"A labour of love" Nice sentiments.I would do the same though.If i was a millionairess
Jennis x
Going for Brokeback
Millionaire cuts his losses -- but charity gains
By Dana Borcea
The Hamilton Spectator
(May 29, 2006)
A self-made millionaire with Hamilton connections went for broke when he bid on a rusted pickup truck used in the runaway movie hit Brokeback Mountain.
After paying $70,000 on eBay for the vehicle, Rob Freeman decided to auction off a chance to tour the film's southern Alberta film locations in the passenger seat of the 1950 Black GMC.
The winning offer came in at just under $2,300 when bidding closed last Wednesday.
Freeman admitted yesterday he was hoping for a bigger return.
With proceeds going to his charitable foundation that supports HIV/AIDS and cancer research as well as Burlington's Freeman House, a residential home for developmentally challenged adults, Freeman was eager to raise as much money as possible.
But Freeman said the truck's purchase and subsequent tour auction were never intended to be serious money-makers.It was all more of a "labour of love."
"I just really wanted (the truck)," said Freeman, who entered semi-retirement after selling a long distance phone company he started on Hamilton's Frid Street in 1988 for a small fortune. "It's like the ruby slippers in the Wizard of Oz. It will always be the Brokeback truck."
Reached yesterday on his cellphone while scouting tour locations around the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, Freeman insisted that despite the modest closing price, he was thrilled to share the stunning scenery with a fellow Brokeback Mountain fan.
The winning buyer is a Second World War memorabilia collector from Indiana who will travel to Alberta in July with his family.
With room for only two passengers in the cab of the pickup truck, Bob Welsh, who bid on the tour for himself and his son, asked Freeman if his wife and daughter could tag along in a rented car.
Freeman gladly agreed.
When they arrive at a location, Freeman will drive Welsh and his family around to meet with locals with firsthand stories of the film shoot.
Freeman, 52, who divides his time between a home in Bragg Creek, Alta., just outside of Calgary and a farmhouse in Thorndale, Ont, outside his hometown of London, has been putting in a lot of miles recently in preparation for the tour.
The truck, which was purchased for a couple of thousand dollars by an Alberta teenager, appeared in the Oscar-winning film about a doomed love affair between two gay cowboys just four times.
If the tour goes well, Freeman said he will consider offering another next year.
Link to original source:
http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=hamilton/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1148854213428&call_pageid=1020420665036&col=1014656511815
