Not really...The 'best ever' came later on, after I had given a lot of input of how to make it better but I dig what you mean.
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] i'll tell you a funny story about one night 10 plus years ago i was talking to some guys outside of the PASO INN one night SOME GUYS WALKED BY WITH SOME HUB CAPS , JOKINGLY ONE OF THE GUYS MADE A JOKE ABOUT SOMEONE STEALING THEM NOT REALLY MEANING IT BECAUSE --well you know we are at the P,R.INN and they did have security walking all over all night well I can't remember who it was but the next day I remember the guy coming up to me ,telling me kind of laughing that they were his that got stollen he was one of the big boys too HUMMMMM IMAGIN ___PASO?? not SANTA MARIA had to share that story after reading about the guy worry about his hub caps in S.M. guess he was lucky it wasn't in the late 50's in ct. cause it could have been Rich who took them . PENNY [/FONT]
I really need to apologize I do feel bad about the stolen hub caps ,I just was on the defensive about Santa Maria I just felt it could have happened anywhere any show again , I am sorry ,now you guys know why you never really hear from me Penny
First before anything i want to say thanks for putting on an awesome show and taking time out to ask for our opinions i think thats really cool...I had a blast, seriously one of the best car shows ive been to in a long time. There were definately alot of awesome cars! My suggestions would be to put the swapmeet/vendors in the back grass area and have all the cars in the front so everyone isnt so segregated. I think there should be something going on at the Santa Maria bar saturday night like good bands or dj so everyone has that cool last night party before the drive homes sunday/monday...other than that I had a great time and will definately be back next year!
Penny,I don't know if you saw me but I drove (a rental) this year all the way from Minnesota and I loved the show. I haven't been to Santa Maria since 2008 so I thought it was a Great show and I loved the Cruize. I already have reservations at Motel 6 for next year. Thanks for putting it on for 30 years.
Yeh, it is not Paso, but Santa Maria is getting better each year. Thank you for asking for suggestions. ...and I will be back again next year. The car count was apparently down a bit this year and it seemed that not as many top new kustoms made Santa Maria one of their debut events. I like the suggestion of inviting some of the newest show kustoms to be guests. I might also suggest giving them a special roomy display area on the less crowded north area. That would give the power parkers more premium spots to try to grab early Saturday morning, lol. ...and it might improve the balance of parking between the two sides of the grounds. More bands would be nice. More food selection would be nice. I always enjoyed the Saturday morning pancake breakfast at Paso just across from the Park on Spring St. Perhaps a local civic group might be interested in doing a morning only breakfast fundraiser on Saturday? My big complaint about the auction is the pinstriping panels and other art pieces often are not seen by most folks before bidding starts and is nearing its end. Raising money for Alzheimers is an important part of the event and anything to improve bidding on the art donations should be encouraged. If everyone could be seeing what is being auctioned, bids might be better, and more folks might be bidding. Having the pieces circulate around the audience during the entire bidding process, rather than just a quick once around, might help, too. The cruise is a bit of a logistical nightmare. A lot of cars tend to have overheating problems at slow speeds. At Paso, for me it was worse. I just make one full loop and then pull out. But cars must be kept moving. Two lanes in each direction is a good step, fast lane slow lane. I think there were non-registered cars sneaking in on this year's cruise through the multiple side road entries. If so, this adds to the congestion and slows everyone down. A longer cruise area would also help increase the capacity and the speed. That car with a siren was annoying. The first year at Santa Maria there was a Friday road cruise and dinner stop(s(?)) in a nearby town. Any thoughts about reviving that for a Saturday night? I missed it due to unreliable wiring that year. The model car show could benefit from more local builders knowing about the model show. I think for Goodguys events, they give local modelers a pass to get in the fairgrounds with their models. The Cruisin Nationals is still the one must go to event for me, and I am happy that you are working to make it better each year. Thanks!
Felt like i was trapped in the fairgrounds, especially when looking at $12 burgers and $5 corn dogs. In fact, my little group left the show to eat at in-n-out and didn't return. It also seemed like those of us parked in the back grass field were cut off from the rest of the show and not too many viewers made it back there. The cruise needs cones for the route as someone else said. Too many people turned around before they made it to the far end and spectators were disappointed as hell. The dj at the inn was pretty bad. Way loud and I heard a couple songs twice. The bands at show were kind of lame, only one actually had people paying attention. You could definitely save some money by cutting these things.
Take a deep breath man. But ya, take a look at a map. I though the nationals were supposed to be a friendly gathering right in the middle of SF and LA. Santa Maria is 100 miles closer to LA. That's a long ass drive for people in the Bay. Not really CENTRAL. We get it, you love your town buttake it easy, they asked for critiques.
Ya I know but when people just out right say that the town sucks... or its "Ghetto" thats not talking about the show....thats talking about the town. Hope everyone still tries to have a good time no matter where the show is....
We parked in the back grass area and I actually like it better back there. Way more area to spread out and not as congested. I didnt even check the cars out by the stage area and by the gazeebo cause their packed in so tight you cant get a good look at them. Food vendors arent an issue cause we bring our own food. Fairgounds food is always ridiculously expensive, you know that going in. I agree with Russ B, that cruise out to Los Alamos the first year was pretty cool. Definately some potential there. Suprised more local buisnesses arent getting more involved with the show. That little drive in burger spot on main (J.T.'s?) would be a great little after show hang out like the A&W was in Paso. We took a little cruise out to Guadalupe Satuday evening and had the best steak dinner I've ever had. Suprised I didnt see any other cars out there. I agree it is kind of a drag to be confined to a fairgrounds setting but as long as your friends, cars, and a cooler full of cold beverages are there its a good time. The show has definately improved since the first year, though it will never be Paso. As long as theres customs there, we'll be there. Thanks WCK.
