A year ago, after I came back from the 2019 Mustang Club of America (MCA) Regional Director’s Summit in Las Vegas, I presented at a monthly Mustangs Northwest meeting the latest news and updates from that weekend of MCA meetings. One of the topics was a list of future MCA shows. I listed all of the known scheduled MCA judged shows going into 2022. But since the Coronavirus outbreak this past Spring, virtually every one of those shows have been cancelled. First, the Tucson, AZ show, originally scheduled for March 26-29, was moved to October 8-11, obviously in hopes that the virus situation would be much more favorable for public gatherings, such as a car show. In the meantime, other MCA shows during the summer were cancelled, one by one, until the Tucson show was finally called off just two weeks before it was scheduled to take place. Sadly, 2020 will go down as the year without any MCA shows.

One of the shows that we (on the West coast) were really beginning to look forward to was the Suisun City, CA show in summer 2021. Unfortunately, this show has also been cancelled. Hopefully it will be rescheduled. Suisun City is between San Francisco and Sacramento, and is a super easy drive from Washington, since it is almost all I-5.

Currently, there are two MCA judged shows that remain scheduled for 2021. The National Show in Kansas City will be on July 23-25, 2021, as well as the Grand National show in Mustang, OK on September 3-5, 2021.

MCA has been working on keeping the faith in our hobby, encouraging people to continue working on their project cars. They are also reviewing judging sheets for accuracy and updates, profiled in the Mustang Times many club member cars from across the country, published various tech articles, and most recently held an online election for the upcoming Board and Officers. Here are the election results, hot off the press: President will be Steve Prewitt, Vice President will be Jim Keenan, Secretary will be Laurie Slawson, Treasurer will be Linda Blackstock, and the past President is Jeff Mays. These positions are two-year terms. MCA decided recently to lengthen the terms to provide more stability and continuity for the club and to lessen the transition slowdowns of bringing on new members every year.

I need to include a few words about judging certifications and gold Cards. MCA is granting everyone a waiver of the “judge at least once per year” rule. Obviously, there has been no opportunity to participate this year. Also, people who were hoping to get their recent online judging tests officially certified at a show within the normally specified timeline will simply need to wait another year.

For those who are not members of the Mustang Cub of America, I recommend checking it out. This is the national (actually international) club that governs how our judged shows operate. Mustangs Northwest models its two Judged shows after the MCA shows in order to prepare participants for the national circuit. They are the keepers of the official judging sheets, and some of its members are the most knowledgeable people in the Mustang hobby. This is truly a club for all of North America, and I can tell you that I have met people from all over the country, including Canada. As a part of membership, there is a monthly club magazine that I would dare say that is probably the best Mustang magazine that currently exists today. I have been an MCA member since 2001, and I plan to keep it going. Being a Gold Card judge is a great honor and I feel fortunate to be able to help others with their cars in this sense.

It is quite a sense of pride to not only get your car to a national show, but also to participate and score well in the judging. There are many judged classes, and it is very easy to get started. We have members in our own club who are very knowledgeable and can guide you through the process. And hey, it’s also a lot of fun to go on a long road trip together.

These clubs aren’t just about cars, they are also about the people. Hang in there, and when this virus is finally gone, we will all be back together, showing off our cars again. In the meantime, stay safe, and clean that car!

Rob Ogden
Gold Card Judge, 3rd Gen. (1979-1993)
Certified Judge: 2nd Gen., 4th Gen., 5th Gen., SVT Cobra, Saleen
MCA Representative for Mustangs Northwest

Written by MustangAdmin