Although some of the critical comments were deleted (I'm an Admin but didn't, nor would I have deleted them. I just would have moved them into a new topic) before I could comment, I wanted to share just a few things about the show for clarification.
Keep in mind that we have a contract with the York Expo Center that is 30 pages thick.
Food and Water. If it was up to us, we would have free water stations located all around the show field and vendors areas. However, our contract states that we cannot give away any drinks free (water or otherwise), unless it is an emergency, heat exhaustion, etc. If we bring water into the show for our Volunteers it has to be the "Official Water" of the Expo Center. I think it's Dasani, I don't remember. As for food, Brickers Fries is the sole vendor for food and drinks at the Expo Center. The only say that we have is how many food vendors we have and where they are put. I personally would rather have pit beef stands, seafood stands, etc. but our hands are tied on this. The reasons why the food vendors were moved to the outside of the track was because 1. to make room for more vendor space and 2. the parts vendors across the aisle from them had complained about the greasy smoke drifting through their tents all weekend.
ATM. We requested a portable ATM be put inside the Vendor area for easier access and were denied by the "Official Bank" of the Expo Center.
Why we don't have it in the spring or fall. That's easy. Rain, Rain, Rain... You have no idea how much it cost to put on this show. Guaranteed it's a lot more then you think. If it would rain even the week of the show (not even during the show) we could not get the dirt needed to build the "Obstacle Course" It would be way too soft to get the Bulldozer and Dump trucks into the place where we pick up from(Briarwood Golf).
The vendors spend a lot of money to get here and set up. Rain kills the Spectator gate which kills potential sales, etc, etc. It's the old snow ball effect. It would be impossible to have a rain date because of all the scheduling and reservations that are made. Hot and sunny is better then cold and rainy, at least in this case.
First Aid. We keep first aid kits at the PA Jeeps Stage. Many of our members/volunteers at the show are trained in first aid and CPR. The PA Jeeps pay for some or all of their training every year. (A perk of being a member) I believe there is a fire station two blocks from the Expo Center in case there was something more pressing. Usually we get a few cut and scratches, mostly from the kids falling down and stuff. No Heat exhaustion this year. Suprise, Suprise.
Raffle. It is what it is. It always takes a long time. We give away a lot of stuff. I guess we could cut back on the number of raffle items we give away to speed things up. Yeah, that's what we'll do... as for me having 3 conversations at one time, that's easy, I have 7 different personalities, I can handle it.
Stage. It was our first time up there. Things will run much smoother next year with set up, placement, parade of Jeeps etc...if there is a next year.
Announcer. Worst year he ever had. We are trying to get him replaced with Billy Crystal or Chris Rock!!!!
I hope this answered some of your questions.... W.
