August 20, 2011 — I hadn't been to the Laconia Nationals since 2008 when it was held at Gunstock Ski Area in Laconia, New Hampshire. I thought it had become dominated by street rods and custom jobs, not my area of interest. I decided to give it another look this year. It's now held at the Sandwich Fairgrounds in Sandwich. I was disappointed. The show is now almost exclusively rods and customs with few exceptions, and the Fairgrounds are not as good a venue as Gunstock. On a hot day, there was almost no place to escape from the sun. Even places to sit were scarce. At Gunstock, you had the ski lodge with indoor plumbing and plenty of tables.
However, I was there, so I decided to make the most of it. Even though I'm a purist who loves brass era cars and cars through the fifties, either all original or restored to original, I have to admit customizing is an art unto itself. Much devotion, time and money goes into these cars, and many are indeed beautiful, featuring brilliant colors, quirky redesigns and humorous creativity. So I shot a relatively small series of 40 photos, my nod to the customizers' art, with a couple of classics thrown in.
In the afternoon, a barbecue was planned at Hesky Park in Meredith, a half hour drive away, at 4 p.m. and a parade of cars through Meredith at 6:30. It was only 1 p.m. when I left the Fairgrounds, because there was simply nothing more to see, and headed for Meredith. The barbecue was already underway at 1:30 under a tent in Hesky Park. I wasn't ready to eat at that time so I wandered around the area for awhile, but it was very hot and there was just too much time to kill, so at about 3 p.m. I left for home.
My photos and one video taken at the Fairgrounds can be viewed at this link:
http://www.linwoodstreet.com/nationals/
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