National Model A meet recurrence

[Jeff/Illinois]

===

[msmaron]

maybe not...it has been brought up so many times.. Is it really fair to the west coat MARC to hold it in French Lick every year, how many times can you tour the same venues??? New Places, New Faces, New venues! New Cars... what could be more fun than that???

[Steve Ciccalone]

The Antique Motorcycle Club of America holds a series of 11 National meets a year in Iowa (2), Florida, Pennsylvania (2), South Carolina, New York, Ohio, and Minnesota California and western Europe over the course of the year from February to October. All the events have a swap meet and fine point judging as well as other things of interest to club members. The wide spread locations allow most members to attend at least one event ayear all though most of us on average make three to four a year. These meets with the exceptiuon of Europe are held at the same spots every year. The meet at Davenport, Iowa held every Labor Day weekend is in effect the "Grand National," although not reffered to in those terms. It always has large overseas attendence including Asian and Australian/New Zealand members, as well as large numbers of Scandanavian and European members. Additional there are always three to four National Road Runs for riding bikes only. This schedule is similar to AACA annual events.

IMHO, having one national MAF event in the same place every year would still preclude many members from attending. It seems that the answer would be to extend the "national" category to many of the very large regional events now held like New England, Texas Tour, Pac Northwest, Wisconsin come home to name a few. This would mean a little extra effort to include fine point judging for national awards but I think this could be done. All AMCA judging includes a "period modified", category, akin to touring class so these cars would not be left out when attending these regional meets. I'm sure there will be many naysayers but the AMCA judging, particularly with Harleys and Indians, can get pretty petty and divisive but the AMCA gets through it and it benefits more of the membership.

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Life is all about perception and how you want to view things. If you want to find negativity, ...you can. In my mind, there are WAY more positive things that would come from hosting a Nat'l Meet at the same place each year vs. different locations but these have been covered before in other threads.

I will point out that when you stop and think, consider how many venues each year are held in the same exact location each year;
Where is the AACA Fall Meet held every year?
Where is the Masters Held each year?
What happens in Sturgis, SD each year?
Where is the Street Rod Nationals held each year?
What happens at Oshkosh each summer?


I could go on and on, ...but the simple thought is at each of those events, a huge amount of enthusiasts return year after year with more & more excitement. As with everyone, there are Pros & Cons to where you live, --and advantages & disadvantages to your location.

If someone is worried about sightseeing, I noticed there is much to see within a 50 mile radius of French Lick that appears it would take several years to view it all. And if someone is driving a Model A from neighboring states, there are many different back-roads that can be toured without needing to travel the same route each year.

Again, isn't really about perception & aqttitude?

.

[WTSHNN]

The reason why I prefer the meets be in different places every year is because for me, the MARC Nat'l is my vacation for the year. I like to go and see different parts of the country. Florida, NY, Virgina, Ohio, Indian, Michigan, Wisconsin, Texas, PA, all places I got to go see because of the Nat'l Meet. All of them take me on different routes to a new destination.

The time I spent in French Lick was cool, but I wouldn't go back year after year, half the fun is going somewhere new.

That's my opinion on the matter. Take it for what you will.
-Tim

[Chuck Sea/Tac]

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If you don't analize the pro's and cons, then wouldn't you be remiss? I think that after several years, attendance would slow down, because it would be the pretty much the same. Maybe if it was a big "party" like sturgis, or something different to see, like a swap meet, it would grow? I think one of the biggest draws is the "vacation", see new sights factor! Also, Who would put it on, "sponsor", every year? Just some thoughts that came to mind.
Chuck

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Tim, those are valid points and I see where you are coming from and may I make one suggestion for you at the bottom of this post?

Chuck, common logic says that what you are saying about it slowing down makes sense however I just got back from an antique car tour in Sturgis, ...and I can tell you from experience that there ain't "squat" out there. So what is the attraction that has bikers coming back year after year with bigger crowds? Well, the actualy truth is probably the booze and the b*** --err nevermind, it's the party. Well think about it, that is basically what the National Meets is, ...one big week long party for a bunch of Model A-ers. The swap meet at the National Meet are always different each year, and likely would see new stuff just like Hershey sees new inventory arrive each year.

As far as "who would sponsor it?", I think you would find many "event planning" companies that would love to be contracted for that job. So what about all the sub-tasks you ask? Let the Chapters sponsor it. For example, if the same chapter handled doing the "trouble tent" area each year, life would be much easier for them because more people could be dedicated to one task. They would have one liason who coordinates with the event planner to ensure they have what they needed. They would also learn off of their mistakes from the previous year. The same with Judging. The JSC could handle their own needs of lay-out, registration, judge selection, and coordinate through the event planner.

