Got the newsletter from Forties Limited and the club has chosen to no longer hold Forty Ford Day. Going to miss that show. Looking forward to the 3rd Annual Midwest Forty Ford Show.
From the Newsletter: "From The Flight Deck By the time this Script is published, most of you will know we have decided to remove Forty Ford Day (FFD) from our to do list. The factors being, that no one filled the VP, Treasure or Pre-registration Positions. This, as well as the voting from the members was unanimous to discontinue ’40 Ford Day. There will be a board meeting in early February to develop and, present to the membership, many voting options at our March meeting regarding the club's future activities. I never thought that FFD would be ending and especially ending on my watch. I had been out of town on many FFD's, but managed to catch an early flight and be at La Palma park by noon. One other reason it's time to step back is, the health of the aging members. I've done most of the FFD jobs, but loading the trailer and lifting the canopies on the top shelf is brutal, just ask."
Sorry to hear; it is unfortunate, but I understand the position. Hopefully, the club members can still have casual, fun get-togethers.
All kinds of clubs and organizations have the same problem - everyone wants events etc. but when it comes time to volunteer to help, it's tough to find anyone.
Thanks, @40Vert I started the Midwest Forty Ford Gathering for a few reasons. One is that @D.Conrad was twisting on my arm to do something for the 75th anniversary, but I didn't take action on it until 5 years later. Taking a realistic look at the demographic of the '40 Ford owners and the car clubs that have had longstanding events like Forty Ford Day, it was pretty clear to me that the events will eventually become more than they can do. Let's face it, car SHOWS are a LOT of work. The Midwest Forty Ford Gathering is a bit different than a car show. It's more of what I would consider a "cruise in" kind of thing. No awards, no judging, no real format/agenda, other than meeting up in Springfield on Saturday morning to do the 30 mile backroad cruise down to the park in Crane. The event is more about hanging out with fellow Forty owners and building friendships. Heck, hanging out in the hotel parking lot on Friday night and Saturday night is just as much fun for me as the day itself. The 3rd Annual Midwest Forty Ford Gathering is another way I want to keep something else alive. I recently took over The Roarin' 30's of Missouri, a 50 year old pre-49 car club that my dad was one of the founding members of. I did that to make sure that there was not another club that faded away into the sunset as the membership aged out of playing with cars. The event will be hosted under the Roarin' 30's club name, but the event will still be the laid back event that it has been the past two years. Now...I had said that there is no awards and judging, but there will be trophies handed out. I scheduled the event to happen in September and in Crane, because Robert Little has a birthday car show each year that I have participated in, and I told his Mom to coordinate his birthday party with me so that he can consider the event "Robert's Birthday Bash & Car Show". Robert has Down Syndrome, and this is one of the ways I try to bless him and his family each year. Not trying to hijack the thread, but letting you guys know of what I have going on over here. B-Scott Studio is working on the artwork for this year's t-shirts, and I'll be doing pre-sales of those again to help raise the funds to cover the event. Once I have the artwork available to me, I will get those posted to an event thread for the 3rd Annual Midwest Forty Ford Gathering.
SWEET! Crane is a little town of about 1500 people that is about 30 minutes SW of Springfield, MO. There's no lodging down there, so I have everyone stay up in the SW corner of Springfield, a few blocks from my house, where we meet up on Saturday morning and cruise down together via a 2 lane back roads route. Crane is famous for being the former home town of @BenD of T&A Transport. The Crane City Park is a beautiful little park where we've packed in over 250 cars for the CrossMembersCC SWMO Hot Rod Hundred events.
Events are harder to put on today. City Parks are getting harder to work with in metro areas. Your usually charged permit fees for it so you need to forward that on to the car owners. Tee Shirts..etc.. Personally judging is stupid and should be cut out at gatherings. Yes I’ve won some too but walking around folks stopping to look, asking a question, or a thumbs up is award enough for me. We know club members are getting older and as stated not all members do their parts and maybe never did. I attend a few freebies which can continue because of raffles but the places they are held are getting tougher to find. Cars and Coffee seem to be the norm on Saturday/Sunday mornings and I’m venturing out more an more to ones I’ve never been 30-40 miles from home and enjoying them a lot. I’m home by 10/11 so the entire day isn’t wasted. It’s the sign of the times..
Sorry to see this. Well, I'm glad I was able to attend while it was still happening. It was a great event, in a lovely park (except for the homeless camps that @jimmy six mentioned), on a nice green grass lawn under the trees, with a ton of beautiful cars, and the largest gathering of 40 Fords all in one place I've seen, as well as other classic cars. Gonna miss it.
It's a shame that 40 Fords are so expensive too for the younger guys who would be willing to do the grunt work and fill the positions of clubs. That's what I see anyway as I know younger guys who would love to buy a 40 but just can't afford one.
Many don't want to work at building one either. When I was a young guy I would have worked the event just to be around a 40. I don't believe they require owning a 40 to be in their club.
Hey @chevyfordman , I know you've seen @Lakeside65 's thread https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/rosie-the-red-40.1250676/ Ben is a 25 year old son of one of my high school friends and just bought his '40 2 door sedan. There is hope for the future, we just gotta find and encourage those guys, and be willing to mentor them so they know what's cool and to help them remember to keep it simple.
Hey Brett, @bchrismer how about posting the host hotel info and phone number. I need to get my reservations in. Thanks in advance!
Too bad but even the cruise nights are dominated by late model high HP cars....This is the muscle car era of the younger generation....
@VF-1 , look over here for info: https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...dwest-forty-ford-gathering-9-17-2022.1255576/
Not unlike many shows and clubs that we never dreamed would come to a end but as is the case with most groups age comes into play and many of these organizations have lost the movers and shakers that established these events along with the planning and executing, plus the physical labor fewer and fewer people are left to do the work. Our car club is celebrating 50 years this year and is the oldest rod & custom club in the State, the majority of the members are in out 70's and we no longer host shows or cruise-in's, time for the younger guys to pick up where we left off. As with any show or event, where on door closes another door opens up. HRP
I'm not surprised...Shows are so hard to do at any city venue now. They hit you with so many fees and requirements. I agree, it should just be a gathering, not a judged show. The food and raffle are plenty. I've gone to that show for years, meeting my friend Craig there. It's true, the interest is fading away, cause of the lack of younger crowd interest. LA Roadsters is going through the same deal. The guys in the club are all over 65-70ish, and every year they pass away and no new members joining. Sad, but true.
For those that my be interested and live on the East Coast or don't mind traveling for a one day event, my pal Bill is working on a All Forty's run similar to the All Deuce Run. Bill is also a 40 Ford guy and has wanted to do a run specifically for 40 Fords for a number of years and he decided this year was his last helping to be the co-host of the All Deuce Run and concentrate on his new project. I will let everyone know what the date is when he makes that announcement. HRP
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