As for the cruise Saturday Night. Penny would like to know if someone or a club would like to help organize it .
Penny, You don't need to apologize for anything. Just keep up the good job your doing making thousands happy!!
I had a great time at the show, everybody I know did. Thanks for the effort it takes to put on this event. How about live music during the cruise? I was thinking in front of the Santa Maria High auditorium. A band could 'play the steps' of the auditorium. The Saturday cruise would be cool too, but I think too many of the same events could get old. Some people would only participate in one day or the other and both would suffer. How about a local shop tour? There's a lot going on in the area. Shop hosts could allow guys to wrench on their cars after the long drive to the show. Plus, participants could get a chance to see some iron thats work in progress status and cant make it to the show. I know we all love works in progress and barn find type cars. There's a lot of good food around here, its not suprising somebody had the best steak of thier life at The Far Western in Guadalupe. There are several dive bars that are worth visiting, you just gotta know where to go. Possibly next year a local will post a guide as to where these hidden jewels are located......
Santa Maria is also one of the few places with a Drive-In. Incorporating this into the Saturday evening could be a cool touch. Is it possible to have a Saturday showing of "Hot Rods to Hell?"
The owner of the so called drive in appears to be missing the boat....or in this case the Kustom.... wouldnt they already have had a Bash at there Drive in? Sounds like there asleep at the wheel, haha !! ...... hmmm one of the Best shows on the west coast for Kustoms,Hot rods,Bikes, hot rods, ladies... ,,,,,, Uhm Heelllloooo any body home?! .... Just sayin..
Paso was a great show and was a highlight of the year for me, but even if the show was still there, it would be different than it used to be. Like someone said earlier, Paso is changing and is not what it used to be.
The drive in is called JR's. It is on Main St just east of Broadway. It cannot accommodate very many cars - but a cool place. Jalopies show up the second Fri of every month.
first things first, thank you for hosting a great show. Paso is over, it was fun but SM is the future. i think it is a great show regardless. only gripe i would have would be for the swap meet. Sundays are always slow, but by having the swap only on sunday it limits the swap vendors customers. if they were maybe allowed to have a swap in one of the barns or even in the corral next to one of the barns saturday and sunday it would allow more people to buy and a better opportunity to sell. kind of like how they have the swap at the Lonestar Roundup. Cruising on saturday as well would be a nice addition, as well as a longer route. looking forward to next year
I think the swappmeet should be held on saterday also, I like all the nooks and kranies at the fairgrounds, it gives you a cool place to park your car but the big grassy area needs to be spruced up, maybe move the stage to that area, as for the spectators whinning aboat paying an admision fee, it's only fair that they chipp in too, it cost alot of money to rent the fair grounds, us guys with the cars spend alot of money on fuel, hotels , food and the entry fee, and we don't complain, a twelve dollar admision fee for spectators is totally fair, so if you want to save your money, stay home and watch t.v.
BEST SHOW EVER HAD A KILLER TIME ok sorry this is so late but IVE BEEN BUSY!! <object style="height: 390px; width: 640px"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/53tXbwunYhs?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/53tXbwunYhs?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></object> see what yas missed
Personally coming from someone who lives in Santa Maria, if it's not about raising money why not have the car show at Waller Park (between Santa Maria and Orcutt)? It's open and VERY much a similar setting to how it was in Paso? Just a thought, other than that I agree about extending the cruise both in time and length (but that may prove difficult to do).
The only thing I noticed, was some of the cars shouldn't have been allowed. An example was a late model Mercury Cougar sporting a '49 Merc front end. Then there were the billet street rods. Not that many, but enough to walk on by. The band roster was terrible. Look at past Mooneyes or Primer Nationals Shows for bands. Also, the Mooneyes and Primer have a hugh attraction with their pin-up contests.
Some of my best memories were from Paso but lets face it, the last few years of Paso it was going down hill. The hotels were over a $100 a night for a room that shouldn't cost $35 a night. The cops stopped looking the other way when someone did a burn out or had an open beer. The drive-in was gone, the bowling alley was turned into a sports bar and the only way you could get a room at the Paso Robles Inn was to have one left to you in there will. I would have never stopped going to Paso but it's over. Now we have Santa Maria, get over it and support it. That is what needs improving is geting more high quality cars and more people to have a good time. We drive down from Sacramento and it's a longer drive but the drive is half the fun. I'm a car builder not a writer. This is probably the longest thing I've written on here. This show is important and it needs to grow into a great show again.
Well my car didn't make it all the way there this year, but I did, and had a great time! Just as I've had at all the WCK Cruisin' Nationals from 1993 on. . My only suggestion is, can you guys slow the clock down for that weekend? ...
Paso has a 3 day show on Labor day weekend. Went last year and it was pretty nice, laid back. This year it will be August 31 to September 2.
umm .... but this yrs band line up was moonlight trio (who played primers last yr & i think mooneyes in the past too) vicky tafoya (who also played primers last yr (actually back to back with moonlight trio) & i think mooneyes also in the past ) & dead zed choppers (who is a smaller local band with a 15 yr old amazing guitarist)
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