Lakeland, Florida Collectorama Coin and Currency Show recap

Seofo

Needless to say that a Coin Show promoter's worst nightmare is having a serious weather event threaten to cancel the
show. This past weekend Hurricane Matthew did exactly that, but the show promoter felt strongly that the hurricane would
not be a major event that far west of the East Coast of Florida. While it certainly wasn't a normal weekend in Lakeland, the
show did go on, and as it turned out it was a pretty strong business event. A lot of thanks has to go to all the dealers that
attended in spite of hurricane threats in their home areas and shops, and about 10 dealers cancelled or did not show up.
The show promoter quickly allowed some of the dealers to "spread out" and the Exhibit Hall was close to being filled.

Many of the dealers felt that The Lakeland Center was a much safer place for them and their inventory, as The Lakeland
Center is a very secure building, and is a major staging area for EMT's and emergency vehicles. The Lakeland Center
housed over 400 emergency responders in their Arena during the weekend, and the back lot of The Lakeland Center's parking area was filled with every kind of emergency vehicle you can think of. Local hotels and motels were filled with
folks running from the storm from Florida's East Coast, there were some gas, water and grocery shortages, and many of
the great restaurants that Collectorama Show dealers usual eat at, were closed on Thursday night. Even though Polk
County was under a hurricane watch, Polk County is a big county, and Lakeland is located near the western edge, and
did not suffer any real damage, and very little wind or rain. By Friday morning, when the Collectorama Show opened,
things were pretty much back to normal, and the Collectorama Show opened to the public. As expected the public
attendance was off significantly, but there was plenty of wholesale business going on to keep the dealers happy.
Saturday, the public attendance was quite strong, in spite of I-4 being closed down in West Lakeland, due to a crime
scene where two or three armed bad guys hijacked a car in Pinnellas County, and ended up crashing the vehicle and
then taking hostages into a McDonalds for several hours. Sunday public attendance was off somewhat, as many
folks, especially from the East, had cleanup and shutter removal to contend with, but overall the show was quite strong
in light of everything that happened during the weekend. Most dealers reported that they were happy with business.

A lot of credit has to be given to all the dealers that attended, especially those that came from South, Central, and North
Florida locations along the East Coast, and many out of state dealers coming from North and South Carolina, Tennessee,
and Ohio who encountered lengthy travel delays and/or possible serious damage from the Hurricane as it passed by.
By Sunday, East Coast roads in Florida that had been closed for several days were re-opened, driving moratoriums were
lifted, and there were no reports of any major delays for the dealers getting back home after the show. Plans are already
underway for the 62nd Semi-Annual Lakeland, Florida Collectorama Coin and Currency Show to be held at The Lakeland
Center, February 17-19, 2017. For more information contact Edward Kuszmar at 561-392-8551.

Tookybandit

Great report, thanks for posting! I wish I could've made it to the show.