Well, I have to hand it to the folks who ran (I will not say "organized") the Bonny Eagle show. In spite of putting zero effort into organizing the show, and in spite of the mish-mash of classing, they somehow still managed to pull in several hundred great cars.
It has been a long while since I have seen so much great and beautiful metal in one place. And it was really wonderful seeing old friends again. And the weather could not be beat.
But the show organizers get a great, big fat "F" - and if there were a worse grade, they would well deserve it.
After 31 years of putting on car shows there is NO excuse for putting on such a shoddy exhibition. The 60's class was spread out over 3 acres, some here, some there, and even some in with the tuners. Mustangs were all over the place, as if they did not even have a class. And when we pulled in, we were told "this is 90's and Special Interest - park wherever you wish", and for sure, both classes were mixed, making it almost impossible to determine what vehicle was in what class. And since when does a Mitsubishi Eclipse "tuner" belong in Special Interest? NEVER! Ditto with more than half the cars that entered the class. They should be ashamed of themselves for entering a class they do not qualify for, and Bonny Eagle should be even more ashamed of themselves for allowing it. Gee, maybe I should enter the TUNER class in the next show and siphon off votes from those who actually deserve them. Whattaya wanna bet they would scream bloody murder.
There were no fewer than 40 people who complained to me about the haphazard way the show was so unorganized, almost as if someone had to work hard to purposely destroy any semblance of sanity. And to think I thought Sanford was bad! Bonny Eagle has managed to beat them hands down when it comes to being disheveled.
Yes, the cars were fine, the people were great and the weather was gorgeous. No thanks to the people who ran this travesty that is laughingly referred to as a car show.
Hey, Bonny Eagle, here's a wild thought - next year, why not find someone to actually spend a few minutes ORGANIZING the show? Or maybe hire a chimpanzee - he could probably do a better job.
My Dad always used to say, "If you are going to take the time to do something, take the time to do it RIGHT!"
Yes, the show is for a good cause. But that is no excuse to put on such a disgraceful exhibition. Bonny Eagle wants money for their cause. Fine. And the people who PROVIDE that money would like a decent show. Seems to me this one is one-sided - Bonny Eagle takes the money and gives precious little in return. They certainly do not give the car folks any respect!
Look, Bonny Eagle - we put our expensive cars at great risk so you can make money. We spend money on gas and food to attend your shows. We give up an entire day for your benefit. The least you can do is insure each class is organized, and every vehicle is in the right class. If you can't even do that little bit, you have no business running a show and taking our money.
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5 comments:
I like to go to the Bonney Eagle show and will continue to do so , I pay the entre fee and buy the high marked up food , ( although there is a few good deals, water $1) However the fact that it is a partisipants picked show, and the fact that the show is so large and you cannot veiw all the cars of one class in one area , I do not register for votes, In 1990 however I did take a 2nd place with a plain jane ,corvette ,on the vote for your friends ticket,no other reason, there were far better cars in the line, that was my last year in the hunt.
You nailed it dead on, the people in charge lost all control about 9:00 AM when everyone started parking where they wanted and the spectators figured out they could bring their cars in and pay $5.00 to park and get 2 people in for the price of 1. What a complete travesty to the real show people(that's us who bring our vehicles for the public to view)I hope the money goes to a good cause, that is all BE is really interested in. However, I had a good day seeing old friends and making some new friends.
I had a great day bouncing around the Bonney Eagle campus . It was a nice day and if it hadnt been a nice day the place wouldnt have been so loaded . As you saw they came from massachusett and New hampshire too this year too.If we hadnt had the tuners come down for the bus garage maybe we would have had room . That is all I can say , i loved seeing everyone .
I want to make it clear I have nothing against the tuners being in our show . It was nice ot not to have to walkk thru the bug uinfested woods to go to see them .
I have to agree with the comments so far.
I think they lost control before 8 am. The thing that bothered me the most was that so many unethical people were allowed to park inside the show with their beat-up daily drivers. It was clear to me that a network of younger folks figured out that they can drive in with a car load of people and park for $5 total instead of paying the spectator fee per person. So you had perhaps 100's of random late model cars over the course of the day taking up spaces that should have been for actual show cars. You know - the cars people drove great distances and PAID to see. This unethical behavior, as well as poor space planning, led to the classes being broken up and strewn all over the place making it almost impossible to vote. I realize that the gate parking attendants are volunteers - but they seemed to have no guidance or direction on how to prevent non-show cars from entering, and nobody there was making any attempt to restore order and keep the gates for the intended classes to be parked nearby. It was a free-for-all that had six classes of cars parked in one row, with late model beat up drivers placed in between. It was like that at both of the schools. I guess anything related to a school means that you can't enforce rules for fear of offending someone. Well sometimes order and discipline are best for the long term interest. That was not present at Bonny Eagle. The band playing on top of the bus...the members shouldn't quit their day jobs.
To be fair I can say that the charity food vendors were exceptionally friendly and had very good prices. I saw cold drinks for $1.00 and fresh baked goods for 50 cents as an example. The trophies were numerous and decent in appearance even if there was no fair way to award them. Its too bad - they could have had a great show but instead it was only a social event that you had to pay a cover charge for.
Unless this show is promoted next year in big bold letters 'Under New Management' I will never attend it again. The cruise nights are free - I'll go there instead with my classic car. If I ever want to see unwashed late model cars - or new cars for that matter - I'll go to the Maine Mall - that is free too.
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