A Tough Pill to Swallow

I had to give this post some very serious thought, because it is not one I want to publish. But if HotKarz is to maintain its integrity, I must.

Let me begin, if I may, by stating unequivically that the Bektash Shriners (Concord NH) have always held a special place in my life. My Dad was the Potentate of Bektash more than 40 years ago. And when my Mother passed away, the Bektash Temple helped Dad get through the difficult time. And I certainly appreciate all the good works they do. They are truly deserving of our support.

And I would like to mention that I have been to car shows in 28 states over the last 40 years, so I am rather familiar with them. I can usually pick out a true show car from contenders and pretenders.

Unfortunately, the judges at the Bektash show seem to know precious little about car shows. Hopefully, they will learn. The reason I say this is because they run an old-time show, one without classes, but they do not judge it that way. Every car on the field competes with every other car. In such a show, there is only one legitimate way to judge - the judges must know cars, they must adhere to a strict point system, and all bias and predjudices are left at home. Personal opinions and favorites have no place in such judging.

In short, in an open show like that, the most perfect cars are the winners. But that is not what happened today. Today, though we all had a good time, and the Shriners were really great hosts, the judging appeared seriously flawed. In a "points" show, where perfection is king, there is no excuse for awarding a trophy to an unrestored, rusted vehicle while near-perfect vehicles were completely ignored. And it raised more than a few eyebrows when several cars arriving at the last minute, in succession, were all awarded trophies, right down the line. Wouldn't you wonder just a little if you heard the announcer say "Car #72, #73, #74, #75, and #76"?

Certainly, some of today's winners really were winners, like the car that took People's Choice, Best of Show, the '67 Goat, the Mustang convertible and the silver 455. But many others were a far cry from being "points perfect".

Now, I will be the first to admit that my own car is definitely not a winner in an open, points show. It has too many little, yet obvious, flaws, dings etc. I go for the enjoyment of it, and to report on the days' events. And if I had won a trophy, I would have been even more disappointed than I already am. But some true show vehicles went home empty-handed while seriously flawed cars took home the gold, and as much as I love the Shriners, that is just plain wrong. I truly hope they will strive to do better next year. Otherwise, I will not be going back, as I would not feel right about supporting it.

Yes, I know this post sounds harsh. But when a show has such inherent problems, I think it is best to bring those problems to light, as that is the only way that they can be fixed. You can't fix something if you don't know it's broke! Earlier this year, we noted similar problems with a show in Center Conway (not to be confused with the show at Settler's Green). At that show, it raised more than a few eyebrows when an inordinate number of trophies ended up on the hosts' table. Maybe it was legitimate, but I should note that those same winners were also on the list of the show's sponsors. (And, yes, we won a trophy that day, so it's not a case of "sour grapes". I just report what occurs.)

Another serious problem with the Bektash show - they appeared to have no interest except in how much money they could pull out of us. Instead of selling 50/50 throughout the day, they soild "different" batches each hour. The ones you bought at 9 am were no good for drawings after 10am, etc. So, if you wanted to play, you had to buy new tickets every hour - and that gets expensive. No other car show mistreats the participants with such abject greed. We spend $70,000 on a car, spend hours polishing it, and a lot of $$$ on gas to get there so THEY can make money from us. That's fine - but to bleed us is an entirely different story, and unacceptable. Car shows are supposed to be a symbiotic relationship - we use our cars to help them raise money, and they treat us right. It seems Bektash has no regard for the second part of that equation.

If they want to have successful shows that grow, and prosper, they need to do at least two things:

1) Make the judging much more honest, by people who know the difference between a 1940 Ford and a Tuner, and

2) Stop bleeding the very people who are helping them fund their pet projects.

Treat us fairly, and with respect, or you will lose us.

Again, it truly pains me to write unpleasant things, because I deeply treasure our "hobby". I only hope that by bringing such circumstances to light that our hobby can become even better than it already is.