Pagodafest 2025?

[Mike Hughes]

Lime Rock.

[sandcrab59]

Thats correct.

[Jordan]

There is also the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Festival in early September.  Vintage car racing all weekend. https://watkinsglen.com/grandprix-festival/

[mdsalemi]

ALL THESE suggestions of various places aiming towards "the east" are all well and good. Every place has its charms, even Cleveland as Mike Simon has suggested. 

Lime Rock, CT in Salisbury (Lakeville) CT
Niagara Falls, St. Catherines Ontario/New York
Pittsburgh, PA and the Vintage Grand Prix
Oley, PA (near Allentown and Philadelphia) and the Deutsche Classic
North Jersey and in concert with June Jamboree

These were just recent suggestions by members.

Some of your board had privately discussed places such as Charleston SC or Asheville, NC. However, as the past month has indicated, hurricane season in the SE USA is vastly unpredictable. You may have nothing, or you may have horrific devastation. The Gull Wing Group meet was scheduled for Asheville the week of Hurricane Helene. Asheville will be reeling for years from the destruction. Many are still without power and water for those that still have homes, and schools are yet to re-open.

Another area recently offered is the west coast of Michigan, perhaps in concert with the Gilmore Museum https://gilmorecarmuseum.org and incorporating driving tours on part of the Great Lakes Circle Route https://www.glc.org/work/great-lakes-circle-tour. The driving section in the SW corner of Michigan is spectacular. The Gilmore also has an Oktoberfest event.

So as you can see, there's NO SHORTAGE of great places to hold an event, and frame the event to the locale. There's also no shortage of members offering up places and locations to add to the list...

...but what there does seem to be a shortage of is members willing to step up and organize something--NOTHING will happen if this doesn't happen. Chicago area member Frank K championed the 2023 PagodaFest, and we put together a team of locals and those distant to help out. There's no substitution for local "boots on the ground".

So, who knows any of the aforementioned areas well enough to raise their hand?

BTW, organizing an event that leans towards more social than technical is far easier to assemble than a technical event...did none of you organize a party for your kids, your parents or something similar?

[Jack the Knife]

I will organize something here if there is willingness to come to Florida.

In my eyes, it would behoove the club to go to places where not only is it convenient for the membership (I understand the inconvenience of Florida to many members), but where there is a potential target audience for club expansion. I also understand that many cars are 'put away' for the winter, but that does not stop the numerous car events down here from taking place -- granted, a great many owners here are also residents, though that is not always the case. Some are just retired enthusiasts who follow the show circuit and enjoy the socializing.

Most events here take place in the wintertime. Some that come to mind:

Palm Beach Concours (December 6-8, Palm Beach)
100 Years of Cars (January 18, Hobe Sound)
Cavallino Concours (January 23-26, Palm Beach)
Cars on 5th (February 8, Naples)
Hagerty Cars and Caffeine at Sebring Raceway (February 23-25)
Boca Concours (February 24, Boca Raton)
Amelia Concours (March 3, Amelia Island)
St. Petersburg Motor Classic (April 7, St. Pete)
Wheels Across the Pond (April 19, Jupiter)

And there are so many more. These are just the ones I can recall and the ones I typically go to. Heck, here in Vero, we do an annual event at McKee Jungle Gardens in early February that has had outstanding attendance. They are looking for a theme for next year. This past year was hot rods, which in my opinion stunk, but it had excellent attendance anyway. '23 was excellent with some of the heavy hitters from Jupiter Island and Palm Beach even driving up. Could be vintage Mercedes? That year, the VBMA had a wonderful exhibit on Art Deco cars. I believe even some club members here went to it. There is a big audience here potentially for cool and classy cars, namely convertibles, which our cars are.

We should think about putting our cars in their romantic and proper setting, which would do the club well by attracting inspired owners. Just like seeing all those Ferraris parked on the Breakers Golf Course, or when I first saw a Pagoda parallel parked on Worth Avenue in front of Taboo.

And for the record...

... major storms happen in late August to mid-October. This is when 3/4 of the total storms to ever impact Florida have occurred, with 1/3 of the total storms occurring in September. The tourist season here is what it is largely because of the fairly predictable weather. Storms of any sort in the winter and spring here are exceedingly rare.

[mmizesko]

I think the Goal would be inclusion and people willing to manage the event.  I think it needs to be in the east. Florida is a long haul for most of the Northeastern folk to drive, and driving through the Mountains in snowy Winter months to get there would be an issue.  Coastal Carolinas would be great, and my original suggestion of Charleston was to be held in April or May, without risk of Hurricanes and before the kids got out of school, since family beach vacations are usually after memorial day.  Florida has lots of Pagodas, so luring them for an 8-10 hour drive would mean somewhere in the Carolinas or Georgia. We should also consider the number of European members who came to Chicago with spouses, who extended their trip to include tourist or resort destinations.

I do think some local folks need to step up if we are to have an event, and I think we should be flexible as to Spring or Fall to get the most people (35-50 cars with a 8-10 hour drive) to attend.  Just my two cents.

Mike

[zoegrlh]

We have had two events in Virginia, the 50 anniversary event, and the PUD near Charlottesville. My vote would be somewhere on the eastern seaboard. A city that has a lot of things to do and see, instead of just kicking tires. I would have it back in Williamsburg, but know Savanna or Charleston have promise.  Be glad to help out.

[rwmastel]

A city that has a lot of things to do and see, instead of just kicking tires.

I miss the old PUB days where kicking tires was the first 5 minutes and it got much more in depth from there.