2013 National Winter Meet - Lakeland, FL

[John_Maine]

Just want folks to know I'm not criticizing the meet itself or all the hard work that folks put into it. It is what it is, just not what I expected and that's why I was disappointed. Now that I know, my expectations will be different.

[Guest Art Griffin]

John, AACA Meets include a Show, but they also include lots of other activities as well, such as parades, museum visits, ice cream socials, bar-b-que dinners, live music with dancing, seminars, auctions, meetings, flea markets, etc., etc. To register for a meet, a person must be a member of AACA. But to visit Saturday's Show or the Flea Market, anyone is welcome to come, and we don't charge any fee to visit. For each meet the host club produces a meet flyer that gives the planned activities and a schedule of those activities. Perhaps you didn't get a chance to read the flyer for the meet in Lakeland before planning to attend. I'm sorry that I didn't cover some of the Lakeland activities with you when you visited the AACA Forum several months ago. Next year the National Winter Meet will be in February in Port St. Lucie, FL, and a key item during their schedule will be a visit to the newly rebuilt Elliott Museum in Stuart. But, the host Region, the Treasure Coast Region, has decided not to have a Flea Market. With the Internet and some large Vendor festivals, Flea Markets at meets don't seem to have very many vendors, so it's up to the hosting club to decide whether they want to include one.

Of course, the major activity for all National Meets is the judged Show, which is judged using AACA standard guidelines, and which is normally held on Saturday. That way, vehicles owned by AACA members can participate in meets around the country, and the owners know that each meet uses the same judging standards.

Again, I apologize for not giving you more information on what to expect at Lakeland.

Art Griffin

[John_Maine]

Hi Art, thanks for the additional info. Never having been to a meet other than Hershey, I more or less expected the major regional events to be similar. Yes, the brochure had all or most of the activities on it but it also had the flea market and car corral - which is what I'm primarily interested in - so I think it was a little misleading to a novice attendee. It's not a big deal for me, really, and I'm not going to give up my AACA membership because of it. Now I know and if the meet is close enough to me to warrant going to the car show on Saturday, I will attend in the future.

[Waldren]

Had a great time looking to attend more meets after I finish my Lincoln. Leroy Waldren Fort Myers