2020 Grand National Allentown NOW GETTYSBURG!!!

[gdaquilina]

My reservation at the Residence Inn was not automatically cancelled.  Check to make sure to cancel the reservations that you made at one of the Allentown hotels.

[ex98thdrill]

I love the Wyndham resort in Gettysburg.  I was there in 2014 and 2016 for Early Ford V8 meets, and I was there in 2018 for an AACA spring meet.  A great location.  Everything is on site, and if the bus is running, you can pay one price, hop on the bus, and go wherever you want to go in town...

 

This will be my fourth event there in six years....

[ex98thdrill]

On 7/24/2020 at 6:35 PM, Terry Bond said:

Wow, that facility seems purpose made for car shows and perfect for the circumstances. We've been to two events there and are anxious to get back. Tom and Steve have really pulled the proverbial rabbit out of the hat. Thanks for making a great choice.

Terry

Yes it is a great place.  Of all the meets I've been to, it's been one of my favorite facilities.

 

As for Tom and Steve, I never thought it would ever happen.  I'm glad it is, but my expectations weren't high.

 

Those guys have enough to deal with in terms of the new building, but this COVID crap has made it unbearable.  It's bad enough to deal with changes at work, but to deal with changes with the building, the move, and then deal with having to cancel and change meets, has got to be unbearable.

 

The only thing I wonder is why they moved from Allentown to Gettysburg??

[Terry Bond]

Pat, I think the reason for the move was pretty well explained in Steve earlier post.

On 7/24/2020 at 1:16 PM, Steve Moskowitz said:

https://conta.cc/3g48C4I  Urgent news!!

Terry

[Steve Moskowitz]

The shows in Gettysburg and Hershey WILL be open to the public.  We are NOT going to promote it in order to keep the crowds and the risks down.  These shows have a different model than Allentown.  We WILL, however, enforce our COVID policies including masks, temperature taking, etc.

 

John, et al, we understand your individual health concerns and they are valid.  EVERYONE  needs to assess the risk and make a smart decision for themselves.  We do not minimize the seriousness of making these decisions as so many of us are in the high risk category including me.  

 

We will have a terrific show, a bit unusual for us but the cars are the stars and even with cancellations, etc we expect to be at least 500 cars.  

[ex98thdrill]

17 hours ago, Terry Bond said:

Pat, I think the reason for the move was pretty well explained in Steve earlier post.

Terry

You're right.  I was so excited to see the meet going back to Gettysburg, I never caught it in Steve's narrative.  I have the room booked, I have the other room cancelled, now I've got 3-1/2 weeks to get the truck ready..

 

As I was looking at this, I recall back when you were President, AACA created the "Meets and Tours" section of the forum.  It's nice because you don't have to read through all of the political junk if you want to find out what's going on with the meets.

 

Now for me I have to hope our Governor doesn't list the state of Pennsylvania in his travel ban between now and the next four weeks.  If it does, I'll be sunk.  As it goes right now, I haven't taken a day off of work since the annual meeting in Philly back in February.  If we make it to the AGNM, my next days off of work will be Hershey.

[Terry Bond]

Hope to see you and your Dad there Pat. Fingers crossed.

Terry

[Steve Moskowitz]

We will have a block at the Hilton and Courtyard today.  Both have confirmed, rate at $115.  Waiting for code and info...

[Steve Moskowitz]

Phone Number:

717-334-2040 PRESS 0  Code AAC for Hilton Garden in Gettysburg.  Very close by $115 plus tax.  Wyndham sold out!  Courtyard still has some rooms..

[W_Higgins]

On 7/26/2020 at 9:25 AM, Steve Moskowitz said:

We WILL, however, enforce our COVID policies including masks, temperature taking, etc.

 

 

Please clarify this if you would.  Does this mean having a mask on all the time wandering around in the open parking lot while looking at cars?

[Steve Moskowitz]

We will respectfully ask that everyone consider their fellow human being and either maintain social distance or have their mask on.  It is not too much to ask.  It comes down to the fact that each of us has a responsibility to abide by the rules in place.  This is our agreement with the facility and we must abide by their rules as well.  If you enter the hotels you must have a mask on.  There are some that feel this show should not go on and that some our members cannot and will not do the right thing.  This cannot happen as we don't want to have any issues at this event. 

 

Hershey is another story, as of today you will have to wear a mask.  If you do not you will be asked to leave.  If the rules for Hersheypark are relaxed by October then those will be the rules we will follow.

