Our region will be hosting our annual President's Cup in August. We use AACA classifications when judging the entrants. Several members have asked us to include HPOF and Driver's Participation classifications this year. <P>How are other regions/chapters handling these classifications at the local level? <P>What, if anything, are the participants being given? <P>Do you charge the same entrance fees for these classifications as you would for a standard judged vehicle?<P>Any other lessons learned that we could benefit from?<P>Jan K.<BR>Wis Region

Jan, surprised nobody has responded yet - there should be lots of experience out there in how to handle AACA cars at local non-AACA meets. Here is how we do it in Tidewater at our annual show - which is structured very much like a mini-national meet with all the AACA classes,etc. First of all - past AACA prizewinners (Junior/Senior, AGN,) are not judged in their class with other cars. They are automatically given an "Award of Recognition" which is just as nice as the First Place award. Maybe a wood plaque with the dash plaque and suitably inscribed would do. That recognizes those special and often excellently restored vehicles. It also accommodates those with "worn" restorations that may not be so competitive in judging anymore and wouldn't come out for the show. This also opens the class for judging other cars that have never won awards before and encourages additional participation from even non-AACA members. We don't give multiple awards as a cost-savings, and all of those AACA prizewinners are also still eligble for some of our special sponsored awards like "Best Chevy" "Best Ford" etc as well as "Best in Show." <P>We have enough experienced judges available in our own Region and among the neighboring Regions who support our show each year that we can do the AACA style judging with smaller teams and lower point total requirements. Best in Show, etc are selected by a group made up of all the team captains - they go out onto the field to review the nominees after all class judging is finished. Each judging team nominates their selections for "best whatever" while they are judging. <P>Hope that helps, let us know if you have additional ? and hopefully we'll see some other thoughts on the subj.<P>Terry

Oops-in re-reading everything I just posted, I note that I didn't mention HPOF, etc. Wanted you to know that we don't get into the business of certifying HPOF, Drivers, etc, but we do have a special display area for those vehicles who are already appropriately certified. I think that for local events any HPOF or Drivers Class vehicle should have the option of entering into class judging if they wish. If you are using advanced registration, perhaps you could come up with a special plaque to recognize participation by HPOF or Drivers class vehicles that do not want to be involved with the judging. Entry fees are the same for everyone for our event although I do know of some events that permit free entry for pre WWI vehicles, just to encourage the older cars to come out.

Thanks for your input, Terry. As usual, you've come through for me! I'll share your thoughts with the Judging committee for our meet.<P>We haven't had any difficulty setting up and judging by AACA classifications. Yes, our region judges a little looser at the local level, so cars that would never win at a National meet often take home a trophy. We just weren't sure how to incorporate the HPOF or the Driver's Classification into our local meet. I think your suggestion that we simply acknowledge those who have been so recognized at the National level is an excellent one, provided they choose to register for that category. Otherwise, there's no reason they can't still be judged, if that's their preference. I'll leave it up to the Judging committee to figure out the charges for those classes!<P>Jan K.<BR>Wis Region