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2013 National Winter Meet - Lakeland, FL


Guest Art Griffin

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Guest Art Griffin

Mark your calendar for February 21 - 23, 2013! And you can now register for the National Winter Meet!

As we look forward to great AACA Meets and Tours in 2013, the first meet of the year is the National Winter Meet in Lakeland, FL, hosted by the Orange Blossom Region. You can register online at the AACA website under Meets through January 31st. And the meet brochure is available there to give you more details on the meet. Just put in your AACA Membership Number and your PIN, and you're ready to get started.

See You All in Lakeland!!

Art Griffin

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Guest Art Griffin

For those who would like to visit the Orange Blossom Region website and find lots of information about the Region, including the National Winter Meet, just go to: index

The Meet is "Fun in the Sun", and if it's like most years, there will be lots of sun to have fun in......plus all the things you will enjoy at this Winter Meet.

See you all in Lakeland!!

Art Griffin

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  • 2 weeks later...
Guest Art Griffin

Although the host hotel rooms are $124 per night, the meet brochure lists a couple of addtional hotels but does not give their room rates. However, as a Wyndham Rewards member, I have found through Wyndham Hotels the names of several other hotels with lower rates. I would guess that you could get a similar rate: Howard Johnson, 939 W. Robson Street, (I-4 exit 32) (863) 688-7972, $82.63; Ramada Inn, 3260 Hwy 98N, (863) 688-8080, $76.03; Travelodge, 3425 Hwy 98N, (863) 858-4481, $79.00; Days Inn, 4502 N. Socum Loop Road, (I-4 exit 33) (863) 683-5906, $77.99. So, be sure to put the National Winter Meet on your schedule.Art Griffin

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As I am retiring December 28th and the wife and I will be heading to Florida at the end of January, I would very much like to ride over to Lakeland for this meet. I inherited my uncle's place in Seminole 3 years ago so am an hour and half (?) away from Lakeland. Would it be worth staying overnight or could I easily go back and forth if I wanted to come over for more than a day?

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John:

Congratulations on the retirement.

Seminole to Lakeland is probably no more than 60-75 minutes, but traffic can (and will) move that time upward. More than likely, you would leave Seminole and get on i-275 northbound in Pinellas County. You will then cross the Howard Frankland Bridge and enter downtown Tampa. After downtown you will go east on I-4 apprroximately 30 miles to Lakeland.

Obviously, you could do that daily, but there are many hotels in Lakeland that would allow you to stay close to the show and relax from the driving.

I live in Tampa but plan on staying in Lakeland for the show, for the reasons outlined above.

Enjoy the show and look me up if you get to the show.

Kevin

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Kevin, thanks. I mapped it out and you're right, Park Blvd. to 275, across the Frankland Bridge to I4. I'm definitely going to try and make it. I've been attending Hershey since 2004 so it will be interesting to see the differences. I just wish I could get my 72 LTD to Florida........

Edited by John_Maine (see edit history)
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Guest Art Griffin

John, the National Winter Meets, which are practically always held in Florida, are lots of fun. But, they are nowhere the size of Hershey. The SE Spring Meet in Charlotte each April is next largest. I have been going to Hershey for many years, and it's always great. Anyway, I'm sure you will enjoy this year's meet in Lakeland, hosted by the Orange Blossom Region. Next year's Winter Meet will be in the Port St. Lucie area.

So, we are looking forward to seeing you in Lakeland! And, enjoy your new home in Florida. We've only lived there almost 56 years, after moving from Schenectady, NY to work at Cape Canaveral. But, my wife and I are now spending part of the year in western North Carolina.

Art Griffin

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Art, thanks, yeah, I know nothing's as large as Hershey! 56 years in Florida? I've wanted to get away from winter since my teen years and I almost moved to Florida back when I got out of college, but I met my wife, we started a family, and well life happened. Now that I'm retiring and have a place there, I am anxious to get out of the snow and cold. I've always said I would head south the day after the morning low hit 40° in the fall and wouldn't come back until mid-May but my wife doesn't want to be away from the family that long. She's saying we'll stay a few weeks, I'm saying a few months, so we'll see. I'm hoping once she gets there, she'll decide she likes it. I, on the other hand, have told her that I have only been to Florida for 10 days or 2 weeks at a time and I've played tourist. I don't know what it's like to live there and may get bored after month - I don't know. But we have the place, it didn't cost us anything and we need to try it and find out.

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John,

When you get there , you and your wife should get INVOLVED with the nearest AACA Region, attend the events, and learn to enjoy your cars year-round, like we do here in Louisiana ! Art can show you how!

Look me up when you come to the Lakeland Meet....

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Marty and Art - If I make it to Lakeland, I will definitely try to find you. I don't know about getting involved with the AACA there as we only plan to be in Florida for couple of months, at least in 2013. I would love to have an antique car in Florida but it wouldn't be practical for me to have one. Of course, that doesn't mean I can't come to meets and such.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Art et all,

Wifey and I will be there too. Can't bring the "baby" down from Colorado, but we'll attend the show.

