As I told a few clients this past week, “On Wednesday and Saturday I’ll be outstanding in my fields. Truly, I’m out standing in my fields”-which are the various show and flea market fields at the Hershey Antique Car Show, the largest of its kind in the world. It’s overwhelming: over six football fields’ worth of cars and parts for sale, with vendors and customers from around the world. I find that I can walk most of the flea market fields in one day, going from 9AM to 4PM with almost no breaks. For some reason, there are scads of Swedes at this event, and they seem to have a thing for ’58 Buicks. Go figure. Best of all, my ’57 Dodge made it to the show, intact and running well.

It was a year of transition. My good friend RH had to miss the Hershey show for the first time in fifty years, due to what will likely be a terminal illness. We’ve walked Hershey and other car shows together for more than twenty years-so his absence was all the more heart-rending. Conversely, I made a new friend at Hershey-PR, an 18 year old guy who’s studying auto restoration at a special college program. He hopes to get his associate degree in auto restoration, then completing a BA in business administration, with the ultimate goal of running his family’s auto restoration business. RH sought me out when he saw me shooting film with a 1964 Bronica S2 (RH was using a Yashica D, a 1957 roll film camera.) And yes, he also processes his own film.

Enjoy life, with all its transitions.

 

Best wishes,
Jim Shulman

 

PS: One last tip: if you’re planning a trip to Hershey, be sure to avoid the Starlite Motel in Middletown. Imagine the Bates Motel, with nominal maintenance since the 1960 movie, and that’s Starlite. Even the room key-a real metal key-was attached to a diamond-shaped “Drop in Any Mailbox, No Postage Required” fob. (We had Cabin 2; Janet Leigh was probably next door in Cabin 1.) Stained sheets and spiders included at no additional charge. Little wonder that I’ve been told this will be my last bottom-fishing fee search on Expedia!