 

[W_Higgins]

36 minutes ago, Steve Moskowitz said:

We will respectfully ask that everyone consider their fellow human being and either maintain social distance or have their mask on.  It is not too much to ask.  It comes down to the fact that each of us has a responsibility to abide by the rules in place.  This is our agreement with the facility and we must abide by their rules as well.  If you enter the hotels you must have a mask on.  There are some that feel this show should not go on and that some our members cannot and will not do the right thing.  This cannot happen as we don't want to have any issues at this event. 

 

Hershey is another story, as of today you will have to wear a mask.  If you do not you will be asked to leave.  If the rules for Hersheypark are relaxed by October then those will be the rules we will follow.

 

 

Okay, so basically Gettysburg is in line with the state mandate and Hershey is not.  That is why I asked because the way you have it worded above is not clear.  If individual event requirements differ from the requirements of the state in which the event is hosted that should be put out front clearly for all to understand and will help to greatly reduce the issues that you say you wish to avoid. 

[Steve Moskowitz]

Sorry for being unclear...I barely can speak these days so I am not surprised!

[ex98thdrill]

On 7/26/2020 at 6:07 PM, Terry Bond said:

Hope to see you and your Dad there Pat. Fingers crossed.

Terry

Terry, for the first time in my life, I'll be going to an AACA meet and my dad will be staying home.  A friend of mine who was a Fire Chief from a neighboring department back when I was a Fire Chief will be coming with me.  The bad thing is my dad won't be there, the good thing, maybe I'll get another one hooked!!

[ex98thdrill]

On 7/29/2020 at 5:31 PM, Steve Moskowitz said:

Sorry for being unclear...I barely can speak these days so I am not surprised!

Steve, with all of the crap you've had thrown at you, I don't know how you can stand up, let alone talk.  My head was spinning bad enough when I chaired a meet ten years ago, and I didn't have a virus to contend with, so while I might've had a monkey on my back from time to time, between the meet, the new building, the day to day operations and the constant changes you've had to deal with, you don't have a monkey on your back, you've got the whole zoo.

 

It is so easy to Monday morning quarterback, but once you've done one, it sheds a whole different light on many, many things.  I'll be thankful if we have a meet, but if we don't, I'd rather not have a meet and still have a club than to have a meet and not have a club.

 

Sometimes you have to pick your battles, and a lot of times you're in a lose/lose situation.  Right now you're forced to come up with something that you hope will work.  Like everything else right now, this entire world is going down a street we've all never been down so there is no policy, and there is no right and wrong decisions clearly spelled out.

 

[greenie]

Zenith judging Friday

[greenie]

[greenie]

[greenie]

[greenie]

[greenie]

[greenie]

[Marion McAlpine]

Thank you to my wonderful judging team for doing such a great job:  Mike Graff, Gail DeMauriac, and John Pieczynski!  Having only a four-person team, working in the heat while wearing face masks, they stepped up to the challenge and did a terrific job.  (We removed our mask briefly to take the photo--we didn't want to look like a "Wanted" poster.)  I look forward to seeing everyone in Hershey!

Edited August 23, 2020 by Marion McAlpine
Added comment in parentheses (see edit history)

[Larry Schramm]

On 8/21/2020 at 10:08 PM, greenie said:

 

The 2020 Zenith award winner.

[ex98thdrill]

[motoringicons]

Congratulations to all who showed cars at this event. As we all know, Grand Nationals are very special and every car there is a winner.

 

 EVERYONE who made this happen deserves a huge pat on the back. Pulling this event off took lots of work, dedication, courage, tenacity, will power, creativity, etc etc etc.

 

I really wish I could have attended but it did not work out. Seeing all these great photos really gave me a bad case of the Missing Outs. Thanks to those who have posted photos for those of us who could not attend.

 

Well done, AACA!!!!

 

Edited August 24, 2020 by motoringicons (see edit history)

[ex98thdrill]

6 hours ago, motoringicons said:

Congratulations to all who showed cars at this event. As we all know, Grand Nationals are very special and every car there is a winner.

 

 EVERYONE who made this happen deserves a huge pat on the back. Pulling this event off took lots of work, dedication, courage, tenacity, will power, creativity, etc etc etc.

 

I really wish I could have attended but it did not work out. Seeing all these great photos really gave me a bad case of the Missing Outs. Thanks to those who have posted photos for those of us who could not attend.

 

Well done, AACA!!!!

 

Yup I feel the same way.  Our hauler suffered a mechanical failure that cost me a lot of money to get hauled home.  I spent almost four hours on the side of the road Friday waiting for the hook to get there, but during that time I felt the same way so when we got the truck home, I grabbed my bags out of the truck, threw them in my car and headed to Gettysburg.  It is the first time I have ever gone to any AACA meet where I wasn't showing a car since I became an AACA member 18 years ago.  

