Re: Hershey 2007

Posted by BH On 2007/9/30 10:41:34

John -

Very interesting that it only took you seven years to get tired of Hershey.

With a few exceptions, I had been going to Fall Hershey each year since my first visit in 1978 (blowing off Homecoming Weekend at college). Although limited finances initially meant car-pooling and even sleeping in the car, I started going solo and gave into a nice clean warm hotel room in later years.

However, it didn't take long for the gilding to start to wearing off the lily.

More and more hotels and motels started doubling their rates during the event, with some requiring you pay for three or more days - even if you only needed a room for one night. The cost of parking kept going up as Herco bought more land and the township worked to eliminate "free parking" within reasonable walking distance. RVs and trailers were charged Herco's overnight parking rate for a full week - even if you only stayed for a night or two.

Yes, I've seen plenty of pig-headed rent-a-cops directing people to park in mudbogs and their vehicles being damaged when they had to be towed out. Mud was an even greater problem as the swap meet fields were expanded into bottomland over the years.

I got past the latter with a reasonable investment in some hi-tech, lightweight hunting boots. I even picked up and old Army-Navy surplus backpack and stocked it with plastic bags to try and protect my purchases. Yet, many vendors would pack everything up early and go home when it started to rain, while claiming that show day took too much traffic away from them.

With the expansion of Hersheypark and - more recently - the construction of the Giant Center (arena), it seems like the meet layout gets reshuffled every year, which is very disorienting for repeat visitors. A lot of the swap meet fields are now paved (making my boots worthless), but vendors still close up and go home when it starts to rain - even those with tents. All that pavement sure is a lot harder on my legs.

Well, I got tired of dealing with the rainy weather, high cost of lodgings and parking, the confusing layout, and the spiralling price of gas, and I haven't gone back to Hershey since 2002, IIRC. With Gov. Swindell and all the other crooks in Harrisburg trying to lease the turnpike to some privateers and make I-80 a toll road, I probably won't venture east very often in the future.

Meanwhile, I've read that the car show is now held on what was once a golf course; while that parcel was good for day parking (and cost less than what Herco charged), I don't think it will hold up to all the car and foot traffic for a show if has rained. (Rumor has it that course was under three feet of water a few years back.) Although I do enjoy a show on grass and the shade of trees on a hot summer day, I preferred the Hershey Show Field on the paved lot around the old stadium (with real restroom facilities - not outhouses), given the generally cooler, wetter autumn climate in that part of the country.

BTW, I saw an ad for this year's event stating you had to be a member of the ACAA to get a space in the swap meet or car corral. Is this a change from previous years? Full-time vendors can write off the membership expense as advertising, but I suspect it will have a negative impact on hobbyists wanting to sell a car or a pick-up truck load of parts. Perhaps that's an attempt to recruit new members, but it seems like some people are ignoring the competitive aspect of eBay and other events.

While Fall Hershey can be a good thing, it is becoming a "white elephant" and a real example of the excessive greed in our culture.

However, I still recommend that any old car enthusiast check out Fall Hershey at least once and make up their own mind. Just be sure to go prepared for all sorts of weather, terrain and expense, but don't waste a trip if the forecast calls for much rain.

Cavet emptor