The 32nd Annual Swap at Hershey was proud to offer sunshine this year. For the first time in many years we had no rain. Many volunteers that help with the event each year, at 5:30am, were in awe, as was myself that we were standing on the parking lots of Hershey with no rain. A few volunteers even had shorts on. Amazing!

With good organization and a host of volunteers, we opened the vendor gates early at 6:15am. A short line of vendors, mostly non-registered, started to file into the swap. With over 85% of our vendors now pre-registered, the mad rush of entry that we once had is now a slower pace of vendors arriving and parking in their space. I must say, many of our vendors have finally memorized the process and help make the load-in process run much smoother.

As the sun started to rise, the traffic started to increase. A blend of vendors and Porsche cars entered the swap and the shopping, looking, bartering started. The amount of vendors taking only one-space was the highest we have seen in years. Perhaps the tight economy or the need to clean out the garage and basement finally took hold.

The new location this year had a few challenges during set-up on Friday and a few glitches on Saturday, but the overall opinion from shopper and vendors was they liked the new location. The lots as a whole are similar, but the layout of the lots is different. Working with the car corral and the concours was challenging and will be re-worked for 2009. The best part of the new location is we are on our own. We no longer compete with the park guests or stadium events, yet have a super location on the grounds of Hershey & Giant Center.

As I made my rounds throughout the day, the traffic count was very similar to last year. The car corral and the concours were on a similar pace to last year. The vendors were strong with a flip to many hard core parts and less accessories. It is amazing to me how each year the content of the vendors swings. One year there is a super selection of hard core parts, then accessories, then sheet metal. The same can be said for the model selection. One year might be strong in the older cars starting with the 356, then Carrera era, and other years into the water cooled generation. This wide variety and selection of parts / model years is what makes this event so unique.

If you are into Porsche, you have to make the journey, check out the vendors, and of course talk with your buddies. The relationships among the vendors and shoppers is huge! I'm told each year one of the major reasons people attend the event is to get together with their friends, face to face, and talk. The swap once again raised money for Celebration 4 Life with the concours and the orange wagons running around offering to move parts from the vendors to the buyer's cars. The 968 Caravan arrived with a nice gathering of cars and people, as they enjoyed a picnic in the Porsche Only Parking area.

Lastly and the most important, I want to thank the volunteers!

I was talking with Rick Geiner a few days out from the swap. We had 55 volunteers.

You think about that number. 55 members volunteering their time to help the club with this event. How strong is that? I can remember over 15 years ago at Ski Roundtop, I was lucky to have 10-12 volunteers. And the shifts? Real simple. All-day.

Now we have over 50 people helping out, many of you each year, making this event run ever so smoothly and have earned great respect from the Porsche visitors and Porsche Regions.

Great job!

Once again, thank you to all the folks that volunteered on Friday for set-up and Saturday for giving up your time and making the Porsche Swap Meet what is is: the Best Porsche Only Swap Meet in the World!