[Terry Bond]

Wow Pat, bummer about the truck!  Wish I'd have know you were there looking at cars, would have been good to visit.  Amazing how everyone still recognized each other even with masks on!

Terry

[ex98thdrill]

3 hours ago, Terry Bond said:

Wow Pat, bummer about the truck!  Wish I'd have know you were there looking at cars, would have been good to visit.  Amazing how everyone still recognized each other even with masks on!

Terry

Yeah that hurt Terry, that hurt really, really bad.  For the first time since I became a member of AACA, we had a show car entered into a meet and it didn't make it to the show field.

 

We were heading down Friday morning.  Before I got to the interstate, I found a nice shaded spot, so I pulled the rig over, checked the chains and checked the truck over before we pulled onto the interstate to head down.

 

We got on the interstate and I commented to my friend how it seemed like that "screaming Detroit" was smoking more than what it normally does, so I asked him to look out the other side of the truck because the truck has dual exhausts, and I wanted to get his opinion.

 

My friend looked out and said the same thing and he also commented how he had a strong odor of diesel, where on my side I didn't smell any diesel at all.  I looked out my side again and saw more smoke than before, I then looked back and saw what I thought was antifreeze on the window.  I thought I had blown a head gasket on the truck and I was blowing antifreeze out of the exhaust.  I looked at the temperature gauge and it was at 180 degrees so in an effort to save the engine and possibly avoid warping the head, I pulled over and shut it down quick.

 

Being where I work, I know several of the tow companies, so I called one of the guys I know who also has a lowboy to come get the truck and haul it home.  

 

After spending almost four hours on the side of the road, the lowboy doesn't show up, and instead his guy rolls in with a tri axle Kenworth.

 

The sight of that Kenworth made my sphincter pucker because normally he charges $3,000 just for that truck to roll up.  I didn't think he could get that hauler winched without the beavertail hitting the ground, but he found a way to make it happen and dragged us home.

 

We rolled back into my driveway at about 4pm Friday afternoon.

 

Knowing what it would take to get everything unloaded off of one truck, loaded on the other truck and then get down to Pennsylvania, I knew I'd be lucky if I could make it to Gettysburg much before 1am.  With COVID, there was also a risk of not being able to get fuel being late and not knowing if the truck stops would be open. 

 

So we grabbed the suitcases out of the hauler, threw them in my car, washed our hands, jumped in the car and headed for Gettysburg 8 hours after we had initially left.  We rolled in just before 10pm Friday night and we were both whipped.

 

The bad thing??

- My dad wasn't well enough to come.

- It was the first time since I joined AACA that I haven't had a car on the show field.

- The '41 Ford didn't make it to the meet, so it didn't win a Repeat Senior Grand National award.

- With only two fire trucks in all of AACA to ever win a Repeat Senior Grand National Award, a win on Saturday would've made that truck become the third fire truck in all of AACA to be able to do that.  Had that been done, we'd own two of those three Senior Grand National winners.

- Four hours is a long time to sit on the side of a hot interstate.

- I asked the guy who towed me home if he could put the '41 Ford on their rollback and haul it to Gettysburg.  I offered to pay his room and his meals but he couldn't do it.  He wanted to, but he was on call over the weekend and couldn't.  Had it not been for his work schedule, he would've gone with us.  The big reason is that there aren't too many people certified to run the Kenworth, so he had to be home for the weekend.

- A friend of mine got the hauler fixed, but didn't get it fixed in enough time to get the '41 Ford to Gettysburg.

- I'll have to wait two more years before that truck will be able to win that award...

 

The good thing??

- It wasn't the head gasket.  It was a $50 fuel line, so it was a cheap fix.

- No permanent damage.

- No bent sheet metal.

- I got the truck shut down before it caught on fire.

- Other than a little bit of diesel fuel, the '41 Ford didn't get a mark on it. 

- We could've lost the rig, the show truck and the whole works, and didn't.

- We weren't on a toll road.  Had the meet taken place in Allentown, we would've.

- We've been as far west as Northglenn, Colorado, as far south as Punta Gorda, Florida and as far north as Stowe, Vermont and many places in between.  We broke down 50 miles from home.  That sure beats Nebraska any day!!

- The tow bill was $750.  I was expecting several thousand!!

- I still got to go to the meet and see the other cars.

- My friend was so impressed he joined AACA under the military program...  Now he wants to come to Hershey with me.

 

......as much as it hurts, how can you complain about going to meets for the last 19 years and NEVER having a problem and not being able to make it??  We've had a few flat tires, but aside from that, we've always made it to the meet and back on our own power.

