HERSHEY 2007 AACA EASTERN DIVISION NATIONAL FALL MEET
An International Classic Event in a Very Magical Place
By Shaun Smith
Assistant Publisher
The Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA) Eastern Division National Fall Meet was held on October 10-13 at Hershey Park in Hershey, PA.
Hershey, Pennsylvania is a very special place to be, especially since it is the sweet-tooth capitol of the world. Add 250,000 car enthusiasts, 9,000 vendors and around 1,350 antique and classic cars to the mix, and you have one of the greatest car shows in the world, which many simply refer to as, “Hershey.”
Hershey is a very magical place, it is a time to see old friends and meet new ones. It is a place to see some of the world’s greatest original classic cars. It is a social-gathering for many old car enthusiasts. It is a place to pick up those hard-to-find parts for one of your present or future projects. It is a place to buy your dream car. But, more importantly, it is a celebration of America’s pasttime and an inevitable timewarp that promises to take you back to that very second you bought your first car. Yes, Hershey is a celebration of America’s favorite hobby, and this show is the key to the preservation of this hobby for the future.
Hershey, PA is located in the heartland of the old car hobby, which is 12 miles east of Harrisburg, the state’s capitol. Hershey is only around 30 miles north of Carlisle, host of many car shows.
People from at least 30 different countries worldwide made an appearance this year. We personally met some old car enthusiasts from Germany, Russia, Portugal, Spain, Ireland, Scotland, England, Canada, Mexico, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Japan, China, Bulgaria, Australia, Brazil, Turkey, South Africa, Romania, Poland, Italy, France, Finland, Hungary, Bosnia, Sweden, and Norway.
You can’t really conceptualize how enormous this event is until you actually experience it for yourself. When you see that many guys from so many diverse places, it really shows how large this hobby is and puts it into perspective.
Since there are so many things to see at this show, it actually takes days to see everything.
“We had a great turn out!,” Steve Moskowitz, Executive Director of the AACA enthusiastically explained. “We really only had one day of bad weather, so there was an excellent turnout.”
While Hershey Park was celebrating their 100-year anniversary, the AACA was celebrating their 52nd Annual Eastern Division National Fall Meet. The first Hershey show was held in 1954.
Two auctions were held during the week of Hershey, including the RM Auction at the Hershey Lodge and The Hershey Auction hosted by Kruse International was held at the Giant Center. Both were very successful and brought an “added bonus” to the show. The latter is a benefit to help fund the AACA Museum. Kruse International auctioned off many cars and raised funds to help the AACA.
Kruse International is one of the world’s leading auction firms and the largest collector car auction company, selling more vintage cars than all other firms combined! They auction more than 13,000 cars in more than 30 events and dozens of real estate properties each year. To learn more, visit www.kruse.com
The car corral featured many hundreds of rare cars for sale, and was an ideal place to pick up a new ride.
On Saturday, over 1,350 cars were shown on a sunny day filled with all kinds of fun. Many rare classics were absolutely astonishing.
The flea market had over 9,000 spaces, and included some great friends of ours like Tony Branda from Branda Performance Inc., Dennis Carpenter, Michael Fusick from Fusick Automotive Products, Grundy Worldwide, Marvin T. Hill from Hill’s Automotive, Mac’s Antique Auto Parts, Cleve McAfee from McAfee Sales & Rentals, OK Rubber Mats, Al Prueitt, Qual Krom, Restoration Specialties & Supplies, Steele Rubber Productions Inc., Volo Auto Museum, W W Motor Cars & Parts Inc, and Richard Hunter from Hunter Equipment. All of these guys have great products and services, so look up their ad in this issue and patronize these fine businesses today!
Besides being at the car show and flea market, there are many area attractions for car enthusiasts to visit, such as the AACA Museum, the AACA Library, and of course, the Chocolate Factory Tours.
Auto Round-Up gave away free magazines to thousands and signed up hundreds of new subscribers all week long. But, nothing was better than this story I’m about to tell. We had two booths, one in the green field and one in the red field. We had a relief team coming up for the red field, since one group had to leave early. Well, since our red field booth was deserted on Thursday, we missed several folks, including a big fan from Texas who wanted to sign up for the magazine. However, after the show on Saturday, our van from the green field was gasing up at the local Turkey Hill, while waiting to meet up with the red field team. Suddenly, a man starts running and screaming wildly at the top of his lungs, “Hey, WAIT! Don’t leave yet!” It was the man from Texas, so there we were, finished with the show, but selling subscriptions out of the local Turkey Hill convenient store. Now this may have been an illegal sale, since we didn’t pay for a vendor space at Turkey Hill, but we sure made one guy’s day from Texas. The man’s name was Steven Lewis from Bedford, TX. SShhhh, don’t tell anyone, ok?!
If you have never been to Hershey, you really can’t call yourself a “car guy,” because this show is the grandmother of all car shows and will forever be a tradition unlike any other.
“I would like to thank everyone who made the trip, as well as those whose involvement with the show made this possible,” said Moskowitz. “We are always looking to improve the show and we look forward to seeing everyone again in 2008!”
For the official results of the Eastern Fall Meet, please visit www.aaca.org. You will be able to print out the results from there.
If you would like more information on the Antique Automobile Club of America, see their ad in this issue or visit http://www.AACA.org or call 717-534-1910.
If you are interested in learning more about the AACA Museum, please visit www.aacamuseum.org or call 717-566-7100.
To learn more about Hershey Park and Chocolate World, visit www.hersheypa.com.
If you would like to find out more on other upcoming events, please visit www.Auto-Roundup.com today!
A special thanks goes out to Steve Moskowitz, Bill Smith, and the AACA for including Auto Round-Up Magazine. See you in 2008!
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