Tower Park MV gathering

[Bucolic]

I went to the "Tower Park" replacement gathering this weekend, 4-22 and 4-23. I must say, I really feel sorry for the vendors. The campground was beautiful, as a campground. As a MV gathering venue, it sucked. All the vendors were scattered all over the place, most had packed up and gone home. I was told they were leaving because of the poor lay-out and dismal turnout. The campground is all hills making it a workout just to walk around. I got there Saturday around noon after driving 7hrs and I was really surprised by the fact that there was no parking at the event. You had to park about a half mile away and hope to catch the shuttle. THEN, when you get to the entrance, you had to pay $10 per person to get in. I will not be going back, ever, if the gathering is at the KOA campground.

[Bill, Idaho]

I was one of the vendors. Your "concerns" are spot on, and were supposed to have been addressed at the MVCC meeting Saturday. We got numerous stories from several campground employees and questions we had. (We drove 13 hours!) We had our worst event ever- in 30 years of setting up at various events across the western US!!!
I was told from several MVCC members the event will be held their next year as well. I was also told the problems mentioned will be addressed by the club and that KOA staff. The problem is most of the damage has been done, and the geography/layout if that area can't be "fixed". I cannot believe somewhere in central Kal there isn't a suitable campground!!
The worst part for us, aside from not selling- was a screaming crying baby near us!!!! I don't mean crying like is wanted its diaper changed- a full out crying/wailing like its skin was being peeled off. The parents- all week long- just ignored it.
But, you are correct- too many things went wrong.

[rickf]

WOW! I was always hearing how that was the premier event out there. Kind of like Aberdeen here in the East, What once was is no more .

[Bill, Idaho]

What IS the largest MV show on the other side of the US? The Lodi show was allegedly the largest on the west coast, and being from Illinois, I have considered timing a vacation whenever there is a big/good show back east. That way I could and hit both Illinois and the show in one fell swoop.

[rickf]

Aberdeen used to be one of the best around especially back when it was held on the Aberdeen proving grounds base. But the after 9/11 it had to be moved and it went to a field which turned into a mud bog after days of rain two years in a row. That was not really the organizers fault, just bad weather timing. Then it moved to the Ripken Stadium parking lot. Parking lots are great for disabled access, I will give you that but as a vendor they are terrible because you cannot tie down your canopy's and tents. They say to use water buckets, yea, when that 60 MPH wind blows through with the thunderstorm everything leaves with it! A couple years ago a storm moved Murrays entire 40x20 Temper tent into the aisle and dumped all of his wares on the ground inside to get soaked by the water pouring through. Oh, yea, it is a parking lot and water runs downhill so if you are downhill you are getting real wet.
Add to that poor management and a lot of people have left and instead gone to the Findlay Ohio show which is a week later. I have never been to that show but people tell me it is a much better show now than Aberdeen. 600 miles for me though.

[rickf]

This is copied from the Steel Soldiers site. Were there two different Tower park shows? I am confused now.

"The real tower park did close about noon on Saturday. The best days were Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning.

Tower park had similar parking issues but not the entrance fee

I did not go this year mainly because of the disorganization and I heard a bunch of other people were boycotting it. "

[Bill, Idaho]

Yeah, I read that too. Tower Park, located a few miles out of Lodi, recently changed their campground around (after being bought by another campground management company-Yogi Bear- or something like that.). The changes to the Tower Park campground made it so it would no longer work for the MV show. There are two shows- the spring show which just occurred and a fall show. The fall show was usually about 1/2-2/3 the size of the Spring show. The fall show for 2017 is still going to beheld at Tower Park. Next years spring show is booked for Petaluma.
I don't really understand what was said about the real Tower Park-unless people showed up there and decided to have a small show on their own!
(And I was at all of the Tower Park shows save for one, and attended the Petaluma show. A person could drive their car right down into the show and park. Not so with the Petaluma show. And even if they decided to park up above the Tower park show, it was a short walk to get into the show, unlike Petaluma, where you had to park probably well over a 1/2 mile away!

[Bucolic]

And don't forget, everyone who walked in, got charged $10 for the privilege. Not so at the "Real" Tower Park show.