Tim, if I am keying up on one thing you are describing, it is seeing different areas of the country. To me it sounds like this is a great excuse to impliment the MARC or MAFCA National Model A Tour which would be a week-long tour either hubbing out of the same hotel each day, --or a progressive week long tour that would be held in a different location each year. If this sounds like fun for you, I have something you may be interested in. While I am not interested in doing this again, I would give you all the routes, contacts, and information for you to host a tour. Here is a small itinerary...
SUNDAY:
Registration, Meet & Greet, and Get to know the Town tour ramble.

MONDAY:
The tour will kick-off with an opening Banquet & breakfast for all participants. This day's tour will be about 125 miles long and will take you on back roads to Countryside Winery where folks can tour the facility. Then you will travel through SW Virginia ending up at Steele Creek Park for a catered Chicken Dinner on the grounds. After lunch, you will travel by police escort through the town of Bristol to Bristol Motor Speedway where you will be able to drive down onto the speedway for a group portrait. When leaving you will be able to make a few passes down Bristol Dragway before heading to Holston Dam and its Weir Dams. Once back at the host hotel that afternoon, there is games for the kids. Swap meet and Trouble Tent will be open each evening.

TUESDAY:
Tuesday's tour is only 30 miles long but starts out at a local mall where the cars are put on exhibit at 9:00 am for the morning where locals can view them. The mall is open for the women to shop (and are offering special coupons in your goodie bags), and this is a great time to do Touring Class Judging if their is interest. After lunch on-your-own in the Mall's food court, it is off for a drive through the town of Watuaga and over to the Rocky Mount State Historical site for ice cream and live re-enactment of the vintage farm. You will leave at about 4pm and make the short trip back so you can be ready for the 'Hillbilly Hoedown' in the parking lot with live music and games. This party goes from 6pm til 9pm.

WEDNESDAY:
This day you will be traveling to Tennessee's oldest town named Jonesborough where you will be getting free admission to the National Storytelling Center and listening to storytellers. From there you will be traveling along the countryside following the Nolichucky River and the trails of Davey Crockett until you reach D. Crockett Birthplace State Park where there will be a catered BBQ lunch awaiting for you by the river. Afterwards you will travel through Tennessee's 2nd oldest town on your way to a Llama Farm for the kids young & old to mingle with all the farm animals. From there you will be traveling to the Gray Fossil site where there will be refreshments in the parking lot and your admission pre-paid. Leaving there you will travel more backroads back to the host hotel. Today's trip is 98 miles and should take about 7 hours to complete. Ice cream social is a part of this evenings events and is free of charge.

THURSDAY:
Today's trip will be 116 miles and will take you towards the town of Elizabethton where there will be refreshments waiting at Fort Sycamore State Park. From there travel into Elizabethton and cross over the covered bridge on your way to Snap-On Tools who have arranged for you to tour their plant to view how Wrenches and Ratchets are manufactured. This tour weill take approximately 1 hour to complete. From there you will be driving along the now-paved Tweetsie narrow-gauge railroad bed on your way to Roan Mountain where a box lunch of Ham or Turkey is provided. Seating will be creekside or under the Pavillion. After lunch you will travel more backroads on your way to see two TVA Dams (Watauga dam & Wilbur dam) where afternoon refreshments will be provided. After touring & leaving the dams you will be traveling to the facility of Borla Exhaust where a tour will be given showing how stainless steel automotive exhaust systems are manufactured.

FRIDAY:
Final day will be 109 miles and will take you along the Dan'l Boone Trail as you look at many civil war sites including the Washington College. We will be stopping at the Mountainview Bulk Foods Amish general store and driving through several Strawberry & Tomato farms where roadside stands will be set-up. From there you will travel to the historic town of Erwin for lunch on-your-own. You will view many antique shops in the historic district. After that tiring walk through town, you will travel to the Hutchin's Farm at the edge of the Cherokee Nat'l Forest for home-made ice cream where over 100 early engines will be operating by the East TN Ant. Eng. Ass'n. for your viewing pleasure. When you are finished, you will have a hour long drive back to the host hotel where you will prepare for a Closing Banquet that evening in the Ballroom.

SATURDAY:
Depart for home.


Tim, for that tour, we charged $175 per Car & Driver, and $80 per passenger with kids under 10 half-price. Total mileage was about 475 for the week of driving and each day started at about 8:30 am and finished between 4 & 5 pm. Let me know if you want to host this and I'll give you all of the necessary stuff where you can pull it off. Don't feel overwhelmed because my family did it last year for the Model T club. Any takers??

.

