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Hoppin’ Good Time
VWCA takes a turn off the beaten path and finds a new way to celebrate its annual event

By Tom Janiszewski

Back in the heyday of the original Beetle, VW rarely made any drastic changes to the car for the sake of change. The same could be said about the Volkswagen Club of America’s convention. Since the club formed in 1955, the convention has been this club’s largest national event, where VW nuts get together, catch up with old friends, share stories from the road (or under the car for the more mechanically inclined) and just plain have fun.

While the goals of the event have gone unchanged, the its formula has been tweaked to keep it fresh and in step with the state of the hobby. The 52nd annual convention held on Aug. 18-19 brought with it a few changes to do just that.

The absence of a VWCA host chapter was the biggest change. The idea was to pick a place the event hadn’t been to before to offer members something different: in this case the rich automotive history of Auburn, Ind., where Auburns, Cords and Duesenbergs (to name a few) were built.

To keep a VW touch to the event, serendipity stepped in when we discovered that the Old Fort VW Club, based in nearby Fort Wayne, was planning its seventh annual Car Show & Swap Meet on the weekends we were considering for convention. The club welcomed us with open arms.

To simplify the planning process, a dessert party in lieu of a banquet dinner was planned to help keep the participation cost as low as possible. The result? A fun weekend filled with friends and a lot of cars we hadn’t seen before in a city few of us had ever visited!

Auburn’s automotive history is the theme of the Best Western Auburn Inn’s lobby decor, and because the hotel specializes in welcoming car clubs, we felt right at home. VWCA members sat up until the wee hours in the comfy lounge area of the lobby watching friends roll in for the weekend.

After breakfast at the hotel, we made our way to Fort Wayne’s beautiful Shoaff Park for the Old Fort VW Club’s event.

One of the great things about going to a particular show for the first time is seeing what other clubs do at their events. As car show participants entered the show field, the club had each driver pull his or her car up to a photo stand where a club photographer snapped a picture. From there, drivers were directed to their parking spot in the field.

The show’s nearly 100 cars offered a variety of models, most of which VWCA members hadn’t seen before.

Shell and Lynida Tomlin set up the VWCA booth in the heart of the show’s swap meet, which turned out to be a great place for club members to hang out and visit. Several VWCA members who couldn’t be in town all weekend made a day trip and caught up with other members. Because this was the first time the VWCA attended this show, many VW fans who unfamiliar with our club stopped by to see what we’re all about. The Tomlins and well as Greg Boltz and Chandra Janiszewski worked hard throughout the day handing out back issues of the Autoist and selling items from the Club Store.

Trophies were handed out based on judging by select members of the Old Fort club. An interesting twist was that awards only went to nonmember cars — a great way to make your guests feel special! Shell Tomlin took home one of the cool handmade trophies made with chrome Beetle tailpipes. Folks who didn’t win a trophy didn’t go home empty-handed. All entrants were given a print of the photo taken of their cars on their way in.

The photo was mounted in a thoughtful card bearing the club’s logo and the event date, an excellent souvenir!

After the show, convention folks were on their own for dinner. Later, dessert was served as we met for a casual party before the club’s two meetings.

As at every convention, all members are encouraged to attend the membership meeting, where folks can offer their ideas to help make our club better.

Due to the different format, time was spent talking about how the weekend went. Our 2008 calendar of events was discussed, and it was announced that our newest local chapter in Wisconsin — the Volkswagen Club of Sheboygan — will be our hosts for the ’08 convention!

A highlight of the evening was the awards presentation, where this year’s winners of the Wolfsburg Trophy, the John and Jean Eberle Newsletter Award and the Woodbury Dunn Safety Award were presented. The Northeast Illinois Volkswagen Association won the Wolfsburg Trophy as the most active local chapter, as well as the John and Jean Eberle Newsletter Award. The Badger Beetles Auto Fun Club won the Woodbury Dunn Safety Award for its efforts in promoting safe driving.

Jack Lyman also awarded the National Car Show awards to the VWCA members who received the most points by entering and winning in VWCA-sponsored car shows.

Sunday provided the opportunity to check out the local attractions. Most spent the day at one of the area’s three major auto museums — the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum, the National Automotive & Truck Museum or the Kruse Automotive & Carriage Museum. At least 10 different brands of automobiles have been built in Auburn, so it’s no surprise that some of the best auto museums in the country are in Auburn.

Folks who chose to visit the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum were treated to a glimpse at some of the most elegant cars to roll off an American assembly line. Housed inside the handsome art deco Auburn-Cord headquarters building, the museum is home to a massive collection of cars that rolled out of the neighboring factory buildings. A Cord once owned by architect Frank Lloyd Wright was on display alongside many other vehicles of other brands that helped illustrate the automotive scene between 1925 and 1937.

The National Automotive & Truck Museum next door is housed in the last remaining Auburn-Cord assembly hall. Variety is the theme of this museum, where folks could see everything from the Ford GT-40 prototype to massive International semi-trucks. The museum had a large collection of toy trucks, and sharp VWCA members even spotted a VW toy here and there!

The Kruse Automotive & Carriage Museum featured many famous cars, including the Batmobile from the recent Batman films as well as Howard Hughes’ Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost. Race fans got to take a peek at an extensive collection of Indy cars and memorabilia. Carl Casper — a legendary custom car designer — has his personal car collection housed at the Kruse Museum.

Many thanks go to Greg and Barb Boltz as well as Shell and Lynida Tomlin, who all worked hard to help make this convention a success. While the format was a little different, everyone had a great time. The format offered something new to the event, while still attracting many familiar faces. However, we’re not stopping local chapters from hosting the event! The folks in the Volkswagen Club of Sheboygan are an energetic group that has established within just a couple of years a VW show that’s one of the best. Don’t believe me? You’ll get to see it for yourself at the 2008 convention!