MACUNGIE, PA – Part of the bond between Ford and Mustang clubs and our Ford Performance Club Connect program isn’t just that we promote those who register with us via our www.FordPerformanceClubConnect.com website. It’s also that from time to time we’re even able to support them on-site at their own events and car shows. More often than not, that involves us driving to their town with our Club Connect Transit van and setting up our 10x10 Ford Performance Meet & Greet display tent on the show field where we get to hand out free Mustang posters and Ford Performance wristbands and talk about Mustangs and collectible Fords all day with attendees.

As you might expect, we get invited to far more club shows each year than we can possibly attend, so we try to mix it up a bit to get the chance to meet enthusiasts from all over the country and hear their ownership experiences – many of which we share with you in our Ford Fan Spotlight. But sometimes we even like to attend multi-marque car shows where we can see other classic and collectible vehicles and meet and talk with non-Ford owners as well. So when we got invited to celebrate 60 Years of Mustangs at one such show that we’ve never been to – well, we went out of our way to be there.

This event is older than the Mustang itself yet has rarely had an official Ford footprint – which made for a great opportunity for us to support the 61st “Das Awkscht Fescht” – a large, three-day, family-friendly motor vehicle show in Macungie, Pennsylvania, just outside of Allentown. We enjoyed the company of people from at least four states and all across the region – and yes, many of them were not Ford owners. The show wanted to make Mustang the feature car this year, being its 60^th anniversary and all, so we’d at first suggested to the show organizer, Bob Hobaugh of the Ontelaunee Region of the AACA, to visit the FordPerformanceClubConnect.com website and get in touch with the local Mustang clubs from that area to work on putting together a special display, plus help get the word out for Mustang owners to attend.

Unfortunately, he was unable to enlist help from the area’s club principals, so he reached out to Jeff Bliemeister, the executive director of the AACA’s America’s Transportation Experience museum in Hershey, to curate the Mustang feature car tent in Macungie. Jeff had hosted an epic event at the Hershey museum honoring the late Gale Halderman before the pandemic, and has made many friends in the Antique Automobile Club of America’s Mustang owner community in the process. His work was critical to making this show’s Mustang feature car display area a big success – proof that reaching out to other organizations can help us connect with a whole new group of the Mustang faithful.

We set up our Ford Performance Club Connect tent right next the big Mustang feature tent and, despite the challenges of excessive heat and humidity (and eventually rain), we spent the day giving out a few hundred of our exclusive “Mustang 60 Years” mini-posters (and yes, even for Brand X owners who snapped up Mustang posters “for a friend” as they strolled along the show’s front-and-center “60 Years of Mustang” display area). In-between, we staged a few 40-minute Mustang presentations in the feature tent and handed out lots of door prizes. Although we could only be there on that opening Friday, we were followed by legendary Shelby superstar Chuck Cantwell for Saturday and Sunday, so Ford and Mustang fans were in good hands the whole weekend long.

Yes, it’s a long way from Dearborn to Macungie Memorial Park and the incredibly hot and humid (and eventually stormy) August weather there made the day a long one, but helping a Mustang celebration stand out among all of the other makes and models of cars at this notable show had made it all worthwhile – not to mention enjoying the food, drink, swap meet, arts-and-crafts vendors and music at the band shell. Check out our photos from the 61^st annual Das Awkscht Fescht in the gallery below. We hear that next year the feature car will be the Camaro. We won’t be there – and would be shocked if Chevrolet will send someone from to Detroit to be there. Sorry, Bow Tie boys -- only Ford has Club Connect.

FORD PERFORMANCE PHOTOS / JOHN M. CLOR