SHAVER FAMILY WINS GM ROAD TRIP CONTEST

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

HUNTSVILLE —  On the road again, the Shavers just can’t wait to get on the road again.

Around Muskoka in their new “Shaverolet” Equinox they will pick up in the next week, after winning a GM summer road trip contest this summer.

The Huntsville family returned to Elora last Thursday (Sept. 5) for a celebration of the town’s new garden in Victoria Park, as part of a $10,000 in-kind GM donation for its part in hosting the Most Road-Tripable Town contest.

Kristie Shaver answered a casting call late last spring on Facebook, looking for families to test-drive one of three GM vehicles — the Equinox, a Traverse or Blazer — on a two-day overnight trip.

“Don’t laugh, I have a good feeling,” she told her husband, Morgan, and daughters, Nova, 8, and Luna, 4.

They sent in a two-minute video of the family and did an online Skype interview.

“Thanks for giving me this time with my family,” said one of the girls.

In June, along with eight other families from across Canada, they were chosen and given a destination.

On July 14, all the couples set out in new vehicles — in the Shavers’ case a white Equinox demo.

The destination GM chose for the Shavers was Elora.

And so, equipped with an iPad and GoPro, the Shavers set out with an extra day tacked on the Friday.

They made a stop en route at Horseshoe Valley, in Barrie, to go treetop trekking.

Then it was on to Elora for the weekend, where they did “a lot of fun family” stuff together, Kristie told MuskokaTODAY.com this week.

Zip-lining, water-sliding, mini golf, dancing, laughing, visiting the Elora Gorge — and a lot of “comfortable” driving, said Kristie, an Isagenix sales rep and online marketing coach.

“We really love old towns, walking the streets, the trails and eating,” she said.

“It was a great chance o unplug from life and spend time together.”

She said the Equinox “was so comfortable.”

“It fit all our stuff — pillows, colouring books and activities — to keep the girls busy.”

Six days after their fun weekend, they had to produce a 60-second video of their road adventure.

Once posted on YouTube, voters across the country were invited to share it.

And 6,000 view/votes later — with help of the Shavers’ extensive, extended family contacts — the family was narrowed down to a GM judging of the top three families.

Last month, Kristie’s “good feeling” came true, when they were informed they were contest winners of new 2019 GM Equinox, valued at $27,000.

A chalk drawing featuring “The Shaverolet Road Trip,” was a great selling point.

But Kristie, who came up with the cute idea, said she isn’t sure it helped.

The family was paid $2,000 for taking the trip and given $3,000 to spend on accommodation and activity spending.

Kristie called it a “great experience,” since the family hadn’t gotten away together for a family vacation since the girls were born.

The girls were “super excited.”

The family, who had just moved to Huntsville last year from the Brantford area, returned to Elora for the celebration and to pick up the keys to their new Equinox, which is being shipped to Ward Edmonds’ GM dealership in Huntsville this week, so the Shavers didn’t have to drive two vehicles home.

Kristie says the Equinox includes the Redline Edition package, with its unique red and black exterior features, including rims and inside trim.

The Shavers plan to take it on more road trips within Muskoka.

“We’ve been to Bracebridge and Gravenhurst, but we want see more towns like Bala and beyond,” she said.

Meanwhile, Morgan, a builder is finishing one house and plans to build their new home next year in Woodland Heights in Huntsville, where they bought a lot on the spur of the moment after visiting Deerhurst for a mom and dad getaway.

And they plan to sell one of their two Fords, likely her Ford Edge, leaving Morgan his Ford F-150 for work.

The Shavers family, Morgan, Kristie, Luna and Nova picked up they keys to their new GM Equinox SUV Thursday in Elora after winning GM’s Most Road-Tripable Town contest this summer.

Email Mark Clairmont at mark@muskokatoday.com

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