Staying @ her sisters place in Claremont (big blueberry farm).

We had our avatar printed on T shirts so we'll be easy to spot.

Looking forward to seeing all the cars, and meeting lots of forum members.

Best Regards,

Mike in Colorado

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Hi Guys - I was looking at the meet info - printed off the brochure - to take to Florida with me and at almost the same time, happened to notice the advertisement for Zephyr Hills in Old Cars Weekly. They are the same weekend. I'm really disappointed because I have heard a lot about the Zephyr Hills Winterfest and wanted to take that in as well. Won't having both on the same weekend affect attendance or are there enough cars and people to go around?

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Guest Art Griffin

Yes, unfortunately, having them on the same weekend will affect attendance. But, since the Zephyrhills event continues into Sunday, you could skip to Zephyrhills from Lakeland after the AACA Winter Meet is over. Picking a date for a National Meet is not easy, since availability of facilities and conflicts with other events are major factors.

I will be meeting with Registration Chairman, Don Allen, on this coming Thursday to deliver the Judging Class signs and the other Meet signs to the Orange Blossom Region. These signs get passed from Region to Region to avoid having to make new signs, and they will again be used at Cleveland, TN this Fall.

I hope that folks are busy registering for the Lakeland Meet. I have registered to Judge, and my wife and I will be attending various events, including the Awards Banquet on Saturday evening.

See you soon.

Art Griffin

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Guest 704EVER

Well, I just looked at the schedule and this timing of the Winter Nationals really is horrendous. Doesn't anyone from the AACA look at local high priority events? Usually the AACA Winter Event is the first weeekend of March, what happened? There is another event that is very huge in S. Fl., it's the Boca Concours show and it's scheduled for the next day. We were looking to take 5 cars to the AACA and the same 5 to Boca, now what? Do the event planners even consider what's going on locally and Boca is just not some car show, it's a true National event?

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Yes people do look at other events BUT our regions and chapters do not always have the privilege of picking and choosing dates. It depends on the availability of facilities, hotels, etc. Sometimes it will conflict with other events. Sometimes when we book an event years ahead we do not know the dates of other events that are not ours. The Boca Raton concours is supported by us. In fact we just sent out a reminder in the mail to our participants that they can get a "2-fer" and go to our meet in Lakeland for Saturday and still make the concours on Sunday as a spectator or if invited as a participant. Unfortunately, this writer forgot to include the letter explaining the entire procedure! We did publish an article in Speedster about this a couple of months ago. No one benefits when there is a schedule conflict BUT almost every weekend there could be a conflict with some other event. We even have conflicts with our own national events this year...it was 100% unavoidable.

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Guest Art Griffin

Come to Lakeland for the National Winter Meet! The Orange Blossom Region is doing everything to make your stay in Lakeland a fun time in the antique vehicle hobby! You will enjoy being with your AACA friends!

I went online to www.hotels.com to see what hotels they had available. It looks like the Terrace Hotel is filling fast, but there are still rooms available at favorable rates at other hotels in Lakeland. And there are other services such as Orbitz, Travelocity, etc. available to help you find a great place to stay.

This week the weather is sunny with temperatures in the 80's, but I can't promise what it will be for the Meet..........usually about the same, though.

Art Griffin

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  • 2 weeks later...
Guest Art Griffin

Hey, for all of you that are considering attending the National Winter Meet in Lakeland, we are rapidly approaching the registration deadline, January 31st. So, go ahead and submit your Registration and join us for a great weekend of old car activities. You'll be glad you did. SEE YOU IN LAKELAND!!!

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  • 4 weeks later...
Guest mrclean1

I can't believe I drove up from Boca for this, what happened? I went by yesterday afternoon, there were 4 or 5 vendors setting up and nobody around. Made another trip by this morning and still nothing happening, my local cruise night is better attended than this. I'm going over to Zephyrhills today and will come back by for the actual show tomorrow, but based on what I've seen it's going to be a major disappointment. Sure was a waste of several hundred dollars on my part, ahhh well back to Boca then for the Concours.

Steve

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Generally speaking Steve, every National Meet I have been to does not get really active until Friday afternoons. Friday mornings are for setup and to get reunited with old friends. Friday mornings are also a good time to get those early bird deals. Saturday is generally the real highlight of the weekend.

Wayne

Edited by R W Burgess (see edit history)
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You should have inquired about the show prior to driving up there as it would have saved you a trip and the frustration. As Wayne said, most of the activities at meets like this are on Saturday. When I show at a National Meet I don't usually arrive until late Friday afternoon.

Bob

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Guest mrclean1
You should have inquired about the show prior to driving up there as it would have saved you a trip and the frustration. As Wayne said, most of the activities at meets like this are on Saturday. When I show at a National Meet I don't usually arrive until late Friday afternoon.

