by 2pm there was a line leaving , by 3pm 1/3 or more where gone.

Ted
I saw a red Packard leave early and several others. I think the AACA should penalize those that leave earlier than the posted time by disqualifying them from the awards and make that very clear. Many people come to see the cars on display and to have them leave early just disappoints the public. If you know your going to show your car and there is a 3:00 P.M. rule than make your plans accordingly. Someone should enforce it to actually past 4:00 P.M.

There is a rule, and a penalty.

H. LATE ARRIVALS / DEPARTURES

1. No vehicle will be allowed on the judging field without being preregistered.

2. The normal hour for commencement of judging is 11:00 a.m. All entrants arriving after the 11:00 a.m. dead line without just cause will be allowed to enter the field, but will be disqualified from judging. Occasion ally, an extenuating circumstance will cause tardiness, and an exception will be allowed. This decision will be at the discretion of the Chief Judge. Team Captains should be informed of the status of all late arrivals.

3. If a vehicle is disqualified, the windshield card will be changed to BLUE, which designates DO NOT JUDGE.

4. All vehicles entered in a National Meet will be required to remain on the show field until 3:00 p.m. unless announced otherwise by the Meet Chief Judge. Those vehicles leaving before release by the Chief Judge will be disqualified.

I know the judging was pretty much done by about 1:30. there may have been a team or two finishing up yet at that time. Most car owners know they aren't allowed to leave early so most likely the cars were "released" by the chief judge.

Also, don't forget even though it was a pretty day, the economy may have influenced some of those empty spots. In the classes I judged we had several cars not show up.

We stayed until after 3 but let me tell you, it makes for a very long day after a very long week. Doesn't judging at Hershey begin at 10?

This is an issue that occurs yearly, I don't know about other clubs, But I know this is an issue on show day for the BCA also. The answer and resolve are very simple, have an official at the exit, and disqualify every car that leaves.

Sadly, it's usually so they can hurry and get their car on the trailer, to beat the traffic out.

My feeling, I have always sat and enjoyed watching the other cars leave. Usually after the mass exit, there are some real beauties still sitting on the field that you missed, or can then enjoy looking them over. I leave when things have slowed down. Slow down, enjoy the reason for being there. It all ends to quicky anyway.

I thought there were more cars ducking out early this year, than ever before! So...since there is a rule...is there someone sitting at the exits taking names?

well...another rule that seems to mean nothing, or has no bearing. Show up...get judged...leave early...get a Senior. I love it!

stonefish, judging by your signature (and an apparent similar like for small german cars) - I am going to not say it aloud, but I have a feeling I know which Senior you are referring to. I had brought this particular car up in another thread.

very puzzling to say the least. as a "newbie" to this forum, I have been reading up on many things, and have seen many cases of apparent "fountains of mis-information" overflowing in copius amounts.


I for one, am glad that all but one my fleet of vehicles are of the "modified" flavour, and are judged not necessarily on their being "true to their heritage" but moreso judged on the quality of the vehicles and the modifications done to them.

have a splendiferious day,
Mr P Imp

To defense of the car owners, we were released prior to 3pm by the Chief Judge. The Chief Judge has the authority to do that. This also happened in 2005 when it was raining hard. This year the Chief Judge also released the field early at Melbourne and in Cumberland due to a storm that was supposed to be coming in.

Yes there are rules, but the Chief Judge has the authority to work around them. Sometimes it is a weather issue, sometimes it is an issue of the show cars must be off of the premises prior to a certain time. Of course if you don't have a vehicle on the field, the average spectator isn't aware of what's going on, and even though it is spelled out in the Judging Guidelines, it doesn't mean that it's wrong. Remember the Judging Guidelines is a Guideline. There are things in that book that must be followed, but there are also things that can be worked around when necessary.

and the reason being traffic?

I certainly can appreciate "rules" and "guidelines" however if they are going to be modified on the fly to respond to certain conditions
then there should be "standard procedures" to do so. In the case of releasing cars early from the show field, such a "standard procedure" should involve making an announcement over a public address system to INFORM the show car owners about the change in the "rules".
IIRC, back in 2005 such an announcement was made over the public address system at that show.

I guess I should have my hearing checked since I did not hear any such announcement that the show cars had been released by the Chief Judge
at Fall Hershey this year. Based on the number of show cars that did not leave early, I suspect I am not the only person who needs their hearing checked.

I need my hearing checked as well, cause I didn't know we were released early from the show field!! And from the people I talked with, no one else seemed to know either. I don't even know where to find the Chief Judge!! He must of walked around while I was out looking at the cars on the show field! Although the guy beside never left his car and didn't know we were released either. Hmmmm........

Maybe the contract signed with HERCO had a specified time to clear the showfield, so the cars could've been released so that they were within the times specified on the contract. In either case I don't know.

Listen I am not trying to defend the Chief Judge, what they do, how they do it, why they do it, etc. The Chief Judge has the authority to do this, it isn't my job to answer this, and if they do or don't want to answer this, then it is up to them.

In Cumberland, former national president Dave Berg was the Chief Judge of that meet. Dave's mail truck was parked behind our truck, and as fate had it, they had a report of bad weather coming into the area where the meet was taking place. Dave came back to his vehicle, informed his wife of the storm coming in, and told his wife to start packing up. Everyone within earshot got permission by Dave to leave the showfield. We were gone before the word got out, and before traffic started backing up. I'm sure Dave released the field early so that the vehicles on the show field didn't get DAMAGED from the storm.

It is not my job to explain the role of the Chief Judge, and the decisions that they make. If you don't know who the Chief Judge is, that is no one's fault but your own. Most often their name is on the application that you filled out when you entered your vehicle, and their picture quite often appears in the program. If you have 25 Judging Credits or more and you're willing to serve as Chief Judge at a national meet and do all of the work that the job involves, you have a right to make those decisions, and I won't question those decisions regardless. Many of these people working as Chief Judge have been working at this role at several meets, and I'm sure they'd look forward to having someone step up to volunteer to do the job.

If the cars left early because the Chief Judge gave them permission, that's their call.

Pat, the "leave early announcement" was broadcast at Cumberland,Md. That was the prettiest showfield I have ever seen. A well run meet.

Wayne

Yeah I wouldn't know. Dave told us we could leave and we were gone before the announcement took place.

The darkening sky and the quickening wind was all the "announcement" I needed. I think I was the first car into the trailer field.......Bob

so...were we released early or not?? If so...why wasn't it better communicated? If not...why aren't people DQ'ed??

Not that I wanted to show to end sooner, I had a great time!! Although, I could have left for vaction sooner...

Your best bet is to take it up with the Chief Judge.

It's hard to stop a flood once the dam breaks.

We are so glad we didn't leave early or we would have missed the granddaughter of the original owner of our vehicle. She was accompanied by her husband and her son. Work related issues were the cause for her coming late. She remembers riding in our vehicle in the early 70's. We took many pictures and discussed restoration of the vehicle. Great show and great weather.

One of the best...