Rover</strong> owners have thought <strong>of</strong> starting a<br />
Land <strong>Rover</strong> club and have dreamed <strong>of</strong> catchy names for<br />
them. But few have been so involved in so many as Harold<br />
Huggins. Harold’s ideas began with appreciating his Land<br />
<strong>Rover</strong>’s qualities when he worked in Yellowknife “where<br />
the roads were only to the mines”. After a move to Ottawa<br />
in 1975 “there was a feeling <strong>of</strong> isolation after Land <strong>Rover</strong><br />
abandoned North America”. He recognized a need for a<br />
self-help network with family-accented events to replace<br />
the withdrawn Land <strong>Rover</strong> dealership services. So Harold<br />
organized the Association <strong>of</strong> Land <strong>Rover</strong> Owners <strong>of</strong> Canada.<br />
He started the Transfer Box the ALROC newsletter in<br />
1976 “to act as an exchange medium <strong>of</strong> information, maintenance<br />
tips, where-to-find-it and buy & sell items.”<br />
ALROC eventually proved too difficult to keep going<br />
nationwide. The Ottawa Valley Land <strong>Rover</strong> Club, the direct<br />
descendent <strong>of</strong> ALROC, is still going strong. Harold helped<br />
start the <strong>Rover</strong>-<strong>Landers</strong> <strong>of</strong> BC in 1984, serving as vice president.<br />
Few Canadian Land <strong>Rover</strong> clubs have not been influenced<br />
by the efforts <strong>of</strong> Harold Huggins – the father <strong>of</strong> Land<br />
<strong>Rover</strong> clubs <strong>of</strong> Canada.<br />
• Date and place <strong>of</strong> birth: Before the first World War<br />
• Earliest Land <strong>Rover</strong> memory: “A romantic passion for<br />
Land <strong>Rover</strong> with its British flavour.”<br />
• First Land <strong>Rover</strong>: 1966 Series IIA 109”, 3 door<br />
• Most vivid Land <strong>Rover</strong> memory: Square frozen tires in<br />
-30ºC Yellowknife.<br />
Harold Huggins working on his Land <strong>Rover</strong>.
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