And bench racing we did. It wasn’t long before the final touches to the show field were complete. It was now approaching 6 pm, time to take the cruise down to the Elton Diner. Roughly 25 made their way to taste some of the finest food Elkton has to offer. With an extensive variety of items to offer, there is usually no problem finding something to fit everyone’s taste. If you stop by sometime in the future, make sure you get a cup of their crab soup...when your done you’ll wish you ordered the bowl!

    After arriving back at the Crystal Inn, MCC President Donnie Gates called everyone together for a “last minute changes and details meeting”, ensuring everyone was on the same page for the upcoming weekend. Of course the night was topped off with a whole lot of bench racing in the parking lot... Hey... It had been a year since the last show... there was plenty of catching up to do.

    Just about every year, vendors and entrants have been showing up around 6:30 a.m. to hit the field. This year, we tried to spread that the show field was not going to open until 8 a.m. on Saturday with the show starting at 9 a.m. just as advertised. Upon arrival Saturday morning, cars were lined up half way down Walnut St. The classifiers and parking attendants had them off the street and into their parking spots in record time. By 10 a.m. a steady stream of arrivals were making their way onto the field. With Kim Cogar and Dottie Bolyard at the helm, registration went just as smooth as silk.

    By mid-morning, the clouds soon gave way to the powerful rays of the sun...increasing the temperature to a sweltering 95+ degrees by the early afternoon. Those that brought tents, set them up along the shoreline under the added protection of the trees. With the breeze coming off the water, it was actually quite comfortable.

    Kra-Z kicked off the tunes bright and early and played a nice range of music... 50’s, 60’s, Rock, you name it. When it comes to DJ’ing, no one does it better than Kra-Z. Major sponsors were announced many times during the day, as well as the Sponsors and Member sponsors who supported the show.

    Around 11 am, Susan Zollers started the games for both the kids and adults. While she was down on the field running the games, Kra-Z was putting in his two cents... Well maybe it was more like a quarter... But definitely entertaining! The kids and adults had a blast throughout the weekend playing the lifter throw, fan belt toss and also swinging to the hula hoop contest. This was the first year we have done the lifter throw. It was not at easy as it looked, as just when you thought you had thrown the lifter right inside the oil pan, it jumped right out just as fast! Frustrating and a blast at the same time.

Bobby Schena and Peter Zollers (and his “private” secretary) inspect the front of this Modified ‘66.

    After a pre-judges meeting in the gazebo, 9 judging teams consisting of a Lead Judge and 3 other judges, hit the field to begin the difficult task of judging some of the finest Chevelle’s in the country. Two different judging sheets are used for scoring, a 300 point sheet for the Original Restored and Original Unrestored classes and a 150 point sheet for all other classes. Each judging sheet is then divided into 4 specific areas of the vehicle; Engine, Interior, Under Carriage, Paint/body and Bed/Trunk. Each judge takes their “area of expertise” and away they go. “Judges in training” are paired with the more experienced judges to ensure consistency and accuracy.

The points awarded by each judge are not added by the judges, but by the computer program used to tally the points at the end. This helps to ensure fairness to each of the entrants as the judges do not know how the other judges scored the car. The cars are not judged against each other, but against themselves, i.e. Via the judging sheet. The MCC is one of the few clubs around that still runs a point-judged show. To accommodate the entrants, Judging is done both Saturday and Sunday, with the majority being done on Saturday.

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