Quote:
Originally posted by Geoff Winnington-Ball
Richard, I believe you've covered all the salient points to be made:
-- Mr. Adam's Airport concept is designed to work in conjunction with, not in competition with the regular Corowa Show.
These are NOT separate events, they are two parts of the Whole. Done together, this will indeed be a truly memorable Year.
Let us bring the [apparent] two camps together to become two unique elements of one unique event.
Geoff
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A little historical perspective on the Corowa Experience might explain why there seems to be two colliding viewpoints on this matter at hand.
Corowa originally kicked off 27 years ago as a weekend get-together by a few (something like 4?) GPA Amphib Jeep owners from different states as a central point at which to compare vehicles, share expertise, and get the Seeps in the water. In the days before the internet, it was a way to network with others from around Aust with others of a shared interest. It was a sucess, and they agreed to make it an Annual get-together. As time went on other MV owners, both of GPAs and other vehicles, swelled the numbers to make it THE biggest social gathering of MV owners in the Eastern States. Note I didn't call it an Event. Although most of the State-based clubs listed it on their club calendars as a requirement for movement of conditional registered vehicles, the clubs had little involvement in organising anything other than perhaps convoy arrangements to get there. Once there it was pretty much socialising and networking, with anything else more structured being done on the spot in an Ad Hoc manner. With other major events occuring, like the 1995 re-enactment of the convoys to Alice Springs for the 50 year anniversary of WW2, Australia Remembers, more friendships were formed, which continued to swell the number of Corowa attendees.
By 1999, people began to realise that some fairly rare vehicles were congregating here, and that SURELY that had to be a record. As a result, to gain recognition for the Guiness Book of Records for the Most GPAs, some "organising" had to be done. Liasing with Guiness, negotiating with the Ball Park Owners, the Local Council, and registering the GPA Owners details. This was done voluntarily by people who stepped up to the thankless, unpaid task. GOOD ON THEM. For those without a GPA, Corowa remained a great social get-together and a chance to catch up with mates from around Australia and have a spin in the vehicles.
Following the sucessful GPA record attempt, other vehicle owners have thought it would be good to have a crack at other records. The theme years for Blitz, Studebaker, Carriers, Dodge, Armoured Car, Staff Car and Bike have all proven to be popular, with the result that numbers of both attendees and vehicles have grown to unprecedented levels. Each year, the increase in numbers has required more and more organisation and co-ordination.
This is where we start to fray at the seams. Has Corowa grown too much to retain the original flavour of a low-key social gathering where people manage their own activities? Has it now become an Event (with a capital E!) that needs to be choreagraphed from Go to Whoa? If the centre of attractions is somewhere other than the Ball Park Caravan Park, then where exactly is "Corowa" happening? Has Corowa become the Theme, or is it still the socialising with mates by the river?
Geoff, you say that basing the tracked vehicles at the Airport is intended to be complementary to what is going on at the Caravan Park, but by it's very nature it is quite divisive and literally splitting Corowa into "Two Camps". I KNOW that having the Tracked vehicles away from the Caravan Park is just plain common sense and fully understand that people will want to remain camped close to their tracked vehicles, but many people see this as splitting everyone into the "Ballpark crowd" or the "Airport crowd". And people will resent that.
I personally feel that the "Theme years" and Guiness Record attempts, while entertaining to attend, have been detrimental to the flavour of Corowa Week. They are a great idea, but ought to separated from Corowa both geographically and seasonally (Ganmain 08, Year of the Blitz?), or perhaps reduced to every 3 or 4 years. It has grown to a point that it now exceeds the capacity of the venue. Do we pack it all up and move to a new, larger venue, or do we rein it in to keep it much as it always has been?
I respect completely both what Keith Adam AND the KVE Committee (and Ian!) are trying to do and would very much like to see this sorted out.
