2018 Camaro Nationals Re-Cap
Category : Event Re-Caps
Hmmm, Global Climate Change? This was another year of Dancing with Raindrops.
The Thursday Cruise went great – I can’t believe the number of bridges April found in such a compact area. Cathy Newman assisted by George Warner again took pictures of cars exiting the Covered Bridge, and posted them on Facebook for everyone to see and download. In the parking lot that night, reports started getting more serious about remnants of a tropical storm making their way up from the Gulf of Mexico. It was looking like we were in the path. The rain did end up messing up our Friday…and a bit into Saturday morning…but it cleared for the judging which started at 11AM on Saturday. Weather reports kept day of show registrants away – which was a shame, because by about 10AM it became a nice day. The Concours classes were nice and comfy in building 9…and a nice collection of Pace Cars and Invitational Camaros filled out the building. Additional Pace Cars, LE’s and vendors completed our other two display buildings. In the end, we had over 225 Camaros, and a handful of Firebirds. Registrants hailed from 22 states, and 2 Canadian Provinces.
The Dinner and Charity Auction was well attended with just under 200 people. The food was very good after a wet day on the show field. (Warm showers helped, too.) Scott Settlemire, doing well after his scare, volunteered to be our Auctioneer, and raised just under $8,000 for charity. The Lehigh Valley Camaro Club pitched in again as runners for the auction items. A 50/50 was held and a huge pile of cash went to a very lucky winner. Oh! April brought Bobby Banana along, and he decided he wanted to see a bit more of the world. A bidding war started to see who would be his “foster family” for the year, and in the end Bobby returned to the Great State of New York – specifically, Long Island. He isgoing to have a very scary summer ahead of him; you know those “Islanders”. There were already photos of him tied to a target in Bakersfield, with some weasel throwing a hatchet at him. Poor Guy!
Saturday went by quickly. As the lingering showers tapered off, a few day of show cars registered, and judging got started at 11:00. We learned from the last few years that if it was not the rain, the heat made outdoor awards a bit rough, so we decided to move them into building 13. The rain was not an issue, but the decision was a good one, I think. Everyone could hear better, and winners did not have to walk as far, so the awards went more smoothly and quickly. Plus, Karl only made a few blunders this year in presenting!
The event was well planned, and the MCC Set-Up Crew did a great job as usual. These guys are the best….the unsung heros of the car show scene. The tear down crew did another fantastic job. We are all getting older – 20 years older than when we started this thing – but I think everyone still has energy like they did years ago.
From April, Cathy, Karl, and Bud
God Bless and good health.