Bob, thanks for your feedback. Just a quick one though. If by locals you mean the people from Corowa itself, there were many more that attended this year than ever before. The cars parked at the Airfield entry were lined up over 200 metres either side of the gate. (I don't mean entrants either).
Who ever said that the Airport was a poor location seems to go against the immense returns I have had that the Swap Meet was actually larger than ever before. According to the Rotary Club, there were almost 40 stall holders in total. Pretty good numbers I think. A lot of new faces & a wider variety of stalls too, including videos, books, models etc.
The swap meet lasted longer also, with many people still trading up to 3:00 PM.
I will agree that the lack of shade is the main problem that has been forwarded to me plus the heat. This point seems the main issue with your request. If people know that the swap meet will be held there again, bring a folding shelter, gazebo or beach umbrella. The heat encountered this year was unseasonally hot to start with. It was 41 degrees that day. I can fully accept and agree that the lack of shade was an issue. Trust me, I was out in it.........
Like every other year there was an enormous amount of trading and selling prior to the swap meet. You of all people would accept that anyway. Another draw back was that the Rotary Club who were running the Swap meet allowed trading to start before the agreed time. This is an issue I have addressed with them and WILL NOT happen in the future.
For those who are wondering about why Rotary are running the Swap Meet & not KVE, it is to do with legal issues and Public Liability insurance. (If you want more details send me a PM).
This year was a first to run it out at the airport. To be honest, the swap meet has never been held at the Van Park. It has always been Bangarang Park which is the Rotary Park located near the rear entrance to the Van Park for those who have never been there.
The members and committee have discussed the location of the Swap Meet during a meeting and with the positive feedback given to ALL committee members it has been decided to run it at the Airport again next year.
Yes, I hope that the temp is not quite as extreme, but utilising the Airport for the swap meet in addition to the photo shoot made for a better event overall which is what we are aiming at. The swap meet is just one piece of the puzzle that we have to slot together to get a better overall event that is "Corowa".
There are a few things in place already to help with running the day smoother. Bear with us. We as a committee have been doing this for 4 months only so far. Be gentle with us... We have learnt from this year and are putting processes in line to make next year even bigger and better.
There will be changes again that will become evident shortly to the parade. This is nothing that the committee takes lightly. We understand that some people may resist change and that to make this event develop at the rate it deserves there has to be changes. These will be publicised when we confirm what the local council are doing to the roadway in, around and near the parade start point. Suffice to say that the current start point and Van Park entry way may not even exist next year. Councils do this sort of thing to their roads sometimes.
Hence the committee have already been proactive in finding an alternative early to alleviate any last minute disasters that will occur when everyone arrives there next March. What with 200 expected vehicles, it will be rather large to say the least.
I suppose what I am saying Bob is that it was a trial that has been given a green light to us as a committee from the members and general public. Thanks for your feedback though.
One last point that I will mention too is that if anyone has any points etc that they wish the committee to know, Jan has raised a new thread that will encompass next year. For your information, the 08 event had just over 13,000 hits on MLU and over 350 replies in all threads. With 11 months to go, it will be interesting to see how the 09 event tallies.
CHEERS IAN