[peters180a/170b]

I look forward for Hershey every year even though it's at the same place. It's the people who show up. You get to see them once a year maybe twice. Doc K. , Bill Sturm , Allen Lapore [JR] ,Will C. Gary Johnson? he might have a gun this year instead of a beer in his hand[l.o.l.]? Don Bivens ,Chet in the MAFCA tent with crew , same as MARC group, Don Turly, Running into Mountain man Dean D., Scott McGrew,62 roadster Bob and Timothy Kelly just to name a very few. Its not as much as the parts ,its the feeling around you. If you never been to Hershey then you don't know about the Biggest Show on Earth as they say. The show cars are super [mostly] but all in all its a large gathering of car nuts! My first Hershey was in 1971 and seen many changes but i save my time just for that 1 week every year. And never boredom. I liked going to Ohio , Wisc. ,IN., Michigan, Mass.,too but Hershey P.A.,that's the ticket.

[Roadster62]

First Hershey was 1969 and I haven't missed one since. I'm not a hard core Model A guy but i see the advantage of a yearly gathering place. Please add Pebble Beach and the LA Roadster show to events that seam to grow every year at the same place. ................Don't forget Speed Week at Bonneville.

[RockHillWill]

I like every thing just the way it is!

[msmaron]

Originally Posted by msmaron

New Places, New Faces, New venues! New Cars... what could be more fun than that???

Get to see the states folks. Travel your country in your model A. Hershey, different venue and hard to compare..

[Frank Miller]

We are holding the V8 Club Eastern National Meet in Saratoga Springs NY in 2011. Our response has been overwhelming. I was told people are interested because of the location. The Grand National is held every 5 years in Dearborn but 2013 will see it in Oakland Ca hosted by regional group #1 for the club's 50th anniversary. Should be interesting.

As far as comparing a Model A meet to Sturgis or speedweek in Bonneville I think you need to look at the bigger picture. These venues are constantly attracting newer fans. Some will go every year but a lot will go once or twice and that will be sufficient. I go to Hershey every year but have never visited the tourist stuff. Just hope to see new and different parts and maybe something I need that I can afford.

[MikeK]

Originally Posted by Jeff/Illinois

Brent mentioned it in a post on attracting new Model A members and I still think it is a great idea. I fully agree. French Lick is perfect; central location, . . . I can't see how it would fail. It would be the best all around membership and interest creator in the Model A hobby. The national clubs would profit from it, maybe even allowing them to hold the cost of membership down in the future or even lowering it.

Maybe there could be a poll done on this idea too.

This idea was beaten over before. If there is a poll, I vote NO. It was an excellent facility, but the location was far from ideal. You will never get a huge spectator or tourist turnout even if you advertise. A major city location, rotated on a regular basis, would permit us to have big exposure if we pursue it.

Although I had an excellent time at French Lick, for me the location was rotten, even though it was close to Chicago where I live. First, the wife wasn't able to make the road trip, so I wanted her to join me by some form of public transportation. No bus, train, or commercial air goes there. You can get to Louisville, KY which is 64 miles away looking at a map, but 81 miles by road on the odometer from the airport to French lick. A transportation nightmare, even though the hotel does provide a shuttle. The wife stayed home this year.

It will be cheaper, faster, and easier for my wife to fly from Chicago to the MARC San Diego meet next year than getting to French Lick would be. There will also be more to see and do outside of the convention for the touring crowd in any major city than French Lick could ever offer.

Now that I've seen 'the Lick', I want to see something else, preferably with my #1 flashlight, tool handler and backup driver accompanying me.

[Hank]

Brent,

IF YOU BUILD IT THEY WILL COME! My family loved French Lick!

Hank Penny and Hannah

[Chris in WNC]

We loved French Lick. (my 10th national meet & Judy's 1st.) but we want to go someplace different next time. Will not be able to make San Diego, but are looking forward to Oshkosh, Marquette and Lexington!

[tagroff]

Originally Posted by BRENT in 10-uh-C

Tim, those are valid points and I see where you are coming from and may I make one suggestion for you at the bottom of this post?

Chuck, common logic says that what you are saying about it slowing down makes sense however I just got back from an antique car tour in Sturgis, ...and I can tell you from experience that there ain't "squat" out there. So what is the attraction that has bikers coming back year after year with bigger crowds? Well, the actualy truth is probably the booze and the b*** --err nevermind, it's the party. Well think about it, that is basically what the National Meets is, ...one big week long party for a bunch of Model A-ers. The swap meet at the National Meet are always different each year, and likely would see new stuff just like Hershey sees new inventory arrive each year.

As far as "who would sponsor it?", I think you would find many "event planning" companies that would love to be contracted for that job. So what about all the sub-tasks you ask? Let the Chapters sponsor it. For example, if the same chapter handled doing the "trouble tent" area each year, life would be much easier for them because more people could be dedicated to one task. They would have one liason who coordinates with the event planner to ensure they have what they needed. They would also learn off of their mistakes from the previous year. The same with Judging. The JSC could handle their own needs of lay-out, registration, judge selection, and coordinate through the event planner.

