charlier

Drove through a some snow flurries this morning on the way to my client. No big deal. To warm here for anything more over the weekend. BTW, I'm about 60-70 miles east of Hershey. Snow in November is not very common around here but it has happened on rare occasions in the past usually toward the end of the month.

I look at it this way, if I sleep the extra hour or maybe two, 2020 will be closer to being over and I won't be awake to think about it. Heck maybe we should all try to sleep more from now on.

When the Grand National was held at this location a few months ago there were 4 or 5 food trucks/trailers selling Breakfast & Lunch food on Saturday at the show. Sure hope they use these same vendors for this National. The food was good and reasonably priced. FYI, there were no food vendors there on that Friday. On that Friday I got take-out lunch and dinner at the Windham and ate it in my room. For me it wasn't worth the effort to unhitch my tow vehicle to go off-site for food. Since I am driving my DPC vehicle to this National I'll have more options for food on Friday. Saturday morning I will probably get breakfast from one of the food vendors since I am judging which means there is no way to know when I'll get lunch. Does anyone know the final count of vehicles registered for this National? Paging Steve M. or Stan K.......

I think I will take more time off in 2021 and attend more AACA Nationals or at the very least a couple more days off to spend at Fall Hershey 2021. This past week I got to thinking while driving to work in the mornings. Seeing the clouds with the sun peeking out from behind them along this temps in the 40-50s got me thinking about the early mornings in the Hershey flea market with it's sights, sounds and smells of vendors cooking their breakfast. The many photos in this thread also serve as a reminder of all the good times I have had there and the future good times to come.

We use smartphones and texting at Hershey if we get separated to do the same thing you posted about above. I have also taken photos of flea market items and texted them to friends who could not attend Fall Hershey that I thought or knew would be interested in an item and offered to buy the item for them. I do that simply as a favor for a friend and get nothing out of it. Sometimes vendors were willing to do business this way and sometimes not. Their gain or their loss.

My friends and I usually start walking through the car corral and see that first. Then we start at the farthest point of Orange field going up and down each isle and continue up and down each isle in each adjoining field going back towards their RV at the old airport. When we travel through the Red field we use a different isle in a particular section each morning and evening so we cover parts of that field as well just travel back and forth to the RV each day. Usually by the end of the week we have covered most of the fields. We do save a little time by skipping empty isles or ones filled parked vehicles that are not selling anything. During some years I have used a pedometer app on my phone to measure the distance I walked. My mileage varies between 12-17 miles. Needless to say early on I learned to wear comfortable shoes. My friends and I use a team approach at Hershey. We all kinda know what the others are interested in so we have multiple pairs of eyes scanning each flea market space. As were walking we are constantly asking "Did you see that XYZ part?" If someone missed it they check out the part the other person saw. This seems to work for us. My friends also have a custom make flea market cart that they use. The cart has a 6 foot fiberglass rod attached to it with a distinctive flag at the very top of the rod. That makes it very easy to find them even if they are far down a long isle.

Since this discussion asks the question "Is the antique automobile hobby ready for the coming switchover to electric cars, etc." this begs the question: Will the new home of the AACA that is currently being built have an Electric Charging Station for electric vehicles that visit the new building??? Maybe this ability will be added sometime in the not too distant future after a sponsor be found to make it more economically feasible. Yes I know there is another building in the area that has a charging station for electric vehicles.

FYI, Toyota's frame supplier (Dana Holding Corp. of Maumee, Ohio) is responsible for the screw up and Toyota is on the hook to replace the frames on up to 1.5 million vehicles. Hopefully Dana shares in the estimated 3.4 Billion dollar cost of their mistake. A while back I ran into a Tacoma Owner in the parking lot at the food store. He told me he loved his truck and it had close to 400,000 miles on it with only having to do regular maintenance on it and he replaced one starter. Not the first story I heard like that wither with a Toyota.

If you ever need a 12 volt portable refrigerator/freezer let me know. I bought one several months ago and it works great. Even inside a hot car trailer it keeps my beverages ICE COLD. Also comes in handy when the power goes off at the house.

