District I
Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont
The 2024 Toledo RC Swap Meet & Expo was held on Friday and Saturday, April 5-6, at the Glass City Center. Associate Vice President (AVP) Steve Brehm and I packed part of a deceased member’s estate into my vehicle to sell for his son. It included gas and glow engines, servos, chargers, and one Pitts airplane. We left my house at 6:30 a.m. and arrived at the Comfort Inn at 9 p.m. The next morning, we set up our table of items for sale an hour before the show opened.
We viewed and compared the show’s layout, hobby items, and vendors to previous show years and were extremely impressed with what the event manager, Hank Rauhaus, and his team had done to enlarge the first room section with more vendors, new products, better displays, nicely arranged aisles, booths, and tables. The most welcomed addition was the many round tables that displayed a variety of beautifully crafted models to be seen and judged for show awards.
The swapper section had many more tables loaded with a variety of RC modeling items, including vehicles and boats. An indoor area was set up for RC airplane flying and vehicle operation.
Attendance was way up, with many eager buyers who bought every item we had by midafternoon of the second day. We never expected to gross $3,120 in sales from one table. Thanks “Swapper Guys!” This was your best show, proving the continued demand for many more!
Highlights of the 2024 Toledo Show that many of us have really missed and love to see are the many tables of beautiful static models competing for show awards. Hank Rauhaus said he intends to bring more models in 2025.
(L-R): My friend Tim Jesky, from AJ Aircraft, had the nicest and largest vendor booth at the show. AVP Steve Brehm helped me sell the items on the table directly across from the AMA booth. I am standing between AMA employee Katie Perry, Stephanie Holcolmb, and District III Vice President Randy Adams (far R) who staffed the AMA booth.
