Re: Hershey Becoming to Expensive?

Posted by BH On 2007/1/13 17:01:00

Packard53 -

Any club's decision on maintaining a presence at Fall Hershey will clearly depend on whether or not they are getting enough bank for their buck. If they are going there in hopes of member recruitment and merchandise sales, a lot depends on the people attending the greater event.

As someone who used to go to Fall Hershey almost every year, for over 25 years, I can say it's getting too expensive for the Average Joe to attend.

In addition to hotels and motels that double their rates for the event, the high price of gas (which is still almost double what is the last time I went) and declining incomes (thanks to outsourcing good paying jobs in favor of exploiting cheap labor overseas) don't help. Then, PA is (for the umpteenth time) talking about making a toll road out of I80.

Parking is a real sore spot for me, with HERCO charging top $$$ to park in what amounts to bottom land. Last time I went to Fall Hershey, it was about double the parking/gate fee for large events in the Penn-Ohio area. What HERCO charges might seem reasonable to someone who can afford to live and work in the NYC-Philly-DC corridor, but it's no bargain to the working class.

Seems like all the nearby landowners who used to charge less to park on their fields got bought up by HERCO over the years. I have parked up at the school up on the hill on show day, but as I get older, getting back to the car is tough on the legs at the end of a long day. On the plus side, I heard they the Yellow field went away this past year and the land reverted back to parking for the event.

I've lost a lot of interest in Hershey in recent years. All things considered, regardless of the weather forecast for the event itself, I don't even think about going to Fall Hershey if it's been raining in the weeks leading up to the event.