Should Members of a Club Sponsoring a Car Show Be Eligible for Awards

It goes back to quality of judging and judges:

• Judge the car not the owner.
• Judge the quality not the rarity, model, color, or what someone paid for it.
• And of course, you don't have any person judging a class they are entered in (club members or not)
• Consistency. Try not to have team judges. If you do, each judge must judge the same items for the whole class. No flip-flopping. If one judge does an interior, he must now do ALL the interiors.
• Follow the 1 page judging sheet (don't make sheet overly complicated)
• Take care of your judges or you won't have any. Have refreshments and/or lunch for them.

I've seen events with club members not eligible make gross judging errors. A mistake is a mistake. Does it make it less of a mistake if the judge is not allowed to participate?

If it's a large show, the percentage of club members that win will be very low. And other clubs will often have more winners than the host club. I've seen where a club 450 miles away win more trophies (5) than the host club members'.

If there are no comparable judged shows in the area, you are punishing club members that volunteer. You said that Topeka club folded. So now NO ONE gets trophies or has an local event to attend. Is that better?