A few years after buying my Toyota Tundra I started getting letters and phone calls from my Toyota dealer telling me that due to "High Demand" they were looking for pre-owned Tundras X% over book value and throw a number at me. That number was interesting even though I knew it was a sales tactic/ploy/game. Finally one day when the dealer called with the pitch I took the call. I told them if they needed my Tundra so badly I would be come to their dealership that afternoon and I would be happy to give them the keys to my truck for the keys to a brand new Tundra. Even up swap, no cash at all changing hands. That was the last time I got one of those calls. FYI, Toyota Tacoma sales have always been strong. When Ford and others withdrew that let the small truck market to Toyota. A few years ago Ford, Chevy, etc came to their senses and reentered that market segment. Even with the competition Tacoma sales in 2019 amounted to 39% of that market's sales.

FYI regarding making Hotel Reservations at the Wyndham. When I called them on Saturday afternoon to book a room I was told the hotel was full on the Friday night of the National. Apparently the person I was speaking to was not aware of how to book a room for someone using a block of rooms for an organization like AACA. Finally she asked another person for help and put her on the phone. That woman was working Friday evening when the first reservation for the AACA block came in and had figured out how to book the room. I asked this woman to please pass this knowledge along so other AACA members would have an easier time booking a room. This might be a moot point by now if the hotel is actually full but I thought I would pass my experience on to others here. Looking forward to seeing my AACA friends at this event. Charlie

Steve, Thank You for answering my questions in my previous post in this thread. Your answers in bold at the end of each question were a bit of a surprise (because it looks like I answered my own questions although I have been know to talk to myself occasionally) but given your extremely busy schedule and your moderator abilities on the forum that made the most sense to quickly address my questions. Thanks Again. Charlie

Sorry not from Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia or any other of those oftentimes questionable sources for Accurate, Factual and most of all Truthful information. The 1000s and 1000s come from personally helping run, judging and attending VW events for close to 25 years now and seeing the cars and their drivers in person. So I guess you could say it is anecdotal. I do however have a few very large computer hard drives with photos from these events and well as other storage media before I bought the hard drives. Some might call that anecdotal as well unless one wants to take the time to look at all those photos. 😁

Steve, A few questions for you that might help fill in a few gaps in information about this Special Nationals. 1) You mention in your post about all judges following specific instructions to transfer their registration to Gettysburg. Maybe I missed it but I did not see any special instructions in the email or the attachments that came with it. Are judges that want to transfer their Hershey judge's registration simply to contact the Chief Judge and request the transfer? Yes 2) Will the Special National be like the Grand National when it comes to spectators. ie the event will not be advertised to the public but will be open to non AACA members that abide by all Covid-19 guidelines, etc? YES 3) Will Judging CJEs be offered after the Judging School on Friday at Gettysburg? I believe so 4) At the Grand National there was mention of a Friday Night BBQ at Hershey. Any plans to do something like that at Gettysburg or maybe a different surprise up your sleeve? Sadly, no. Sleeves are empty. A Sincere Thank You to everyone involved at AACA National (Board Members & National Staff) and Hershey Region for stepping up once again to move a Mountain for the Second time this year to make an event happen for AACA members. Your CAN DO attitude and RESOLVE in the face of adversity this year is Greatly Appreciated. I look forward to attending this event and getting another Dash Plaque for a show that never was. See everyone in November. Charlie

I sure hope all of the 1000s and 1000s of young enthusiasts I have seen over the years do have their driver's licenses then. I appreciate your anecdotal evidence to your support opinion. I have only to point to my oldest nephew and ALL his friends who got their licenses without a long delay. Same goes for my other nephew and ALL his friends (different nephews in different states). Then there is my niece who has been saying since she was 14 she will have her permit when she turns 16 (now about 8 months away) and her license soon after that. She also has hinted from time to time how much she wants a car like her uncle's 18 year old VW Beetle always with that adorable smile on her face. FYI, these days it can get VERY EXPENSIVE to insure a young, inexperienced driver even if they are only a part time driver of Mom or Dad's car (think around $1.5 to $2K/year depending on location). That is what both my sister and brother tell me when each of my nephews had to be insured. When the young driver becomes the primary driver of a vehicle you can multiply that first figure by 1.5 to 2 TIMES that number (depending on location). Whichever number you use that can be a HUGE expense for a young driver whose parents require their child to contribute towards those expenses. For at least some families this expense may be part of the reason their children are not rushing out to get their permits/licenses like most of us did when we were young and car insurance was less expensive. Time will tell how all this plays out. Stay tuned.