 

Hopefully that will be the one and only time we never make a meet.

- 

Edited August 24, 2020 by ex98thdrill (see edit history)

[Guest Mark McAlpine]

2 hours ago, ex98thdrill said:

- My friend was so impressed he joined AACA under the military program...  Now he wants to come to Hershey with me.

 

 

Hello Pat,

 

Just as I said when we spoke in Gettysburg, I'm sorry to hear about your troubles on the road, but glad there was no major damage and that you were still able to make it to the show.  I'm especially sorry that your father couldn't make it.

 

I'm glad to hear your friend joined the club.  Not enough of our veterans who love old cars are taking advantage of the Military Sponsorship Program, so it's good to hear that he did. 

 

Best wishes.  Safe travels to Hershey.  Be safe and stay healthy.

[ex98thdrill]

33 minutes ago, Mark McAlpine said:

 

Hello Pat,

 

Just as I said when we spoke in Gettysburg, I'm sorry to hear about your troubles on the road, but glad there was no major damage and that you were still able to make it to the show.  I'm especially sorry that your father couldn't make it.

 

I'm glad to hear your friend joined the club.  Not enough of our veterans who love old cars are taking advantage of the Military Sponsorship Program, so it's good to hear that he did. 

 

Best wishes.  Safe travels to Hershey.  Be safe and stay healthy.

Thanks Mark.  It was a case of where being that we couldn't show the truck, I was showing him the cars and what AACA was all about.  He was asking me about the Corvettes, so I took him over and I showed him what I knew about the Corvettes.  I don't know a lot about them, but I showed him how to tell the difference between the '53-'57's, the '58-'62's, the '63-'67's, the '68-77's, the '78-'82's. 

 

I was wearing my US Army retired hat.  While I was showing him the Corvettes, some lady got out of her chair and asked me if I ever served in the military and liked old cars.  She then explained the Veteran's program to AACA.  I told her that I'm a Life Member of AACA, but my friend who is former Navy doesn't belong to AACA, the conversation got struck, and she signed him up.  On the way home I showed him our soon to be former headquarters, our new headquarters, and then showed him where the swap meet and car show takes place and explained to him how big it is.  I also explained to him about the Library.

 

His son has an El Camino so I don't think he's done coming around

Edited August 24, 2020 by ex98thdrill (see edit history)

[Guest Mark McAlpine]

42 minutes ago, ex98thdrill said:

Thanks Mark.  It was a case of where being that we couldn't show the truck, I was showing him the cars and what AACA was all about.  He was asking me about the Corvettes, so I took him over and I showed him what I knew about the Corvettes.  I don't know a lot about them, but I showed him how to tell the difference between the '53-'57's, the '58-'62's, the '63-'67's, the '68-77's, the '78-'82's. 

 

I was wearing my US Army retired hat.  While I was showing him the Corvettes, some lady got out of her chair and asked me if I ever served in the military and liked old cars.  She then explained the Veteran's program to AACA.  I told her that I'm a Life Member of AACA, but my friend who is former Navy doesn't belong to AACA, the conversation got struck, and she signed him up.  On the way home I showed him our soon to be former headquarters, our new headquarters, and then showed him where the swap meet and car show takes place and explained to him how big it is.  I also explained to him about the Library.

 

His son has an El Camino so I don't think he's done coming around

 

If it was by the Corvettes, my guess is it was Holly Forester who spoke with you and your friend--she's in charge of the Military Sponsorship Program (and a retired Air Force officer and fellow member of the Tidewater Region).  She and Scott Davies (retired Navy) were there with their 1958 Corvette.  Holly does a great job with the program.

 

[Oldsmobile 83]

A special thanks to everyone who was involved in pulling off this great event during the pandemic!!! 

Appears to have been a wonderful event.  Unfortunately, I was unable to attend this great event.....wish I could have been there.  

I would like to congratulate all the winners who attended the Meet.  Since I was unable to attend, I would also like to thank everyone for posting pictures of the beautiful vehicles in attendance.

Thanks, Tim

[charlier]

I would also like to say a big THANK YOU to Steve M, the staff at the national headquarters, the AACA Board, the regions that assisted with this Grand National and all others involved for literally moving mountains to make this event happen. Every AACA Member I spoke with last weekend was just so grateful and happy for the opportunity to come together to see old friends, make new ones and share our love of old vehicles if just for one day. Here's hoping we get to do this one more time at Hershey in October.

 

Pat, Sorry I missed you this past weekend. You had me scratching my head when I didn't see your rig and the '41 Ford in the parking area Friday afternoon/evening. So glad everything turned out okay although not being able to show your '41 Ford was a bummer. The upside is the Gettysburg Region is hosting a National at this facility in 2023. I plan to attend that one as I really like this facility. See you in Hershey in October.

