2023 Hershey

Hershey over now and most are on there way home or already home. I did not attend Hershey this year as I would have like to. I still did buy a couple of things from Pat Fenner. What a nice person. When I first went to the National Meet did not know anyone Pat came up to me and made me fell welcome. I never forget that. Hope everyone had a good time. Sure did enjoy the pictures of Hershey. Thanks
 
Number of vendors and buyers were down by a good margin compared to previous years. Crowd seemed to thin out by 1-1:30 - heat maybe? We vend in the orange field and it seemed the orange and green fields were busier than the choc and red fields. Supposedly they are negotiating right now for the new contract. Remember that Nestles owns Hershey Park - nothing to do with Chocolate prices. It may be moved/downsized - a possible. In my estimation close to 30% of vendor spaces were empty. Definitely not good. I also heard from a few vendors and buyers that 70s and 80s cars are presently the hot ticket both in parts and car sales. At the high high prices of parts that were in Hershey, I can certainly see the interest in 70s and 80s cars just by cost factor alone. Fingers crossed there will still be Hershey - somewhere - regardless ….
 
Imho Monday, setup day, was the best day vending save for the last 2 people to buy from me late Thursday that put me in the pink. Everything else was nickel and dime stuff that was purchased.
 
This is a pic of the kids in the special wagon. The family had two, but I only got this one. I saw them a few years ago and took a pic then, too. Pretty cool.
 

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We have the train show at York coming up week after next. Hope to see some car guys there.
The world is changing. Folks are not interested in old car parts and the study thereof. Same for trains. As our hobbies decline, we can think warmly about the "good old days" and let our parts piles go while they are some valuable. (It does hurt a bit, tho.) Smokey(pictured) move on to our Model Club VP. My '39 peecup to a dear neighbor friend. (The oldy truuuuck still gathers the chicks, I hear...

Clem
 
Trains............another subject.
Well Clem not all train equipment is showing signs of losing favor.
On the way home from Hershey we drove northwest to Rockhill Furnace PA and visited the East Broad Top Railway. There were vehicles in the parking lot from all over the USA. Just like the lots at Hershey. So.........big train equipment still draws a crowd.
 
This was my 50th consecutive year attending.
YIKES!
It was the hottest I remember.
I walked every inch of it one end to the other. Blazing hot all four days.
Not bad for 75 yrs. old. Paid for it over the weekend though!
Got new spots this year.
Moved from the Red field pole 3 to Chocolate North pole 36.
Lots more foot traffic and more centrally located.
Monday, set up day was OK some bargains and early bird finds.
Tuesday still some empty spaces but folks still rolling in and setting up.
Wednesday pretty full, with some empty spaces. Decent crowds.
Thursday was busy in the morning. Decent crowds.
By 2PM Thursday many vendors were starting to pack up.
Last year I went to the fields on Friday morning, it was a ghost town.
This year we went home straight from the Hotel never went near the fields it was raining anyway.
I have 3 spaces and I share them with a friend. We sell parts off the spaces every year. He sells Chevy stuff (yeah, I know) I sell some Ford stuff and have my Lock & key sign up too.
I already put a deposit down for the Hotel $180 plus I'm going to purchase my 3 spots again in December 2023 for $270 plus the Porta Potty for another $180.
Basically, attending Hershey as a vendor is a commitment made a year in advance.
This year my friend fell ill at the last minute and didn't come at all.
That left 2 spaces paid for but not occupied.
Not an indication of lack of interest but just life happens.
It would be interesting to get the real facts from the AACA.
How many spots were available VS. how many were bought and paid for in advance.
That's the true measure of what's happening.
 
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I agree - it’s just disconcerting with the number of empty vendor spots regardless if the reasoning. Just by the nature of the fact that you were able to get spots in the chocolate field - that was near impossible a few years ago. But, if anything is a constant, it’s change. I just hope the show continues n any way, shape, or form …..
 
Something that I noticed that no one else is bring up. In the past, four years of future dates for the HERSHEY meet were printed on the wooden nickels that the AACA gives out. The 2023 nickel only has two years listed. Are they trying to tell us something? This was my 55th year and I would rate it in my top three. Yes I also noticed a lot of empty flea market spaces.
 
woodiewagon46 said:
Something that I noticed that no one else is bring up. In the past, four years of future dates for the HERSHEY meet were printed on the wooden nickels that the AACA gives out. The 2023 nickel only has two years listed. Are they trying to tell us something? This was my 55th year and I would rate it in my top three. Yes I also noticed a lot of empty flea market spaces.
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I noticed as well and asked an AACA volunteers about that. They said the contract for the park ends after the 2025 show. That's why the wooden nickels only go out to 2025.

The Hershey region AACA and Hershey Entertainment and Resorts are currently negotiating on grounds usage past 2025.

The volunteers made it seems the park's current owner does not want the show on the grounds any longer and it's the negotiations are tough going.
 
Here's the annual wooden nickel for 2023. From what I heard, the dates are the only ones for which AACA has a contract. After 2025, who knows at this point.
 

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Tim Ayers said:
I noticed as well and asked an AACA volunteers about that. They said the contract for the park ends after the 2025 show. That's why the wooden nickels only go out to 2025.

The Hershey region AACA and Hershey Entertainment and Resorts are currently negotiating on grounds usage past 2025.

The volunteers made it seems the park's current owner does not want the show on the grounds any longer and it's the negotiations are tough going.
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Model51 said:
Here's the annual wooden nickel for 2023. From what I heard, the dates are the only ones for which AACA has a contract. After 2025, who knows at this point.
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See post #11 page 1!!! Bruce Nelson brought this up!!!
 
This year Hershey seemed a bit different I was expecting a lot more people and plenty of venders as others have already written that was not the case.
So when I was tired I decide to simply lay down for a while until things picked up.
Ronnieroadster
 

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Ronnieroadster said:
This year Hershey seemed a bit different I was expecting a lot more people and plenty of venders as others have already written that was not the case.
So when I was tired I decide to simply lay down for a while until things picked up.
Ronnieroadster
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Love that photo!
 
Just very hard to believe that the folks at HERCO would walk away from the revenue stream generated by the show.
I would imagine they receive a considerable amount for the use of the parking lots and facilities. Chocolate World was packed as usual.
Spaces this year were $90 each. I think there was close to 10,000 spaces. Even if Herco got $25 per spot, I would hate to be the guy at the Herco budget meeting that stands up and says, "How about let's kill the car show? We don't need that stupid $250 thousand bucks (or More!) anyway".
I'll bet they are holding the AACA's feet to the fire for set up and cleanup and insurance for the week.
Hopefully they will come to an agreement.
If not, I'm in wherever they wind up.
 
32phil said:
Just very hard to believe that the folks at HERCO would walk away from the revenue stream generated by the show.
I would imagine they receive a considerable amount for the use of the parking lots and facilities. Chocolate World was packed as usual.
Spaces this year were $90 each. I think there was close to 10,000 spaces. Even if Herco got $25 per spot, I would hate to be the guy at the Herco budget meeting that stands up and says, "How about let's kill the car show? We don't need that stupid $250 thousand bucks (or More!) anyway".
I'll bet they are holding the AACA's feet to the fire for set up and cleanup and insurance for the week.
Hopefully they will come to an agreement.
If not, I'm in wherever they wind up.
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Well said. Plus, I can only assume it gives the local economy quite a boost as well.

I'm not buying that the park wants the grounds cleared for visitors. Kids are in school, so who is really coming to the park during this week?

I'm sure places like the Parkside, etc. need Hershey week for their overall bottom line.
 
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