Tim, if I am keying up on one thing you are describing, it is seeing different areas of the country. To me it sounds like this is a great excuse to impliment the MARC or MAFCA National Model A Tour which would be a week-long tour either hubbing out of the same hotel each day, --or a progressive week long tour that would be held in a different location each year. If this sounds like fun for you, I have something you may be interested in. While I am not interested in doing this again, I would give you all the routes, contacts, and information for you to host a tour. Here is a small itinerary...
SUNDAY:
Registration, Meet & Greet, and Get to know the Town tour ramble.

MONDAY:
The tour will kick-off with an opening Banquet & breakfast for all participants. This day's tour will be about 125 miles long and will take you on back roads to Countryside Winery where folks can tour the facility. Then you will travel through SW Virginia ending up at Steele Creek Park for a catered Chicken Dinner on the grounds. After lunch, you will travel by police escort through the town of Bristol to Bristol Motor Speedway where you will be able to drive down onto the speedway for a group portrait. When leaving you will be able to make a few passes down Bristol Dragway before heading to Holston Dam and its Weir Dams. Once back at the host hotel that afternoon, there is games for the kids. Swap meet and Trouble Tent will be open each evening.

TUESDAY:
Tuesday's tour is only 30 miles long but starts out at a local mall where the cars are put on exhibit at 9:00 am for the morning where locals can view them. The mall is open for the women to shop (and are offering special coupons in your goodie bags), and this is a great time to do Touring Class Judging if their is interest. After lunch on-your-own in the Mall's food court, it is off for a drive through the town of Watuaga and over to the Rocky Mount State Historical site for ice cream and live re-enactment of the vintage farm. You will leave at about 4pm and make the short trip back so you can be ready for the 'Hillbilly Hoedown' in the parking lot with live music and games. This party goes from 6pm til 9pm.

WEDNESDAY:
This day you will be traveling to Tennessee's oldest town named Jonesborough where you will be getting free admission to the National Storytelling Center and listening to storytellers. From there you will be traveling along the countryside following the Nolichucky River and the trails of Davey Crockett until you reach D. Crockett Birthplace State Park where there will be a catered BBQ lunch awaiting for you by the river. Afterwards you will travel through Tennessee's 2nd oldest town on your way to a Llama Farm for the kids young & old to mingle with all the farm animals. From there you will be traveling to the Gray Fossil site where there will be refreshments in the parking lot and your admission pre-paid. Leaving there you will travel more backroads back to the host hotel. Today's trip is 98 miles and should take about 7 hours to complete. Ice cream social is a part of this evenings events and is free of charge.

THURSDAY:
Today's trip will be 116 miles and will take you towards the town of Elizabethton where there will be refreshments waiting at Fort Sycamore State Park. From there travel into Elizabethton and cross over the covered bridge on your way to Snap-On Tools who have arranged for you to tour their plant to view how Wrenches and Ratchets are manufactured. This tour weill take approximately 1 hour to complete. From there you will be driving along the now-paved Tweetsie narrow-gauge railroad bed on your way to Roan Mountain where a box lunch of Ham or Turkey is provided. Seating will be creekside or under the Pavillion. After lunch you will travel more backroads on your way to see two TVA Dams (Watauga dam & Wilbur dam) where afternoon refreshments will be provided. After touring & leaving the dams you will be traveling to the facility of Borla Exhaust where a tour will be given showing how stainless steel automotive exhaust systems are manufactured.

FRIDAY:
Final day will be 109 miles and will take you along the Dan'l Boone Trail as you look at many civil war sites including the Washington College. We will be stopping at the Mountainview Bulk Foods Amish general store and driving through several Strawberry & Tomato farms where roadside stands will be set-up. From there you will travel to the historic town of Erwin for lunch on-your-own. You will view many antique shops in the historic district. After that tiring walk through town, you will travel to the Hutchin's Farm at the edge of the Cherokee Nat'l Forest for home-made ice cream where over 100 early engines will be operating by the East TN Ant. Eng. Ass'n. for your viewing pleasure. When you are finished, you will have a hour long drive back to the host hotel where you will prepare for a Closing Banquet that evening in the Ballroom.

SATURDAY:
Depart for home.


Tim, for that tour, we charged $175 per Car & Driver, and $80 per passenger with kids under 10 half-price. Total mileage was about 475 for the week of driving and each day started at about 8:30 am and finished between 4 & 5 pm. Let me know if you want to host this and I'll give you all of the necessary stuff where you can pull it off. Don't feel overwhelmed because my family did it last year for the Model T club. Any takers??

.

Actually since I go to Sturgis about every other year I can say the reason I go is not what you happen to think. The reason I go is the beautiful scenery like Mt Rushmore, Devils Tower, Crazy Horse, Badlands, I'll stop there as you can see it isnt really the party maybe for a few of the old types it is. Its the fun and beauty of the scenery. Just my 2 cents