MTA Show and Swap Meet

[DanJP2]

some more

 

[ONTOS66]

Although the weather guesser had been gloomy all week it turned out okay in the end. (sort of like the old story about airplane landings .. anyone you can walk away from is a good landing)

Due to work I wasn't able to make it in on "the big day" but had a nice visit on Sunday. Gave emmando some money, along with a few other vendors, and stayed within my budget. Too busy hauling stuff to the M1009 to take pictures. Added a few nice items to my wire commo corner.

If I can get the time off next year I'm thinking about setting up a military commo display. A mix of WWII into the 90's ... or more (ya never know what treasures I might find between now and them)

To ALL our veterans .... WELCOME HOME!

 

[jatonka]

Well, it surely was another great show. The MTA people are are about as good as you can get anywhere. It is like coming home everytime I drive down there. Thank you to the vendors who gave me great deals, and THANK you to the customers who purchased spin on adaptors, lockout hubs, canvas seat covers and other things from me. And what a time at the campfire Saturday night, I learned a lot. JT out

 

[gimpyrobb]

Love that awning on the rear of the m109/185!

 

[CARNAC]

Definately the best show I've been to. Wish it was parked in my backyard or closer by some means. Gotta say that it was worth the iron butt award to drive up and back. BTW, I wasn't the only one from GA there. Had a guy set up there from Cummings, GA but he had a real camper, not a deuce.

I found a lot of wheels and deals. I got a maintenance tool bench with all the drawers for $25 even before the show started. Should have bought all 5 but then JT would have been after me the whole show (LOL).

Got 4 gallons of real CARC paint just prior to leaving for $20 for ALL!. Can't beat that with a stick.

Got a bunch of other stuff but mention this to say there were a lot of deals to be had. Been wanting a 3rd bench of well over a year now. In hindsight I should have bought more to turn my 1061 trailer into a tool workshop. Oh well Aberdeen cometh.

Will agree some vendors think they have cornered the market on stuff but for the most part I was happy with the prices.

Speaking of which, dollar for dollar versus amenities provided, the NJ show was top notch. Overhead cover was a big bonus. Parked the vehicles within eyeshot. Bathrooms with showers--not porta potties (I'm getting soft in my old age). The small things such as the food and bathrooms centralized in the middle of the site, not all the way on one end. A place to camp. A forklift to help unload (thanks Randy and Scott). Overall a lot of positive energy.

Only area to improve I saw was with food service, selection and timing.

So other than the effects of the wind and the 2K mile round trip drive, I'm doing pretty good.

JT, forgot to mention that place we all went for dinner. That top secret site was world class! I think I'm be digesting that meal for a year, just in time for next year.

Suggestions if you think of going next year:

Coodinate a sleep space. The hotels I was told were 165 a night. I'm too cheap to pay 165 a night for something that is 1/3 to 1/2 that elsewhere. Plus you get the campfire and company.

I should have brought the dogs.

Bring winter clothing. I was on the road prior to having an accurate weather forcast. Good thing I had long johns to sell. I sold myself some.

Note to self, pack the heavy winter sleeping bag on top, not on the bottom of the truck. Duh.

 

[CARNAC]

Dang, almost forgot another significant improvement.

Stop playing 'The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" for hours on end. No lie, it was played continuously for over 1 hour at one point. I was ready to get a rocket launcher and take out the speaker system.

That brings up another thing to pack, a radio to hear news. Knew nothing about the Iceland thing until last night. Providing the news as a announcement once or twice a day would be an added bonus.

 

[Marlboro]

The 5 ton tractor f/s looks to have huge stacks on it... Any pics??

 

[emr]

The food is a big work in progress every year, every year they get alot more and every year they get more swamped, they were so stressed i got yelled at by a food guy who was about to brake, yeesh, they work from wed till sunday , they critique them selfs really good every year, they will get it, but by then we will all be old, as for the music i could not agree more, i keep telling them My 925 is an 82 so they gotta play disco too......And as much as I love good morning vietnam, i could recite it at the end of the show, The intercom guy is awesome as it gets, he can handle suggestions, i am sure there will be alot at our after action mtg, Thanks ALL for making it what it is, If u guys did not come it would not be a show at all......

