Educate Them

By Robert Snowden

I just returned from a great car show, as usual my spirits are high, I enjoyed visiting with many old friends and saw some of the nicest 1955- 1972 Chevys in the nation! This years Winter National was a Chevy enthusiasts delight. For the past several years I've had the privilege of conducting the Junior Judging seminars. For those of you who are not familiar with this program, it's designed to give young people, ages 6-16 the opportunity to get involved in judging show car Chevys. We start off with a classroom style 45-minute training session; this is followed by hands on judging out on the show field. The modified judging sheets used are a revised version, with only 100 point scoring.

Over the years I've always had a good number of young people taking part in Junior Judging. In the seminar we talk about the difference between 1957 Chevy stainless steel side trim vs. the Aluminum side trim on a 1964 Chevy.

We will often compare an original interior to that of a modified Chevy of the same year. The main goal of this program is, through education, to get youth excited about old Chevys. Over the years I've seen it work! I've seen young people involved several years in Junior Judging, then move on to judging with the old guys, and from there start bringing their own Chevys to shows!

So just what does this have to do with you and your Chevy? The answer is simple, the next time you're attending a Chevy car show, take time to look around for young people. I think you'll find that the vast majority of show attendees are gray hairs. If we hope to have this great hobby continue on after we're gone, we need new young blood. If you're like the majority of our subscribers you're one of those older Chevy enthusiasts. If your children are not into Chevys, the next hope for that new blood rests with the grandchildren.

Maybe you're thinking; my children or grandchildren aren't interested in my old Chevy. I think you might be surprised how interested they will become if you use the right approach. Educating young Chevy enthusiasts takes more than a trip to the garage to take a peek at grandpa's old Chevy. You may find that even an afternoon drive is not enough to get junior excited about old cars. At this point you must become creative, start by asking questions like, what's the difference between an original Chevy and a modified Chevy, if I asked you to point out the part of the car that stops it, could you find it? What's the difference between the intake manifold and the exhaust manifold? Challenge your young Chevy person; you'll be surprised how well they respond. It's only through education of the youth that we can hope to inspire new Chevy blood in the hobby.