"...to jak, pomożecie?" – A Decade of WOŚP Vintage Rides

A decade is a good occasion for summing up. 10 years have passed since we started supporting the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity (WOŚP) by organizing rides in vintage vehicles around Olsztyn's old town. What did it look like in 2010... first of all, our Warszawa was only forty years old, yet an attraction that drew interest from both younger and older fans of vintage motoring. During the first fundraising drive, our Agrafka and our Ural motorcycle were accompanied by a "big Fiat" from the FSO Auto Klub. The three of us, together with the Municipal Addiction Prevention and Therapy Center (Miejski Zespół Profilaktyki i Terapii Uzależnień), raised PLN 6,103.67 that time. A significant amount, but as time would show, it was only a modest beginning. The 19th Grand Finale of the WOŚP took place with the same lineup: the Ural M-63 motorcycle, a Fiat 125p and a Warszawa 223. This time the event sparked extraordinary interest, not only among the city's residents but also the local media... microphones, interviews, the glare of flashbulbs, radio, television, crowds of fans, the high life... that's exactly what we needed to broaden our horizons and get more people interested in the cause. And so it happened. In 2012, Agraf and the FSO Auto Klub were joined by the ROTOR Vintage Vehicle Enthusiasts Club (Klub Miłośników Weteranów ROTOR) and the motorcycle clubs Tabun and Żulers. Olsztyn's old town swarmed with vintage motorcycles — the Ural M-63, BMW R 51, and the MZ ES250 "Jaskółka". There was also a Yamaha that came straight from England. There were of course cars too — a Volkswagen joined the Warszawa and the Fiat. The event got its name, fitting for the retro atmosphere — "...to jak pomożecie?" (So, will you help?) — a nod to a slogan from a bygone era. During the twentieth Grand Finale, we had the chance to sponsor T-shirts for the volunteers for the first time. We prepared two designs — for volunteers and for organizers — and printed them on red Promostars T-shirts, of which we are a distributor. For the fourth year, Agraf co-organized the WOŚP Grand Finale in Olsztyn, and as every year, we gained more helpers collecting alongside us. Of course our Warszawa Agrafka was there, a 1966 Ural M-63, as well as motorcycles and a car from the ROTOR Vintage Vehicle Enthusiasts Club — an M-72, an MZ ES250 Jaskółka, a K-750, an Iż 49, a Fiat 126p — as well as Fiats from the FSO Auto Club, a Chrysler Newport and a BMW that we could see at the Piękne Klasyki (Beautiful Classics) meetups. In 2014, the Trabi crew (Trabi-ekipa) and Piękne Klasyki joined the veterans of these leisurely two- and four-wheeled rides around the old town. In total, during the 22nd Grand Finale, Olsztyn saw a Warszawa 223, two Fiat 125p, a Volkswagen "ogórek" (bus) and "garbus" (Beetle), a militia Nysa van, four Trabants, MZ motorcycles, a K-750, an M-72, two Urals, a BMW and a Dnepr — that is, seventeen classic vehicles. Just like the previous year, this time too we were the sponsor and maker of the T-shirts for the Olsztyn headquarters of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity, and we also designed and printed the posters for the 22nd Grand Finale. At the 23rd WOŚP Grand Finale, although none of the vehicles that can call themselves "vintage" has a heated steering wheel, that didn't stop anyone from collecting until dusk and raising PLN 5,215. As is tradition, we also prepared T-shirts for the volunteers — classic red with a white print. Year after year the event enjoys growing interest, with more visitors wanting to ride vintage vehicles around Olsztyn's old town. It is thanks to them — people of good will, the volunteers and the owners of vintage vehicles from the Rotor club, the Trabi crew and Piękne Klasyki — that we managed to break another record. In 2016 we raised PLN 12,800, and that was only the beginning of the surprises. In 2017 we doubled that sum. For saving the lives and health of children in general pediatric wards and for ensuring dignified medical care for seniors — the goal of the 25th WOŚP Grand Finale — we raised PLN 26,087. From the 26th Grand Finale on, our T-shirts became more and more colorful. That year, two-color prints appeared on three different T-shirts; it should be noted that the designs we print are not entirely our own ideas. Every year WOŚP has a different leading theme, from which we try not to stray too far, while adding something characteristic of Olsztyn. That year it was the Wysoka Brama (High Gate) with the kites that WOŚP chose in 2018. The year 2019 proved that the weather cannot spoil the mood of either the collectors or the donors — PLN 34,068 landed in the cans. And colorful spinning tops landed on the volunteers' T-shirts. 10 years have passed; for the eleventh time we were the organizer of the retro rides. Together with the volunteers, drivers and owners of the cars and motorcycles, we created something beautiful and unique. This is evidenced not only by the colorful crowd of onlookers, or the steadily growing "stable" of vintage vehicles, but above all by the money that will go to WOŚP, and thus to the Polish health service. In 2020 we raised PLN 49,351!