Tom,
Thanks, it was fun at the Bethesda show, good talking to you about your car.
Sorry I didn't post back about Hershey yet, still trying to catch up.
My wife and I had a great time at Hershey. Being our first national AACA meet we didn't know exactly what to expect. We drove up Thurs. AM unhooked the trailer and went to have lunch on the patio of the Hershey Hotel. It was a beautiful day and we had a pleasant lunch. Afterwards my wife went to the spa and I attended my 1st judging school. I would urge any car owner who is entering a national meet to attend at least one school. It really lays out the procedure for a first timer like me. In the future I would like to Judge at a national meet, but being my first time I wanted to be with my car while it was judged. After the spa and school we returned to the Hershey Lodge where we were staying and had a couple of cocktails and dinner. That was about it for the first day.
Fri. morning we had breakfast and then walked around the flea market for a while. Not much for cars like my '69 , but some cool old stuff. At about 10:30 we went to the stadium for the race car conditioning. even at 20-30 mph it was neat watching all types of old racers out on the track. Next was lunch and then off to the AACA Museum. What a classy place ! My wife can tire easily looking at old cars, but the variety of the perm. displays and the temp. ones kept us both interested for hours. My wife especially liked the old dinner that had been transported to the museum complete with all the contents of a working dinner. After the museum we walked the car corral for a while then drove about 20 min. the Penn National horse track and Casino to play the slots a while and have dinner. We returned to the hotel fairly early as Sat. was the big day. I awoke at 5:30 AM before our wake up call, and after a quick shower and two cups of coffee we were at the trailer at 6:30 and unloaded in the dark. We had heard the horror stories about the traffic last year to enter the show field and wanted to make an early start of it. The AACA volunteers had all the problems worked out and we were on the show field and parked by about 10 min. to 7:00. Even though I had detailed my car before loading it in the trailer, I spent about another two hours on it at the show field. I was really nervous about the judging as I was really trying for my First Junior award the first time out. For anyone not familiar with AACA national judging I'll try to lay it out a little for you. First time you attend an AACA national meet you are going for a Junior award. The cars are judged on a 400 point system based on originality, condition and workmanship. The goal being to appear exactly as it was delivered to the dealer from the factory. In my class there were about 25 cars, 8 of us going for our First Junior award. The Junior car scoring the highest Receives their "First Junior' award. Any Junior cars scoring within 10 points of the highest scoring car also receives a "First Junior" award. If you are not within 10 points you can get a second junior or third junior, I don't remember the exact point spread for these awards. The other cars in my class had already received First Junior or higher awards and were going for Senior or Preservation awards. Judging started at 10AM and at about 10:15 the five judge team was at my car. The Team Captain introduced herself to me and thanked me for bringing my car to the show. There was one judge each for body, interior, chassis and engine. They poked around my car for about 10 min. and were on to the next car. Normally at this point I would have relaxed a little, but after scoping out the other Juniors, I knew it would be tough. There was a beautiful Chevelle just off a long nut and bolt restoration that was obviously going to be the car that set the mark. I was just hoping to be within 10 points. The weather was just perfect and we spent the rest of the day talking to people at my car and walking the show field taking in all the amazing vehicles that were showing. At 3 pm the show concluded and drove the short distance to the trailer and loaded up and returned to our hotel.
The results were to be announced at the awards banquet that evening at our hotel. We dressed for dinner and went to the cocktail reception before the banquet. We meet up with a nice couple who had a senior car in our class and shared a table with them and some other very nice folks for dinner. Dinner service was quick and the food was good. Then they made some brief announcements and got right on with the awards. I was in class 36 and it took about and hour to get to it. They announced the Juniors first and mine was the first name to be called ! I was on cloud nine. I rushed to the stage and received my trophy. Our new friend at the table was awarded his Senior so it was a great night for all. We awoke early the next AM and were home in time for football.
In less than a week I received my National Winner medallion with I will display proudly on my front grill. The AACA put on a great event and I can’t wait for the next meet and a chance to go for my Senior award.
Billy
