Saturday, July 18, 2009
Video
A view of Dave & Ed's Swap Meet at Canfield Fairground on Friday, July 17, 2009.
Gallery
Photo
The '57 style Camaro makeover is looked at by George Helt of Mt. Pleasant. Ohio and Bob Hess of Easyrods.com, a conversion car company.
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Paul Perelman of Chesterland puts out a traffic light at the Dave and Eds Swap Meet at the Canfield Fairgrounds.
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Tom Nega of Apollo, Pa. looks over an archery arrow at Dave and Ed's Swap Meet Friday at the Canfield Fairgrounds. Nega is an avid bow hunter and likes the antique arrows.
One West Coast vendor has ties to the Mahoning Valley.
By Elise Franco
One man’s used car part just might be another man’s treasure.
The Canfield Swap Meet, which began Friday and runs 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at the fairgrounds, is expected to draw about 2,000 vendors selling cars, auto parts, accessories, lubricants, tires, antiques, collectibles, jewelry, clothing, toys and cycles, said event organizer Dave Ehret.
Admission is $5 for adults, and free for children 11 and younger. Ehret, of Dave and Ed’s Super Auto Events in Canton, said guests can also buy weekend passes for $7.
He brought the swap meet to the Canfield Fairgrounds in 1993, he said, and they’ve been back each year since.
Ehret said he never planned to expand out to Canfield. Some of his vendors from another swap meet found out the fairgrounds had an opening, however, and asked him to inquire.
“A bunch of my vendors basically cornered me and said, ‘You are going to Canfield,’” Ehret said, laughing. “They gave us a chance, and it’s been a good relationship ever since. We have a mutual respect.”
He said the swap meet increased in profitability each year until about three years ago, when the economy began a downturn.
“After the economy turned bad, we more or less flat-lined,” Ehret said. “But really, that’s good because most promoters’ shows are down at least 20 percent.”
He said he credits stabilization of the event to the locals who come out every year. Between 20,000 and 25,000 people are expected to attend throughout the weekend.
Ehret said besides their loyalty, Mahoning Valley residents know a thing or two about cars, making the fairgrounds an optimal place for the event.
“This is a very car-oriented area,” he said. “These people have a really sincere interest in automobiles.”
One vendor familiar to the area is Chuck Lombardo, a New Castle, Pa., native who lives in Huntington Beach, Calif. Lombardo and his son own California Street Rods and have traveled home to the swap meet in Canfield several times.
“We like coming up to see a bunch of old friends and people we’ve dealt with over the years,” he said. “There’s usually something going on around the East Coast, so we get to come here.”
Lombardo said his display consists of parts they’ve taken from cars over the past 30 years. He said the amount of money he makes varies per swap meet and depends on what he’s selling.
“A lot of Chevy stuff really sells,” he said. “If we’re just selling parts we clear $4,000 to $5,000; we made $1,000 [Thursday] alone as we were setting up. It was crazy.”
Ehret said Saturday is set to be the highest traffic day for the event, followed by Sunday, featuring a car show with 200 to 250 entries.
“Saturday is always your big day,” he said. “The people who come out on Friday are the ones looking for that special part. They want to get out here and get it before anyone else can.”
One such browser was Tom Nega, of Apollo, Pa. Nega, an avid archery hunter, stopped to check out a set of arrows that he said were likely more than 40 years-old.
“We always come out to Canfield for this,” he said. “I’m looking for any old archery stuff. Those really caught my eye.”
efranco@vindy.com