[199th mp]

And don't forget, everyone who walked in, got charged $10 for the privilege. Not so at the "Real" Tower Park show.

i haven't been following this change. was the admission price well publicized prior to the event? all the years i went to tower park were great times. i hope that the MVCC can get the kinks ironed out before next spring.

[Bill, Idaho]

That in-and-of-itself was another issue. Before the show the price for admission was announced as being $7.00. At the last minute it was changed to $10.00. The club didn't get a penny of that money. We were told by several club members it was allegedly for "liability" reason.(?) I was told by a couple of MVCC members after the meeting Saturday, the KOA now changed their story and said all of that money was going to go towards the helicopter that was there for a day or two. (So the people that paid on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday paid for....?
I was told everyone that wanted to walk through had to name someone already setup inside as a reference.
They came say they are going to "work things out" with the KOA, but I cannot believe the problems that came up-primarily the layout/geography, parking, and spectator issues are in fact solve-able. The KOA isn't going to build a huge parking lot, they cannot "shrink" the layout-other than throwing out the year-round campers that occupy the center section---yeah, that ain't gonna happen- and the supposed "liability" issue.
I truly believe they (MVCC) need to simply admit that location is not going to work. Sure, it was a good idea, it just isn't going to work.

[rickf]

In the 70's the KOA was a nice place to stop and camp but starting in the 90'st went upscale and now it is just a HOA (Home Owners Association) for rolling stock, Very high end rolling stock at that. Campsites at most KOA's are 100.00 plus a night! I cannot ever picture any kind of gathering or event at one of those places other than a concours car show. Do any of you guys fit into THAT profile?

[Bill, Idaho]

I really hope someone in the loop keeps us up to date, especially us vendors. But, alas, I bet within a few months, most will be forgotten, and there will be promises of vast improvements.


Mark my words, you heard it here first.

[SturmTyger380]

I started going to Aberdeen after it had already moved to the stadium. The first two years were outstanding. There was not an empty vendor spot around. You could find almost any part you needed.

There were the major east coast vendors there with their parts and lots of regular guys that just brought what they thought they could sell.

After that first two years I have seen less and less regular guys bringing their stuff to sell. In the last two years there have been lots of folks complaining how it has gone downhill. So my point is once you start bashing an event then others loose heart and decide to stop going or bringing their stuff to sell so it just spirals down.

Now folks are talking up the Finley show which is the next week from Aberdeen. I can't do both shows and was thinking about Finley but this year will meet a couple of guys at the Aberdeen show to pick up parts.

Alan

[rickf]

The bashing of Aberdeen is from within, when the organizers get a MAJOR break in pricing on the venue but do not pass one cent on to the vendors plus they take away the good food they had at one time and bring in a vendor friend of theirs who charges out the wazoo for everything. Then two years ago they scheduled Aberdeen on the SAME weekend as Findlay forcing the vendors that did both to make a choice. They did and it was NOT Aberdeen! Now they eliminated several rows of vendor spots without any notification at all. Did not send out the registration renewals on time, not even close, I had not received mine two months late. Of coarse I was one of the ones who lost their spot. The first thing I was told was " Your spot is no longer available". That was it, no further explanation. Well I guess they expected those of us who e-mailed to find out what was up to just say "Oh, Ok, Just put me anywhere" Not happening. I was with a much larger group and we all watched each others wares so we all got a chance to walk around and still not lose sales. Now they wanted to break us up. The end result? None of us renewed. They lost a hell of a lot of money. Piss poor management by the club powers to be that think they are gods in some clubs. At least here they are finding out otherwise.

[Bill, Idaho]

I am going to really try to hit a big show east of the Mississippi. I am curious how it compares to the Lodi/Petaluma shows. My brother lives in Illinois, so I will probably gather him up and drive the rest of the way with him. I guess I just need to decide which show.

On a couple of the other MV websites, there are recent posts that the meeting with the KOA people brought possible solutions to the problems that had been mentioned. I know of a couple of vendors that told me they were done with Petaluma. Period.
See my previous post.