Chicago’s 24th Annual
All Sports Car

Sunday, March 15, 2020 8:00am - 2:00pm

The club conducted the 24th annual running of our Swap Meet & Autojumble on March 15. We opened the doors Sunday morning to a robust pre-registration of 67 vendors booking 87 spaces and 6 cars for the corral. The weather was quite acceptable and the entire parking lot was available for our use. Unfortunately, Covid19 (aka “Wuhan flu”) panic intruded on our party at the last minute, and 21 of those vendors failed to show up.

The few days preceding the Swap were full of excited announcements and proclamations and the ultimate effect was to convince many people, vendors and shoppers alike, to skip the event. Club officers and Swap management held discussions: Should we cancel? What would it cost us to cancel? Are we “legal”? What does the Fairgrounds have to say? After discussion, it was determined that our event was not prohibited by then current governmental proclamations or Fairground’s policy…and that attendance should rightfully be a personal decision of the individuals desiring to attend.

CMGC Member Pat Guest at the front customer entrance.

Barney Gaylord, Wilber Mennell and Mike Hirsch man the vendor entrance for registration.

So we proceeded to “carry on” and hosted some 228 shoppers (about 50% of last year’s count) and the 46 vendors who attended. There were many inquiries by both vendors and shoppers in the few days leading up to March 15: “Is it cancelled?” All were told: “NO – it will be held as scheduled”. Most folks hearing that message were pleased.

The Swap Meet is a miniature business with fixed costs, variable costs, threshold points and points of no-return. Cash is expended by the club on a known pattern and timetable for months in advance of the actual Swap date. Because of our long experience with the event we are able to avoid most surprises in the financial area but this was as unpredictable as a tornado.

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