Saturday, July 18, 2009

Mo' Stuff

Darned if I didn't again miss the Bahre Collection. Somethin' always comes up.

Got a few pix of the Searsport Show up in the gallery, courtesy of Connie Peacock.

Well, at least I finally got that woodchuck - I gave him a choice: either a trap from Hav-a-Hart or bullet from Remington. He chose the trap. Lord, he weighed a lot - must have been all those good veggies he got from my garden.

Put him in the truck and carted him a long ways away.

Where did I drop him off? At your place, of course.

Actually, I took him to a secluded spot out in the hinterlands where I go blueberry pickin'. Used the opportunity to pick a gallon, and I made enough blueberry jam to get us through the winter. Or so I thought - the way Robin is wolfing it down on buttered toast, it may not last to Labor Day!

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New Cruise-In (NH)

Broken Spoke Saloon, every Thursday starting July 23rd, 6-8pm. Location: Weirs Beach (at the crossroads, rte 3, near Funspot). All cars, trucks, motorcycles welcome. Food & drink at the saloon.

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Friday, July 17, 2009

Stuff

Fred Gordon has a 350 LT1 engine for sale, from a police cruiser. Check it out (with pic) in the HotKarz classifieds.

We have a new "Featured Vehicle" - it's a fine '58 Chevy Fleetside owned by Ron Cobb. Check it out.

The Acton show ans Swap Meet is on Sunday, and the weather looks like it will accommodate. Unfortunately, prior committments will not allow me to attend :o(

Don't forget the Gorham Lion's Club show in Gorham next weekend - they did a super job on their first show last year, so don't miss it. It's a nice show.

I'll be posting pix of the Searsport Antique Vehicle Show shortly, courtesy of Connie Peacock - stay tuned.

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Thursday, July 16, 2009

OOB

Received a letter from Robbie concerning the OOB show this year. Part of the letter follows:

"It seems that they are rising the price for people who dont pre register to $15. It will be $10 for pre register. Also they will be only having only 2 trophies per class! This to me isn't like them. They have always had 3 trophies per class. I think if we can get enough people to band together we can get 3 trophies per class. just thought you'd like to know if you didnt know already. take care stay dry. Robbie"

If any among you would like to contact the OOB organizers to find out what gives with the trophies, contact info is...

Email at info@oldorchardbeachmaine.com
Phone at 207-934-2500

While trophies are not the most important part of a show, it does seem rather cheezy for them to charge the same fee (more if not pre-registered), while cutting back on what they offer us. Doesn't seem right. If they are going to cut the number of trophies, they should cut the entry fee, as well, or add more classes. This is nothing more than pure greed on their part, to keep more of the $$$ for themselves, at our expense.

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Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Grapevine

I want to begin by stating I did not attend the Kora show this year, so this post will simply concern observations made by many who did.

Several participants have related to me that they were angered when the "judges" never even bothered to look at their cars. In one instance, a "judge" was stopped and asked about it, and he simply said something to the effect that there were so many cars, it would take all day to look them all over, and they did not have the time.

Excuse me for saying so, but that is their JOB! If a show is going to provide "independent judging", they have TWO obligations:

1) Inspect EVERY VEHICLE completely and fairly, and
2) Use a point system that is fair to all, and followed by all judges

Anything less is nothing short of a scam. So, Kora, a heads up - you may need to look into your system of judging.

Of the dozen or so folks I spoke with (who went to Kora), most were very dissatisfied, for one or more of these reasons:

A) Inefficient, ineffective, biased or non-existant judging
B) A feeling that the winners were pre-determined
C) The food/concessions left much to be desired, and
D) Classes were, to say the least, screwed up

Again, this is not first-hand criticism, but I would be remiss if I did not post the concerns of others. I will only add that in my own post two years ago concerning my own experience with this show, the same problems seem to have survived.

If anyone from Kora reads this, please make note, as many of the folks I spoke with have stated they will never return to the Kora show. And that is not a good thing.

Meanwhile, I have not heard any complaints concerning Ossipee Valley yet, but I have heard several praises. The one issue I have heard revolves around a certain individual who still insists on class-jumping by entering his antique in Special Interest, though there is no special interest for that vehicle, and there is a legitimate class available for his vehicle.

Feel free to sing praises or raise Hell on any shows you attend.

As a final note: you all know the situation concerning our experience with Blast From The Past. And many of you have expressed that you will stop going there because you believe it was quite unfair. However, please reconsider - everyone is entitled to make mistakes, and Blast made a big one when they decided, without notice, to become "Classic" snobs (if it ain't old, it ain't nothin'). But aside from their bias and discrimination, it is a fun cruise, with lots of your friends. So, if you are fortunate enough to have a vehicle that "qualifies" for their cruise, HotKarz asks that you not spurn them just because of how they treated us. Go, enjoy! Just make sure your vehicle qualifies pre-1985, I believe.

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Sunday, July 12, 2009

Kora (Twitchell) Show

Recieved this little missive from Bill Gribizis concerning the Kora show:

"Shriners car show. Hi Bill. I went up to turner to Twitchell's air field today with my wife and daughter in a 1956 Ford pickup, and boy, were they excited to go 45 miles in the pickup. As I was on the pike before Gray, the valve guide seals let go and I smoked out Gray and Auburn - but I think I eliminated the mosquito problem. There were about 220 cars there and about 25 classes. Happy to say I got 2nd place for pickups. Ron Caruso flew in on his pontoon plane. Sorry Ron - no catagories for planes yet, but there could be up there as there are a bunch of nice ones. The food could be better. It is still hard to beat Parsonfield and Mackworth Island. We made it back motor skipping and smoking. "

Sorry to hear about the seals - I understood that only penguins blow seals.

Some folks have asked HotKarz what is up for next weekend. There are a few things posted on the calendar, but nothing really local to York county folks. If the weather is nioce, we will head up to the Paris event next Saturday - we want to check out the Bahre collection.

Two shows have been added to the calendar - the Lee & Joan Day Memorial Show, in Fryeburg (8/22) and the Mt Washington Valley Settler's Green Show in North Conway, NH (9/13).

A gallery of the Kora Shriner's show is now up, pix are courtesy of Dale Chasse.

Later...

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Ossipee Valley

Dunno much about this one, as I was unable to attend. However, my wife, Robin, and our daughter, Christi stood in, and did a fine job.

According to them, they had a grand time. That's woman talk for good food, lots of gabbing with others.

I have posted the Winner's Circle and the Best of The Best 1st place vehicles. Please feel free to cast your votes for the Best of the Best, right from that page.

Not much to report - if you attended this show, please take a moment to add your comments, below.

Not sure why I was off my feed today - it may be the wife changed brands of coffee, because it's been tasting funny lately. (That's a joke, Val :o)

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