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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / National Meets

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Posted By Discussion Topic: National Meets     daoust 08-04-2026 @ 10:54 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 85 Joined: Aug 2011 I've been a member since 2011. It seems to me there used to be an Eastern Central and Western National meet each year. I only see an Eastern Meet coming up. Are there any plans for a Central or Western in 2027 or after? I got my first Dearborn at Gettysburg some years ago and would like to try for a second one at some point. Is there anything on the horizon? Currently living in Nebraska. David Daoust efv8CofAAdmin 08-04-2026 @ 2:59 PM reply profile send p.m. Administrator Posts: 491 Joined: Feb 2016 David, You are correct. There used to be a Eastern, Central and Western National Meet. Why there is not, is because no Regional Groups have volunteered their time and effort to host/sponsor one. That's not saying that there won't be more National Meets, it's just saying that no bids have been submitted. Web Administrator daoust 08-11-2026 @ 7:51 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 85 Joined: Aug 2011 So is it safe to say that with many fewer Regional National Meets, there will be fewer Dearborn Awards? Is there any other way to earn a Dearborn without attending a National Meet? David Daoust Kens 36 08-11-2026 @ 11:10 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 426 Joined: Oct 2009 David, Technically, they are all called National Meets - not regional. As noted above, historically there were up three per year in the Eastern, Central, and Western parts of the country. Nearly all of these meets were run by regional groups. (Only two that I remember were run by the national club - 2012 CNM in Branson and 2016 WNM in Bakersfield.) The Grand National Meet is held every five years (ending in 03 and 08) and is nearly always run by the national club. Judging is only done at national meets, so you are correct - that is the only way to earn a Dearborn Award. There have been 17 national meets since you won your Dearborn - I'm sorry that you were not able to have your car judged for the second time at any of them. There is an Eastern National Meet scheduled for next June in Williamsburg, Virgina - maybe you can make that one. There will be a Grand National Meet somewhere in 2028. Attendance at national meets has fallen sharply in recent years. They are also getting very expensive to host and regional groups are getting smaller and losing the people who had experience in hosting. My regional group had a very successful meet in Springfield, Illinois last year, but attendance was much lower than we expected, creating some financial distress for us. There are those who wish that the national club would host all meets. That is extremely difficult though because there are only 11 board members and getting them all to attend and support the meet would be unlikely. We were fortunate in Springfield because we had over 40 volunteers from our group supporting the meet, plus a few from other groups. You really need a lot of boots on the ground. If we cannot get more groups to step up and support national meets, then yes, there will be very few. Sadly. Ken ford38v8 08-13-2026 @ 4:39 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 2923 Joined: Oct 2009 Ken, Your explanation goes deeper than any I've heard till now, but as a member since 1990 and a former National Board member 1995-'97, I've heard these same sentiments many times. I will add my thoughts to the discussion with a generalization of ideas on the hobby itself. First, and we've all heard this one, the old-timers that grew up with these cars are almost gone, including myself. Everyone is tired of hearing that, but that reason goes deeper... We were mostly from middle class families, no extra spending money, just getting by. Our cars needed fixing, and we jumped in and got our fingernails greasy. Our tutors were junkyard operators, our big brothers, and high school auto shops. Everyone worked on their own cars. We had no fear in dismantling any car in our possession, because we had no choice, fix it or it became yard art. Hobbyists today are more affluent than we were, the cars they grew up with are more complicated than ours were, and were maintained by opening wallets rather than opening tool boxes. The new hobbyists haven't got a snowball's chance in h*ll to learn the way we learned, engine oil is changed by specialized shops, call AAA to change a tire, or tow it to a dealer. A fender bender is the end of the road for most newer cars today, no such thing as a junk yard anymore, and nobody works on their own cars anyway. Bottom line, us older hobbyists got our kicks outta building something that didn't run when we got it, and we put it through it's paces not only as a daily driver / weekend road warrior, but also in cruising this nation's roads to and from EFV8CA National Meets. Today's hobbyists are happy to make it to a show-and-shine and back home without a problem. Our cars have become pieces of art, no longer seen at Mel's Drive-In, but rather, during a Sunday afternoon garage tour. Our day has passed, our club will not regain it's former glory in membership numbers, ...But all is not gloom and doom, the pride of ownership of a Dearborn car is and always will be something very special to those who own such a car, and in these later years, the recognition of survivors holding a Rouge award are in my view, as great as a Dearborn award. Alan carcrazy 08-13-2026 @ 5:13 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 2134 Joined: Oct 2009 If we want to increase the number of members in our EFV-8 Club, it might be time to include later Ford V-8 powered automobiles. We could start by including Fords powered by Y-Blocks (1954-1962 cars and 1964 trucks). I think that some of the EFV-8 Club Regional Groups in Australia and/or other international areas already welcome fans of these later models into their ranks. nelsb01 08-13-2026 @ 8:37 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1138 Joined: Oct 2009 Nicely said Alan. Note to those that think expanding years will solve the membership problem. Thirty years ago, or more, those with later model Fords were looking for a place to show their vehicles. There now are organizations for those vehicles and there is not a group out there that needs to join us, when they already have an organization for their needs. trjford8 08-15-2026 @ 9:18 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 4403 Joined: Oct 2009 I think that carcrazy brings forth something to consider. Even though there are other groups that represent the later Ford cars, maybe the V-8 Club should look at inviting some of these groups to our regional or national meets or national tours. It will not only increase attendance, but maybe get them interested in our old Fords. Meets/Tours take people with energy to get the job done. The later cars attract a younger crowd who have the energy and probably new ideas. In order for this club to survive we need an "infusion of new blood". In the end we are all car people who love old Ford cars or trucks. This message was edited by trjford8 on 8-15-26 @ 9:21 AM

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