Bob

I hear ya, and I'm not blaming anyone but myself. I commented because of the flyer, why advertise it as such if no one is going to be there? Fortunately we were able to spend the day at Zepyrhills which was going full tilt so it wasn't a total waste. I even managed to find some stuff and enjoyed sitting in on the auction for a while.

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Steve and all - I was going to say exactly what you said and I totally agree. I drove over from Seminole this morning (60 miles one way), arriving around 10:00. There were 6 vendors and maybe 6 cars to look at. I was very disappointed. I was there about a half hour and headed home. From the brochure, I certainly expected a LOT more. I did talk with an AACA fellow who said what was there this morning was typical, that this show is more about the comraderie, seminars and car show on Saturday rather than a large car corral or flea market. I sure am glad I didn't get a motel and expect to spend 3 days there. After driving over there in the mad Tampa traffic, I'm in no mood to go back tomorrow for the car show. I guess Hershey spoils you for everything else. Next year, I will make Zephyr my destination.

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Steve and John,

Nothing will ever quite compete with Hershey, although the Charlotte Autofair is something that is close enough you need to try it too.

I understand your frustration, but I would urge you to go back on Saturday for the show. It will be worth it. I will not be there, but I have attended some great National Winter Meets in Florida in the past. I would agree that it might be more user friendly if meets such as this eliminated the Thursday schedule since almost everybody is there for just Saturday or for Friday and Saturday. Only a very small number of participants do any sort of flea market type stuff on Thursday.

While I know that efforts are being made to do more and more to make national events more user friendly, I think that we still need to do more as an organization to get the word out on what to expect at national events. After you have attended a couple of national events, you learn what to expect, but there is a little bit of a learning curve. I remember that I was pretty much lost at the first one or two national events that I attended, but I was lucky enough to meet a few people that quickly showed me the ropes.

It could be worse. I recently joined another national antique automobile club that will remain nameless. In that organization's newsletter the following instructions regarding hotel accomodations for an annual event were published, "People can use the same hotels they have always used." Needless to say, as a new member of that club I don't feel too welcomed and I don't intend to register to attend that event.

I am happy to say that AACA's instructions for a new member are quite a bit better than that!

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Matt, if Lakeland is typical for a regional national meet and meets the expectations of the members that attend, then that's fine. I'm just saying that from the brochure, it wasn't what I expected. The only AACA meet I've attended is Hershey and I sort of expected this meet to be sort of a junior Hershey. Now that I know, I just won't make the effort to attend in the future.

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Most meets are focused on a Saturday car show. Some others have varying amounts of other activities. Hershey is in a class by itself. I will probably start a fight with this comment, but Charlotte is almost like Hershey. If you are looking for a huge swapmeet, then you should also try Charlotte. I have never been to any meet with a substantial swap meet other than Hershey or Charlotte.

Check out some of the photos on the Charlotte Autofair website and you will see that it is more like what you have in mind.

Charlotte AutoFair - The Largest Collector Vehicle Event in the Southeast!

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Anyone got a meet flyer they can post for a member in Fort Meyers to read??????

t

Thanks to everyone for the information. Went to Lakeland stayed at the Terrace and had a wonderful time. The automobiles were fantistic. The people were friendly and we really enjoyed the event. A beautiful 1911 Packard black and brass really got my attention as well as the white Chrysler 300 original baseball car. A beautiful Willys Knight roadster was outstanding. We are restoring a 42 Lincoln Continental coupe and hope to have it done for the fall shows. Lee and Janice Waldren Fort Myers, Fl.

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I attended Saturday and also had a great time. A large variety of beautiful vehciles, including a large HPOF class.

I was fortunate to live close enough to drive over in the morning, show my car, attend the Awards dinner and make it back home the same day.

It was a great day visiting with long time friends.

Kevin

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Guest Art Griffin

Folks that arrived Thursday got a chance to visit with their AACA friends and enjoy refreshments in the Hospitality Room. On Friday there were two good seminars during the morning, one on antiqe clothing for the various eras of our antique vehicles, and the other on copper, nickel, chrome plating, etc. We found out what was correct for our vehicles. And after lunch we had an informative and interesting AACA Membership Roudtable where folks could learn about what's happening in AACA, ask questions to Directors and others in leadership positions, and make comments and suggestions. Then all the Judges attended their Judging School to prepare for Saturday's judging of the various vehicle classes. For those wanting evening activities, there were several things to choose from.......a good musical concert, and a basketball game to name a couple. Although there weren't a large number of vendors, there were a few that had good hobby-related merchandise. And on Saturday, with nearly 250 beautiful antique vehicles on the Show Field, there were plenty of vehicles to look at and talk with the owners. Saturday evening was the Awards Banquet where we all enjoyed delicious food and found out which vehicles won awards.

I enjoyed the whole weekend.

Art Griffin

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