MTFCA Forum

It is with a very heavy heart that I must pass on this terrible news. I spoke with Dena at the Fair Grounds about 20 minutes ago. The "powers at be" in Tulare County demanded that the fair grounds cancel the swap meet. They are using the fair grounds as an evacuation location for people displaced due to the flooding. Dena assured everybody there wouldn't be a problem. She explained we could accommodate the evacuees and still have the swap meet. Apparently her assurances fell on deaf ears and she was over-ridden. I must apologize profusely for any and all problems this creates for any of you. You listened to my assurances about everything being "A GO", and now, due to weather and issues beyond my control, the event must be cancelled. I'm not ready to give up on a West Coast Pre-War Swap Meet yet. I'll be working to make this work one way or another. Dena says she's ready, willing and able to do anything and everything she can to make this something really special.........next year. Again, I'm sorry for any and all problems I've created. If you'd like to call me, my phone number is: (five five nine)967-zero one one two. With Kind Regards, Your Humble Servant, Bill Bennett

So sorry to hear this. If anyone can right the ship, it’s you Bill. Thanks for your willingness to help us all.

This really sucks!!! I brought my trailer home this morning to start loading. Bill, thanks for all your efforts to make this a reality. I’m planning on next year.

Stuff happens. Dont take it to hard Bill. You put a lot of effort into keeping this meet alive. We see that & appreciate it.
See you next year.

Why can’t they use the Tulare Ag Center for evacuation, it is much bigger and easier to get to, just off Hwy 99.

Bill,
The best laid plans of mice and men, as they say.
Given the re-emergence of “Lake Tulare”, it is beyond anyone’s control.

While disappointed for this year, we always have next year to look forward to.
Thank You VERY much for all you have done so far for the hobby.
It’s takes dedicated people to step up and make good things happen.

Rest assured “if you build it, they will come”.
I for one will be putting in my reservation for next year now, or when you are ready

Thank you for the brave attempt,

Jim

Is there no way to move it to the Tulare Ag center?
If they aren't using it for refugees, but are using the County Fairgrounds instead, then what is the problem with using the UNUSED AG CENTER?
Even if the Ag center has something else planned for that weekend, I cannot conceive of the other users being able to fill over 25% of that place. It is absolutely HUGE. Even when we were there, and the Ag center had it's Antique Power Show, I don't think the Ag Center was more than 25% full. It was a half mile walk from OUR swap meet to the Antique Power Show, and THEY had a HUGE SHOW!
There is room there to have The Tulare Pre-War Swap meet, the ENTIRE Hershey show, the Chickasha Pre-War Swap meet, and the San Diego and Portland Swap meets, ALL AT THE SAME TIME, without any crowding whatsoever.
The entire WOODSTOCK EVENT from 1969, would probably BARELY fill 30% of that place. It is the largest event center I have EVER seen.

The same thing happened to the Bendigo National swap meet in Australia last year. The showgrounds were commandeered to accommodate refugees from the massive flooding of the River Murray basin
Sometimes we all have sacrifices to make for the greater good.

Allan from down under.

Super Bummer! Thanks for the phone call Bill. I know it is completely out of your control. Looking forward to next year.

Thanks Bill for all your efforts to make this happen. Things beyond anyone’s control happened. Rest assured that as for myself and everyone I know in the hobby you have our one hundred percent support in your efforts to keep the premier west coast prewar swap meet alive.

Sorry to hear that Bill. Thank you for doing your best.

Regards,
Eric

Bummer….

Will they be sending out refunds to us?

Hopefully we can get something else going soon in the area!

Thanks for everything Bill, we know you worked hard on this!

Sorry to hear of the cancellation. I was looking forward to getting out of town. Looks like Auburn in June.


Andy

Well shoot not the word I used but this is family forum
Working on rides for all deliveries there
See yall at the next gathering
Bill thanks again for the efforts but mother nature is the boss
For those who asked AG center has closed its facility
And doesn't want water sogged ground torn up at least that was the reasoning for engine tractor show

Wow - not one word of sympathy for the folks who will be in the facility because their homes were destroyed.

Having been evacuated for a few days because of a brush fire a few years ago, I can symphasize with those people. However we could come home after 3 days and found everything intact. Unfortunately the Tulare dry lake is now a lake. It might be flooded for a long time.
Norm

CudaMan wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 03, 2023 9:13 pm

Wow - not one word of sympathy for the folks who will be in the facility because their homes were destroyed.

One of my first thoughts as well!

Bill B, I am sure you have a lot of time and effort, and more than a little personal expense in this as well. I am certain your losses will be greater than most of the people's planning on attending.

Stuff happens. This is way beyond your or our control. It will hurt, but for us it will be a minor inconvenience sort of hurt. Hopefully, all of us will still be here next year, and we can all move on and enjoy it then.

Being only a couple hundred miles from the affected area, it has been dominating our local news for awhile. I feared the meet would be cancelled near the last minute due to the evacuations. I wished I was wrong.

A year and a half ago, and again two months ago, our Grass Valley area has been hit with record breaking snowfalls wreaking havoc on many in the local community. We ourselves have been fine, with only significant inconveniences. No serious problems for us. But a lot of areas around us did require evacuations! Some people had to be out of their homes for weeks!
Such evacuations are messy, and demand a great deal of attention and effort! Even if the Ag Center might be available? The last thing the people in that county need is a few hundred extra carloads of people and junk invading, filling restaurants and motels etc.

So, sadly, till next year!
And I am looking forward to Auburn!

While we are all disappointed, we must not lose sight of the hundreds of families that will be displaced and have their livelihood disrupted. We could only hope this act of mother nature is only brief. I'm told both the Ag center and the fairgrounds are being used for the relocation efforts. Kudos to Bill Bennett for putting this swap meet together for our benefit. He has done a yeomen's job putting this all together, and equally good job of notifying us quickly, he just got the news and has it out to notify most everyone of the cancelation.

KUDOS TO MR BENNETT!!!!!!!!

just sayin'
frontyboy

Sorry Bill for all your hard work to go down the drain. I hope the flood refugees get back on their feet soon!
I plan to come to the swap meet next year.
: ^ )

Keith

Thank you all for all the kind words. We're all hoping for the best with the current and expected additional flooding as the snow begins to melt. Some of those folks have literally lost everything in this tragedy. It really puts everything into perspective. Dena and I are going to work on a fantastic event for 2024. In the mean time, Erik Barrett and Michael Paul have a great idea. Check the calendar and look at the Auburn Swap Meet in June. I'm going to start a new thread about that idea. With Kind Regards, Bill Bennett

I spoke with the fairgrounds office yesterday; they will be sending a letter to each one of the people who registered as a seller and, if they paid by check, returning the checks. Credit card payments will go back to the original card.

It’s nice to see that there is no selling on vendor set up day. Makes it a fair playing field for all the buyers that travel in some cases long distances to get there.

Today would have been the first day for the Tulare meet. Oh well, I've just about got my car ready for the tour on Monday.

Larry, you and me both. A little more polishing and I'm ready!

Larry and Ed- car is ready to go in the trailer. See you guys there!! It is what it is- take what you can get eh?