By Conrad Easterday, CTCN Editor
When asked how long he’s been with the Chickasha Antique Auto Club and its annual Fall Swap Meet, Chase O’Brien can only identify the year by remembering which vehicle he was driving.
A Jeep Wrangler, in this case, so it would have been 2014, he says.
His favorite car was a 1981 Pontiac Trans Am, an American muscle car that he couldn’t park anywhere without someone coming up to share a story about a Trans Am they had known or owned.
From Oct. 17 through Oct. 19 in Chickasha, auto enthusiasts from far and wide will swap stories and anything else car-related at the Club’s Fall Swap Meet, which outsizes the spring event substantially and is still the largest in Oklahoma. The fall meet is older, having been established in 1969, the year men landed on the moon. O’Brien said the Swap Meet is auto-centric, but if visitors or vendors have other transportation related items such as aircraft or motorycles, they are acceptable in the minority.
The Antique Auto Club is a small organization, down from 30 a few years ago to a third of that now, a fate suffered by many civic groups in the age of social media. Still, they work hard in ones and twos to improve the Swap Meet grounds at 712 East Choctaw in Chickasha. O’Brien is the vice president and treasurer of the AAC.
“We’re constantly improving the Swap Meet grounds,” he said. “Always leveling up grass. Historically, the property the club has owned has held water. Each year, we’re raising that up so it drains (better). If we get bad weather it can become a swamp meet instead of a swap meet. We want everyone to have a better experience each year.”
The club has also fixed electrical issues that affected food vendors,” O’Brien said. Lighting has also been redone.
So far, about 250 spaces have been sold to 90-100 vendors. By opening day, O’Brien estimates 500 spaces will be sold, many at the gate.
We’d love to see 700-800 spaces sold,” he added.
While vendors buy spaces, visitors are admitted free. Free admission means, there’s no easy way to track visitor numbers, although the club has considered installing some sort of counting device at the gate.
More likely for the future of the event is bringing back the popular car show that ran concurrently each year with the Swap Meet.
Anyone interested in autos — antique or otherwise — should make the trip to the Swap Meet, O’Brien said. They should also think about swelling the ranks of the Antique Auto Club, an experience that will last much longer than a weekend.