delandcivilwarshow.com

Welcome to the DeLand Civil War Show Website...

Our 2nd show: Saturday, March 10th, 2012

Our 2nd show was a good event for many vendors and the public but certainly not as much fun as the 1st one. The rainy day and the impact of a major bike rally in downtown DeLand seriously hurt our overall attendance which was down about a third from last year's show.

Many dealers and collectors said they still enjoyed the event; and did some nice business in the morning hours, but I know many dealers did not do well. I feel the visitors that came enjoyed the show every bit as much as last year.

Let me go ahead and blame NASCAR here. They made the call this year (and for the forseeable future) to move the 500 race by a week, requiring bike week to be one week later in the calendar. This moved our event up one week to the beginning of bike week.

This was instead of on the last weekend as it was last year, where we previously had no major conflict in West Volusia.

I have heard now from many locals who mentioned they were involved one way or the other with the DeLand Bike Rally and could not attend....it's a huge deal with an estimated crowd of over 50,000 at times.

Even with lower visitor participation we paid all expenses and earned a $500.00 gift to the St. Johns Rangers of the Sons of Confederate Veterans who helped run the event, and that's not a bad thing.

Folks, bad weather can always ruin an event and it played its role here. I cannot control the weather, but I am considering all possibilities for the next show. My guess is our current slated weekend at the fairgrounds just will not work going forward against the impact of the DeLand motorcycle event.

I will keep you posted!

Thanks for your participation in our shows.

Dan Friend

Coordinator

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When I retired from teaching last year I knew I couldn't really "retire"; I would be bored to death! So I'm now running a new militaria/collectible business in historic downtown DeLand on the main boulevard.

Deland's Collector Corner LLC is now open! My hours are 1-5 PM, Wed -Fri and 10-5 on Saturday....closed on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays. (Hey, I need time to buy all the neat militaria, antiques, model ships, collectibles, and car models I will sell in the store...and I am retired, correct?) Please stop by the shoppe at 211 North Woodland Blvd and swap some lies with me...and maybe we can horsetrade a bit! Call me at 748-6481 or continue to use the same email: dfriend001@cfl.rr.com, or at the home phone of 386-943-9537.

Our first show in 2011.......

It was a gorgeous day in DeLand and many Central Florida residents and visitors came to our first event on Sunday, March 13th, 2011. We had 276 people in paid attendance and probably another 75 folks who came in uniform or period clothing for an estimated crowd of over 350 for the one day show & sale. Those present were treated to a wide array of displays of historic guns, swords, and artifacts brought over for the occasion by dozens of area collectors and dealers. Even a gun once owned by Sitting Bull made its way to our show to join the fun.

Our first show was meant to serve as proof that a nice Civil War Antique Arms and collectible show would work right here in Central Florida: and it has done exactly that. Everyone had good things to say including the dealers who all commented on the friendlyness of the crowd, and even in this tight economy, the fact that people were not just looking...they were trading, selling, and buying! And some folks apparently still have money: I heard of one 5 digit offer for a neat flintlock but the owner was smartly holding out for more.....

At the end of the day our first educational, historic, and charitable event in DeLand earned a total of $950 for local West Volusia Charities. We thank all of our vendors and visitors for a great first effort.

And yes, we will do it again on Saturday, March 10th; once again during the last Saturday of Daytona Bike Week in the same building at the Volusia County Fairgrounds. Please plan now to join us for our 2nd Civil War Show & Sale in DeLand.

As promised, returning vendors who advance pay get a better deal! See you soon.

Dan Friend

Charities benefiting from the net proceeds last year:

*Deland High School Air Force JROTC

*St. Johns Rangers Camp #1360, Sons of Confederate Veterans

*The West Volusia Historical Society

*The Royal Rangers of the Lighthouse Church

*Camp#8, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War

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Dealer and Vendor General Information

for our 2nd Show on March 10th, 2012

(PLEASE NOTE: dealer setup will be from 7AM - 9:00 AM on Saturday morning ONLY this year!)

PLEASE DO NOT FORGET THIS IMPORTANT RULE: No modern post-1897 guns, or ammo, paper cartridges, or loose black powder, are allowed in the show at any time. This rule allows us to secure a great liability insurance rate and reduces our security expenses considerably!

Directions to the show: Just follow the signs on show day to the Daugharty Building in the Agriculture Center at the Volusia County Fairgrounds located just East of I-4 on SR44. IF YOU ARE HEADING EAST ON SR 44, BE CERTAIN TO TAKE THE 2nd ENTRANCE TO THE FAIRGROUNDS: NOT THE FIRST ONE NEAR THE BIKE SWAP MEET...FOLLOW THE CIVIL WAR SIGNS! Additional signs will be up inside the large fairgrounds area to send you to us if you get lost!

Pre-1898 weapons, and other collectibles from the Colonial Period through the Spanish American War, French & Indian War period, Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Napoleonic period items, European and Eastern early relics, Wild West artifacts and guns, Civil War stuff, paintings, sculptures, prints, books, etc., and basically anything OLD or historic are all welcomed.....

I received some information about local motels asking for non-refundable full payment in advance with no cancellation possible. I would never suggest that you do that; what if you get ill, or for some other reason can't make the event?

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Please don't forget the public show date is the last weekend of Daytona Bike Week, one of the busiest times in Central Florida. Motel rooms are almost impossible to get within about 100 miles of Daytona. I did see huge rate differences between the various companies that offer discounted rooms.

By the way, the lack of motel rooms for this weekend is one reason this is a one day public show...also, when I set up at antique arms shows in the 80's often the 2nd day would be painfully slow, and a one day event also keeps our expenses down. With some planning you can drive in early Saturday, or stay with local friends and not have any motel expense at all.

Please keep in mind that we have chosen this date for very good reasons: many of our Canadian and winter visitors are still in Central Florida; thousands and thousands of motorcyclists will still be here and I feel that certainly some of them will be antique gun lovers, no other Civil War or antique arms shows in the SouthEast are set for that weekend; and all of our local vendors, collectors, and dealers will know of the event. A major antique motorcycle auction, the Daytona Classic Motorcycle Auction, is also always slated in Deland just days before our show. Our huge Woodland Blvd banner located near the antique bike show will let all of them know of our event. A better date for maximum possible attendance and participation in our neck of the woods simply could not exist.

The lack of motel rooms is not a problem for our winter visitors or local residents who come to visit the show. Everyone needs to watch out for the bike traffic, yet once on our site we have tons of parking and easy access to our buildings for load in and out. It might also be possible to stay just outside our immediate area, then only have a short drive in on show day. I know several folks who plan to do exactly that........We will be there for you to register and set up at 7 AM on Saturday.

The general public will be let in at 9:00 AM and the show will run until 4PM. Details on dealer/collector rates will be posted soon.

See you all next March!

Dan Friend

Show Coordinator - DBA DeLand's Civil War Show & Sale
DeLand High School Retired History Teacher

Auxiliary Member: St. Johns Rangers Camp #1360

Sons of Confederate Veterans

dfriend001@cfl.rr.com

(386) 943-9537 Be sure to leave a message...I often use my machine to screen incoming calls.

DeLand's Civil War Show & Sale

P. O. Box 4533

DeLand, Florida 32721-4533

Photos of our first event on March 13th, 2011