In a year with so few Car Shows and Jaguar Concours in North America, we had one of our best Concours ever. When things were going bad in the Spring and Summer, we rallied through and it all worked out for the best. We were only the second JCNA Concours in North America. Our date moved around until we felt it was safe to continue with the plans to bring a group of people and cars together. There was a pent-up demand for a good car show and we delivered.
Our Welcoming Party at the Springhill Suites Hotel was very successful. Our out of town guests definitely felt welcomed with the nice meal. Quite a few Club members stopped in for the evening, bringing some tasty treats for all to share.
To bring some new energy and variation into our event, we tried to invite all the British Car Clubs. I missed a few but we still had a good showing. We had 27 cars in the British Showcase plus the 40 Jaguars on the field for our Concours. With so few Jaguar Concours, we had several visitors from other Clubs who wanted to show their cars. Unfortunately, our Canadian friends couldn't get across the border to join us. A hiccup that worked out for the best is that Canterbury Village was double-booked with the Cobra and Viper Clubs. They brought another 40 very colorful and showy cars. Overall there were about 110 cars in Canterbury Village. There was something for everyone. I think everyone really enjoyed looking at the variety of cars on display. The Jaguars were centralized in the Village, almost all in sight of each other. We had a good collection of 12 E-Types, a bit above the usual.
2021 is the 60th anniversary of the first E-Type. Let's see if we can make a really big E-Type showing next year. All the Jaguars are beautiful cars. They all showed well on the grass, under trees The JAGM BOD should be congratulated for all putting their cars in a judged class and they all got some pretty good scores for their efforts. In a year of COVID, things were a bit different. People were wearing masks and acting responsibly. Yates Cider Mill still had great coffee, donuts, and ice cream. The Pub food service was taken out to the picnic tables. An outdoor wedding reception was set up on the Pub Patio. I think we had more fun. We didn't have a Hospitality Tent because it got destroyed in a wind storm. It turns out that we didn't need it. The weather was great, cool in the morning and very comfortable most of the day.
We have a great group of people that can be counted on to make the event a success. Tom Bailey and his Judges completed all the cars in just a couple of hours or so. Tom will be handing over the Chief Judge reins to Dave Wathen for next year. Louise Diamond and Judy Hudak handled the scoring with smiles on their faces. Jeff Kosko’s parking team kept moving, finding a home for anything that came through the gate. We didn't know who or what was going to show up until they were there. Gate registration was handled very smoothly by Pauline Blunt, Lauren Ruiter, Adam, and Sue Gucfa. Johnine Bailey womaned our little Hospitality tent. We didn't know what issues might come up. I didn't hear of any so they must have been covered. Tommy Bailey was a real hero, running all day doing this and that, setting up, running score sheets, taking things down, and a lot in between.
Canterbury Village is a great place to hold a car show and easy to work with. They have all the needed facilities. Everyone had a good time and plan to return next year. We skipped the indoor formal banquet for an informal early Pub outside dinner. No one minded and also didn't mind leaving earlier than usual. Looking forward to next year, I expect the British Showcase will double in size. The Cobra's and Vipers could be there. We should have more E-Types with a lot of other beautiful Jaguar vehicles. Is there anything that you would like to see at next year's Jaguar Concours and British Showcase?
Bob Matejek, 2020 Concours Chairman
From the Bench:
First, I would like to thank all those who took the time and effort to prepare and present their Jaguars at our Concours, and for those entrants who traveled from out of state. Second¸ thank you to our certified Concours judges: Bob Stevenson, Tim Moore, Pauline Blunt, Bob Matejek, Bob Klemmer, Rod Lindoo, Bob Sawyer, Chuck Diamond, Dave Wathen, Marco Sperduti, Don Swanson, and Wayne Schultz; and our out-of-state judges John Boswell, Dave Morgan, and Mike Meyers, who did a splendid job filling in where we needed them.
Over this past year, our judges participated in the JCNA-required certification test, judging material review, and practice car evaluation. For those of you not familiar with this process, a lot of this reading automatically triggers the organ that secretes eye-glaze juice. Third, my thanks to our scoring team, Louise Diamond and Judy Hudak, and our runners, T.J. Bailey and Pat Matejek, and special thanks to our Concours Chairman, Bob Matejek and his crew, who all put in herculean efforts to make this Concours such a success. After nine years serving as your Chief Judge, David Wathen has stepped up to take over this role in 2021. I'd like to thank all of you who have contributed to my enjoyment of this process.
Best Wishes, Tom Bailey, Chief Judge (Retired)
Click on the slide-show below to view the pictures.