 

[emr]

Just a note that LHS load handling system came with out the trailer and they picked up a flat rack and had a Humvee on it on sunday and strecthed her out and up in the air and hung the Humvee out in the air for the day, very cool, if somebody has pics it sure would be cool for all to see, My camera card was full by then, they would have brought it sat, but the flat racks were all full and they did not have time to unload one so they did for us sat eve, Great Guys those Dover Soldiers !!!!!!!!!! also the zero rebuild made the Hemmits LHS's and the new PLS's are the FIVE axle ones with the last axle that steers with the same set up for flat bracks, just an fyi, they are the best trucks in the world bar none.....they can drop full flat racks and pick up empty in minutes , the idea is no load and unload time, never off the road, ... just an fyi...randy

 

[emmado22]

Great show, but the music gets on your nerves. Wait for the public to get there before playing music. The vendors dont need to hear it for any more than they have to. Also, start serving lunch PRIOR to noon. I was told in a not so nice manner by an older lady that was manning the booth that lunch was not going to be served a minute before she said it would.

Another thing to look into from a vendor standpoint is perhaps a deal can be worked with the pizza place right down the road to bring pizza to the site for the vendors on Friday for lunch. The vendors will pay for it, they just dont want to have to drive to go get it in the middle of setting up.

 

[WarrenD]

On the subject of the food service, maybe you could get them to start lunch before noon. I was up early and looking for lunch about 1115 hrs and was told to come back after 1200. I wasn't the only one looking to eat at that hour, either. By starting earlier, it would help distribute the load over a longer period of time= less wait for the patrons and less stress for the workers. Just my 2 cents....

 

[emr]

emmado22 I feel your pain, there was one woman who was short with alot of us there from the CERT program and I will bring it up for sure, she was rude to all of us. I will foward this post to the list for your input, ... all good stuff...

 

[doghead]

Hmm., I must have had the luck to get her too(Sat 11:45). I walked away and never went back all weekend.

Those MTA guys serving burgers (Sunday)were on the ball, efficient and friendly!

I already told Scott, what I think about the website and Freds help.

Randy, I did notice you and Scott, working hard all weekend. You guys did a fine job. It was a really nice show. Thank you.

 

[CARNAC]

I ABSOLUTELY 100% ECHO THE COMMENTS REFERENCE SCOTT AND RANDY!!!!!

I thought I was busy but they were flying around that place.

THANKS FOR ALL YOU DID!!!!!

 

[FormerNewMVGuy]

Well , Thanks to all of you guys for coming!! I appreciate all the acolades for myself and randy, But if all of you didnt come... we wouldnt have much of a show.

I look forward to working the show each year.. and it really is the highlight of my year!

We appreciate all the comments, good and bad , because it helps us to make everything better for the next year. We love our vendors, with out you we couldnt have a show.
So keep letting us know. We want to be the best show on the east coast! and we are trying hard to get there.
Thanks to all who attended, and displayed there vehicles, and thanks to those who came and bought lots of parts.

I hope to see all of you next year!


PS. thanks to "srjeeper" and "maddawg308" for setting up there Vietnam Radio hooch, in our Vietnam display!

 

[maddawg308]

Always great seeing other Steel Soldiers, had a great time. First time at this show, only complaint is the cold weather, but what ya gonna do? Plan to be back next year.

Only took a couple pics. One was a dog turd with an appropriate signage added. The others were of another re-enactor, Mike Szymanski (no relation to Jeff), who wanted a couple pics taken of him in our hooch reading the Playboy mags. Of course, he was only interested in the articles.

Also converted the pics to black and white as well, so they look like they were taken in the right decade.

 

[CARNAC]

Nice pics

Guess you were afraid I'd get the pages sticky so I didn't get the offer. LOL

 

[emr]

gee why do the pages get sticky...

 

[maddawg308]

Found this in the New Jersey Herald online. Typical Herald - they got the details wrong on so many counts. They misspelled my name, said I was a Vietnam veteran (I was born in 1974), and quoted me as saying something that SrJeeper said. They said that the M813-series trucks served in Vietnam as well (I've never seen any 5-tons except for M54-series served over there).

Hint to all newspaper writers: the details are what matters nowadays. Screw them up and you've messed up the "facts" for whoever reads the article. One of the many reasons why folks are abandoning newspapers in droves.

Anyways, the article for your nitpicking....

New Jersey Herald

 

[CARNAC]

Darn, guess they missed me for getting the Iron Butt Award. Oh well maybe next year.