[ex98thdrill]

5 hours ago, Mark McAlpine said:

 

If it was by the Corvettes, my guess is it was Holly Forester who spoke with you and your friend--she's in charge of the Military Sponsorship Program (and a retired Air Force officer and fellow member of the Tidewater Region).  She and Scott Davies (retired Navy) were there with their 1958 Corvette.  Holly does a great job with the program.

 

Yup, that's exactly who it was.  She must be one of the few from Tidewater Region that I hadn't met yet.  Speaking of breaking down and having to get hauled home, the guy's lowboy wasn't available, but the truck below is what showed up to drag me home....

 

Again when that truck rolled up, my wallet slammed hard because I saw a lot of money gone when that happened.  I'd used those guys before and they treated me right when I used them so I called them again, but I never dreamed they'd treat me the way they did.

 

Before we headed for home the operator took pictures of the truck on the truck hooked to the wrecker.  I asked him if he had to take pictures for insurance reasons, and he told me "I've got to take pictures of this, because no one back at the shop is ever going to believe me when I tell them."

Edited August 25, 2020 by ex98thdrill (see edit history)

[Bill Boudway]

Hi,

Where are the award results posted?

Thanks,

Bill B.

[Guest Mark McAlpine]

2 hours ago, Bill Boudway said:

Hi,

Where are the award results posted?

Thanks,

Bill B.

 

Hello Bill,

 

You probably already found the list, but the list of awards from the Grand Nationals are posted both elsewhere in the AACA Forum (under Meets & Tours in the thread "2020 Grand Nationals - Award Winners") and on the AACA website on the bottom right of the main page and under the "Shows/Tours" tab in "Meet Results."

Edited August 25, 2020 by Mark McAlpine (see edit history)

[ChazA]

https://forums.aaca.org/topic/349585-2020-grand-national-gettysburg-winners/

 

[ex98thdrill]

15 hours ago, charlier said:

Pat, Sorry I missed you this past weekend. You had me scratching my head when I didn't see your rig and the '41 Ford in the parking area Friday afternoon/evening. So glad everything turned out okay although not being able to show your '41 Ford was a bummer. The upside is the Gettysburg Region is hosting a National at this facility in 2023. I plan to attend that one as I really like this facility. See you in Hershey in October.

I didn't know there was going to be another meet there in 2023.  As in your case, I'll be there because I LOVE the place.  It's so easy to get in and out of even with a big truck.  Once you get there you can hop on the shuttle bus and never have to deal with your tow vehicle until it's time to go home.  I had hoped to roll into Hershey between 2 and 3pm, I didn't get back to my house until 4, so between getting the truck off of the hook, getting what I needed out of the hauler and into my car, getting cleaned up and getting dinner it was almost 6 before we left for Gettysburg.

 

The bonus??  Being that I had the car I was able to swing by Hershey and see what's going on with the old headquarters, and get a peak of the new one too.  I can't wait to see the new building when it's done...  That new building will be a great way to showcase the club while the greatest show on earth will literally take place in its' back yard.  

[charlier]

5 hours ago, ex98thdrill said:

I didn't know there was going to be another meet there in 2023.  As in your case, I'll be there because I LOVE the place.  It's so easy to get in and out of even with a big truck.  Once you get there you can hop on the shuttle bus and never have to deal with your tow vehicle until it's time to go home.  I had hoped to roll into Hershey between 2 and 3pm, I didn't get back to my house until 4, so between getting the truck off of the hook, getting what I needed out of the hauler and into my car, getting cleaned up and getting dinner it was almost 6 before we left for Gettysburg.

 

The bonus??  Being that I had the car I was able to swing by Hershey and see what's going on with the old headquarters, and get a peak of the new one too.  I can't wait to see the new building when it's done...  That new building will be a great way to showcase the club while the greatest show on earth will literally take place in its' back yard.  

 

The nice folks from the Gettysburg Region had some VERY Nice postcards about the 2023 Eastern Spring Nationals in the lobby of the Wyndham Hotel on Friday afternoon. Mark your calendars for May 18-20, 2023. FYI, the Gettysburg Region was founded in 1953 so the region will be celebrating 70 years in 2023.

 

You touched on so many reasons why the Wyndham property makes a GREAT venue for a car event. I too cannot wait to see the new AACA Headquarters when  it is done. When the time is right it would be nice to have a BIG Open House & Cruise In some weekend next year so AACA members can see the house that they helped build.

 

Charlie