Hershey, PA — Organizers of the Elegance at Hershey, held annually in June at the historic Hotel Hershey for the past nine years, announced Friday that the event will go on hiatus in 2020.

Photo: The Elegance at Hershey Concours

The move was prompted by the event’s decreased ability to donate to its charitable causes — the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the Antique Automobile Club of America Museum and the AACA Library and Research Center. Over the course of the event’s tenure, it has donated a total of more than $1 million to the three groups.

Considered one of the top concours on the East Coast, the event had been scheduled for June 2020 in the gardens of the Hotel Hershey. The three-day weekend has featured vintage race cars competing in a hill climb on the uphill road behind the hotel, known as The Grand Ascent, for two days before the Sunday concours.

“From day one, we have been guided by the principle that if we could not make a substantial difference to our charities that there would be no reason to exist,” event chairman Michael Rich said in a letter announcing the event’s cancellation next year.

Vice chairman Steve Moskowitz noted that the organization strives to present a concours at the highest level for participants and the public, while still providing a strong donation to its beneficiaries.

“And the one caveat that we had when we started this the first year, if we could not make a contribution of at least $100,000, then it wouldn’t be ethical for us to put on a big party and then donate just a little money.”

After this past June’s show, the governing board voted to disband, Moskowitz said. Then a large enough group of people expressed willingness to help, and the board decided to go on hiatus for 2020 instead of shutting down entirely.