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By
Ray Fairfield |
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Note from Earl Beauchamp: Ray sent this email to many of his friends in California after his second visit to Hershey as he and Kathy headed west for home. I found it amusing, and thought some of you may get a chuckle from it too.
Hershey, PA: Hershey is the Mecca for old car enthusiasts. Whereas the Muslims bow down toward Mecca five times every day, genuine old car buffs make the trek to Hershey during the second week of October, every year, for their annual pilgrimage. Now this annual event is generally considered to be something that you do, even if you don’t need to buy anything. You see Hershey is a swap meet, car show, car sale, and general automobilia extravaganza like none other. It runs four days. There is the car parts swap meet, a car corral (with about 1000 cars for sale), and a car meet (show) that is actually the AACA Eastern Fall Meet. This meet draws somewhere around 1500 fabulously restored cars, trucks, motorcycles, and race cars to compete for top honors in their various classes. There is a car auction, held at the Hershey Motor Lodge, with part of the proceeds going to help fund the AACA Museum, Inc.’s new museum. Many car clubs hold meetings and receptions here. The AACA holds their fall Board Meeting during Hershey week. You want a place to stay while you’re here? Better make your reservation now – for next year. And it isn’t going to be cheap. Every available sleeping space for a 50-mile radius is booked solid, with some places charging upwards of $200 a night, with a 4-night minimum. Get out your wallet. There are 10,000 swap spaces here. There are so many swap spaces that if you walk continuously for the full four days, you can barely see it all. And if you actually stop in to browse in some of the spaces, you’ll not finish for sure. Many guys reserve the swap spaces and park their motor homes on them while they sell their stuff. If you give up your space you’ll never get another one. They are coveted tighter than season tickets to professional sports. Some are bequeathed. People have been known to send in a death certificate of a deceased buddy, along with a notarized statement from the deceased that he wanted his swap space to go to this guy. All the restoration people are there. All the people who make reproduction parts are there. The insurance companies are there. The Tire companies are there. The food vendors are there too. You can buy nuts, bolts, stainless steel, mufflers, gaskets, tires, wheels, paints, leathers, upholstery, keys, lenses, panels, literature, gas station stuff, automobilia, oilcans, signs and more. You name it; you can probably get it here. There is lots of iron oxide at Hershey too. I think maybe that iron oxide and testosterone are the same thing. Many “characters” are there but most people appear normal. Attendance is disproportionately male, not because women are excluded, but because (apparently) most of them don’t find it interesting to tramp around for 4 days in the mud looking at rusty old car parts. Although there are permanent restrooms under the stadium grandstand, we noticed there is only one other permanent rest room facility, which is located in the middle of the Chocolate Field. In this location my wife overheard a woman remark that Hershey was the only place she had ever seen where the women could simply walk into their rest room to do their duty, while the men had to wait in line. It's true!
And then there is the weather! Last year, our first Hershey ever, we had four perfect days with nice 80-degree sunshine, with not a hint of rain. This year we had two gray days, and two wet days. It rained continuously for those days. If the management of Hershey Entertainment Corp (HERCO) had not been paving several of the fields, we would have seen a real mess. As it was, only the white and blue fields (the only two that are still left in grass and dirt) were muddy. As people were leaving, tow trucks were standing by to help. In years past, legend has it; they had to call out the National Guard with tanks from the armory to get some of the trucks and motor homes out of the mud, buried axle deep. This used to be the norm, I am told. Hershey means mud. But I have become somewhat of a sissy in my old age, and since I didn’t really need any parts, and any purchase I made would be totally impulsive (i.e., stupid), I stayed inside during the deluges. Much of what is here is what many would call junk. The rest of it is expensive. But Hershey week is an institution. You just gotta do it.
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By Joe Gagliano |
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Be prepared:
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region reports an idea, hoping to build its membership By Earl D. Beauchamp |
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Recently, at a Sebring, Florida Saturday night gathering of old cars, I had the pleasure of meeting several members of the Edison Region, out of Ft. Myers, Florida. A leader among them was Merna Stein, a past President of the Region. She asked for new ideas of how to acquire more new, young members. I told them of all the ideas I’d used and seen used, back in my old haunts of Maryland and Virginia, and Merna replied, “We’ve tried all of those.” But then she said, “as a last ditch effort the Edison Region is offering to pay the first year’s dues to the AACA for any new member who will join.” That sounds pretty drastic doesn’t it? Yet folks, it is a new idea! Hey, it might work. Get the new member in, show them a good time, show them the benefits, and if you can do that, AACA has a new member, you’ve got a new member, and these new members may bring new ideas and new excitement. Let’s give Merna Stein and the members of the Edison Region credit for an idea of their own folks. It’s an idea that takes some getting used to, and shows some grit, but it just might work. Mrs. Stein also told us they purposely charge only a $5.00 registration fee for their Annual Show. She said the reduced registration fee increased attendance from around 50 to over 200 vehicles. If it’s increased attendance you’re looking for there is another idea you might try. As the old man used to say, “nothing beats a trial, but a failure.”
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By Earl D. Beauchamp |
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Recently, word was received concerning the passing of Leslie R. Henry, a former President, Director and true leader of the AACA during its great formative and earlier growth years. Several years ago an equally great leader of AACA during those times and also a Past President, William E. Swigart, Jr., passed away. The following article was recently printed in the Northern Panhandle News, publication of the Northern Panhandle Region in West Virginia, Editor Margaret Bowery. It had first been printed in the Vapor Locks, the newsletter of the Allegheny Mountain Region in 1963. Bob Struble, a longtime member of that Region provided the article to Ms. Bowery for republication. I thought it would serve as a point of reference in AACA’s great history and a remembrance of these two great former leaders to reprint it in the Rummage Box as follows.
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Somewhere between 250,000 and 300,000
people come to Hershey every year to attend the events, buy stuff, and see
the cars. It’s a zoo. There are thousands of motor homes, campers of every
description, vans, cars, and bikes; you name it. And there are people --
lots of people. Some have hand trucks. Some carry shopping bags handed out
by Hemmings or JC Taylor or Grundy. Some pull wagons. Many walk around
with sandwich boards on their backs, offering something for sale, or
scrawled words advising what they are looking for. Last year I spied a guy
with a sandwich board with a picture of MY CAR on it -- For sale. I
inquired. It was my car in the picture, taken from the cover of a
magazine. He had a car like mine for sale, but was using my car as his
advertising -- Hmmm. I did say something about characters, didn't I?
