[SEL] Dogs on show grounds (OT?)now fences...again.

[Curt]

Kerry wrote:

> While I am in the writing mood, I had a great time at Naracoorte, was 
> a good rally but I was totally pissed off to start with, after driving 
> 1400 km I arrived at 6.00 pm Thursday night still with several hours 
> of light, I made sure I was there Thursday as Friday was a run day for 
> school kids, no problem just drove longer ot get there.
> Got to the gate to be told by some club official "Your too late come 
> back tomorrow" what about unloading my engines first I said, I told 
> you come back tommorow he said, no reason was given, as I departed I 
> told him my bloody engines will stay in the trailer for the weekend, 
> he just schrugged his shoulders.
> Arriving Friday morning to unload I was told by some other club 
> official " you have half an hour to unload then get your car and 
> trailer into the car park.
> I cannot believe the way some club officials carry on, it will be the 
> last National I will take engines to as I dont need all the crap and 
> importance clubs dish out to us that bring engines

Kerry,
I have to admit I was a little taken back when we were turned away at 
6:00 in the evening after the long drive. You may have been "totally 
pissed off" but we couldn't tell it. Your Aussie elegance prevailed!
I never heard a good explanation as to why the ralley grounds were 
closed so early (or why they were closed at all for that matter). In the 
states I only know of one show (Denton Farm Park) that closes the gates 
in the evening. All the other shows we can expect to arrive late in the 
evening and set up our stuff and camp for the night. Many of our shows 
are Saturday only events. By having an open policy this permits one to 
work until the normal time on Friday afternoon, come home, hook up the 
trailer, and head to the ralley grounds. It is convenient to camp out 
and this lets us sleep in a bit on Saturday morning at the grounds. I 
imagine the closed gate policy at Naracoorte really impacted the local 
folks bringing large numbers of engines in late.
Does anyone really know why the closed grounds policy exists at all? 
They had security officers there. If there is a theft concern, by simply 
saying unloading is acceptable but loading is not, this should solve the 
concern. Has there ever been a theft at a National ralley? It is hard to 
imagine there would be a theft problem. If an individual was caught, he 
would be blackballed from the hobby forever by his peers.
I believe it would be appropriate to gather all these comments from the 
SEL and send them to both the organizers of the Naracoorte ralley and 
the next ralley in Queensland. I had an issue with the Denton Farm park 
show a few years ago and the SEL was a great sounding board. I made 
copies of the SEL comments and included those with the letter I sent 
them. The combination was effective enough to change a policy. I don't 
attend Denton anymore but I was pleased to get at least one of the silly 
policies changed. The Denton show is the one show in the states that has 
invoked so many rules and regulations that there is no enjoyment for us 
in attending. If you, the attendees of your Nationals, present your 
concerns in advance of the next National, you will have a reasonable 
chance of turning things around into a ralley you will pleased to attend.
Curt Holland
Gastonia, NC