Mark Blythe, Tarrangower Times
It was a Goldilocks day for a Swap Meet, ‘not too hot, not too cold, it was just right’. And a smidge over 2,000 people made the effort to trek over to Maldon, and enjoy the March Maldon Swap meet along with the 300-plus sites that stalled up and made the valiant, and all too often successful attempt at separating the collector fraternity from their hard-earned cash.
There is no doubt that the economy is contracting noticeably, but Maldon Swap seems to be going from strength to strength if this weekend was anything to go by. This swap saw the most stalls fielded ever! Many were first-timers, but many were also seasoned campaigners, discernible by that blank 1,000-yard stare they all seem to have. They would tell tales of the great ‘swap deluge of 21’ when 72mm of rain bucketed down in six hours, when a small child was washed away and two dogs met untimely ends due to being chained up.
But not this weekend. No, not this weekend. The Swap Meet Gods smiled upon them; the patron saint of Swappers, St. Reg was happy; he was appeased by the sacrifices made in his name and performed upon his chosen altar (a Bunnings folding blow moulded plastic table RRP. $69.95) and, thusly he smiled down upon, and rewarded his acolytes with fine weather and abundant crowds.
The classic car owners totally filled the classic car ‘space’ to capacity, which was another first. The lovers of classic cars enjoy this aspect of the swap as much, if not more, than the actual swap itself, as Castlemaine district is the Hot Rod centre of Australia, and make no mistake they travel from all over this state and beyond to parade their rides.
There was also good representation from the local ‘Feral Car Club’, a style of classic car which this writer has no trouble relating to.
The usual stalls from three States were there: Vic, NSW and SA. Quite often, a few Queenslanders make the journey down sometimes, but the price of fuel is starting to bite, and that is having a flow-on effect with everything.
Mark B, the organiser, has asked me to (who are we fooling really?) thank a few people.
Firstly, Edward for helping to spray the lines and all the other stuff Ed does; the Maldon CERT for doing the First Aid and keeping us all safe – they really earned their kilo of honey that weekend; the Maldon Fishing Club that takes over the canteen and feeds the hungry stallholders on the Saturday, much appreciated.
Finally, he would very much like to thank his hard-working, long-suffering crew: Gordon, Bon, Stacey and Nicole, who all hold the whole thing together while he runs around like a demented weasel on crack.
This article appeared in the Tarrangower Times, 22 March 2024.
