SPRINGFIELD
"Bill:
The good and the bad of the Springfield Car Show in no particular order. The well intentioned organizers were perhaps overwhelmed by the turnout, as over 50 participants showed, many having driven as far away as Moncton, New Brunswick. Though staffed well, the classifications offered only best of pre-‘50s, ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s and up, muscle cars, street (perhaps the catch all?), 2x4 and 4x4 trucks. Few true customized cars were present, with clean too perfection original cars the rule of the day. Some very impressive cars were on display, only to gather dust that no one could keep ahead of as the venue was the clay track in front of the Springfield Fairground’s grandstand.
Aside from the constant dusting, the failure to stage the cars in like classes made participant judging near impossible as one had to walk the entire single row of cars lined up, several times to view cars in the same class.
Lest you think the show was a flop, it was not. All the entrants appeared to enjoy themselves, especially with all the offerings of a traditional country fair concurrently running. Tired of just sitting and watching the spectators study your dust latten ride? No problem, become a spectator yourself and watch the horse/truck pulls, feed yourself on all the midway food or partake in the games and rides. But for the side activities, as car shows go it would have been like many others. A nice change of pace, however, and I’ll likely add it to my list of shows to attend for next year."
BANGOR
"You missed a good show this past Saturday (09-12-09). The 2009 Bangor Car Show – Wheels on the Waterfront, with ample sunshine, brought out just shy 350 quality cars and trucks. Participants and spectators were welcomed with a well staffed and organized group from the Greater Bangor Convention & Visitors Bureau. A great venue, live music and food offerings by local charities only added to the top notch condition of the participants’ cars that drew from northern and southern Maine and New Brunswick.
Judging appeared to be centered on condition of the vehicles with judges provided with score sheets to follow to arrive at 1st through 3rd place in each of 24 classes. With forethought the organizers had three judges per team and enough bodies to limit each team to judging only two classes, and speed the tallying to permit an early presentation of awards.
The second year of the event did have a few glitches. A few mis-classifications were noted (though they did not factor in the final awards), public address system could not reach the outer areas of the venue and dogs were present on the grounds even with ample notice to restrict their presences.
Speaking to organizers of the event, plans on next year’s is already in the works for the same weekend in September. Given the location with ample room, growth in the show is anticipated. This show is one to watch."
CALAIS
"The first car show hosted by the Down-East Cruisers was held on this Sunday past (09-13-09) at the town square lawn in Calais, Maine. Attended by 40 plus cars and trucks, the show certainly was an unqualified success with participants enjoying the efforts of the enthusiastic local group of car people. A first at least for me, it was the first event where I did not see block voting (participant judged show, organizer’s cars were not judged), nor class jumping or trophy hounds. Perhaps being a small show, perhaps being their first show or more likely the sincerity of the organizers and participants, no miss steps down that road were seen.
A good mix of interesting cars and a desire to put on quality event, add better advancing notice and a good dose of black fly control
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