Mid-America Plate Association

Region of ALPCA

WELCOME LICENSE PLATE COLLECTORS!

If you would like to become a member of ALPCA just click this link here: JOIN! Information about how to join will be on that page.

We are a midwest region of ALPCA and meet four times a year in Northern Illinois. To join our club click here. A great donation auction is held at each event. Registration is $10 and $5 per table.All money raised goes to support the club, our events and activities. Go through your collection and donate plates for the auction and bring a favorite plate to display and/or win an award. You must be either an ALPCA or MAPA member in order to enter our meets.

***Indiana Meet**

On Saturday May 11, 2024 ALPCA Mid America Plate Association (MAPA) will be hosting the 2nd annual Northern Indiana Spring Meet at the Atwood Community Building located at 213 E. Hovey St., Atwood Indiana 46502. The Atwood Community Building is a modern ground-level facility located in Northern Indiana within one hour of Fort Wayne, South Bend, and the Michigan Border and within two hours of Indianapolis, Chicago, and Grand Rapids MI. Hours are 8:00 AM to 2:00PM. Water, coffee, and donuts will be served in the morning and pizza will be served at noon. Admission is $10 and the cost of the first table is $3. Extra tables are $5 each with 42 tables being available. You are encouraged to bring your own table(s) and will not be charged a table fee if you do so. A donation auction will occur at 11:30 AM. Displays are encouraged with awards for favorite plate, best display, and long distance awards. Hotels and restaurants are located within a 10-minute drive in Warsaw Indiana. Lasts years meet included 49 attendees and incoming inquiries about the 2024 meet remain high.

President's Message

Our 2-24-24 meet resulted in a good turnout with over 45 members in attendance including five new members of Alpca! Spring will be here before you know it so come join us on 4-13-24 at our Stone City, Illinois location. Bring plates and friends! There will be an auction as well. We also have favorite plate and best display awards so dig into your collections and bring something. See you in a few weeks!

Mapa special event plate for 2024


The upcoming 2024/25 MAPA meets are:

February 22, 2025,Will County Fairgrounds
710 S. West St
Peotone, IL
April 19, 2025, Stone City VFW Post #2199
124 Stone City Drive
Joliet, IL 60436
August 16, 2025, Wauconda American Legion Hall
515 South Main Street
Wauconda, IL 60084
October 5, 2024, Stone City VFW Post #2199
124 Stone City Drive
Joliet, IL 60436


 

Recent News

Check out our new section called meet a member.

New ISP license plates roll out to celebrate formation of Troops


Chicago Sky, Red Stars and Fire Plates in 2023

Governor JB Pritzker signed HB4434 into law today, expanding the options of professional sports team license plates Illinoisans can choose from at the Secretary of State. The change, which adds the Chicago Fire, the Chicago Sky, and the Chicago Red Stars to the list of options, brings women’s professional sports to the official license plates of Illinois residents for the first time in state history.

 

New UT Trailer (2,000 pounds or less) 

A trailer is defined as "Every vehicle without motive power in operation, other than a pole trailer, designed for carrying persons or property and for being drawn by a motor vehicle and so constructed that no part of its weight rests upon the towing vehicle" (625 ILCS 5/1-209). One plate is issued to each trailer. UT trailer license plates have either all numerals or numerals with a two alpha suffix.

 

St. Louis Cardinals plate coming soon

Three new military motorcycle plates are now available: Combat Action badge, Combat Action Ribbon, and Desert Storm.

 

Universal license plates to be issued soon-Monarch butterfly

 

New redesinged Illini plates now available

Two special plates were auctioned off at our Wauconda meet to celebrate the Illinois bicentennial. These two plates numbered 1818 and 200 were both sold and the other ones will be auctioned at our October meet so don't miss out.

 

Firefighter motorcycle plates now available

New format for firefighter plates spotted.

New Alzheimers Awareness plate

New Nurses plate

New autocycle three wheeled vehicle plate option

Route 66 motorcycle plates now available

Chicago Police Memorial motorcycle license plates now available

Revisions already coming to new Illinois license plates

Cubs-themed license plates spike in popularity after World Series

Illinois universal specialty license plate still not in production

 

 

New Illinois license plate design revealed


The Capitol dome, the Chicago skyline and one-half of Abraham Lincoln's face will adorn new license plates that will begin hitting the roads in Illinois next year.
Secretary of State Jesse White's office unveiled the new plates on Tuesday and also announced a program to gradually put them on all passenger vehicles -- at no extra cost to drivers -- over the next decade.
White said the replacement program is needed because the plates' reflectivity decreases over time, making it hard for police to see plate numbers.
"This (program) will ensure that plates are appropriately replaced with the ultimate goal being no license plate on the road will be more than 10 years old,” White said in a statement.
At a news conference in Chicago, White called the program "a forward-thinking, long-term solution that does not require a complete replating overhaul, which would cost around $60 million. This replacement program is mindful of Illinois' state budget challenges, while also seeking to remove the oldest plates from our roads."
Passenger vehicle owners who have the oldest license plates will be the first to get the new version. In 2017, passenger plates manufactured in 2000 and 2001 will replaced. In 2018, plates made in 2002 and 2003 will be replaced.
That process will continue until all of the plates are replaced. The program starts over in 2027, replacing the plates issued in 2017. The replacement of "B-Truck" plates, used on some pickup trucks, SUVs and vans, is expected to begin in 2018.
White's office says there are 9 million sets of passenger plates on the road. The office expects to replace about 600,000 sets in the first year.
Vehicle owners will be notified by mail if they qualify for the new license plates, which will be provided at no additional charge. Owners are encouraged to recycle their old plates by taking them to a secretary of state facility and disposing of them in a tamper-proof bin.
Motorists who are not due for a replacement may still request a new license plate in January at cyberdriveillinois.com for a replacement fee of $29. In addition, vehicle owners with license plates manufactured after 2001 that are showing signs of wear and are difficult to read may visit cyberdriveillinois.com to apply for a newly designed plate at no charge.
The redesign of Illinois' main license plate is the first since White's office unveiled the current look in 1999. That 1999 plate design -- consisting of a script "Illinois" above a Lincoln bust in the middle of the plate -- was chosen via an online vote open to Illinois residents.
No vote was held this time. Instead, the secretary of state's office "worked closely with law enforcement and developed a license plate that contains features unique to Illinois and is easy to read," said Henry Haupt, a secretary of state spokesman.
The resulting plate moves the Lincoln image to the left side of the design, getting it out of the way of the letters and numbers on the plate. It also contains white outlines of the Statehouse dome and Chicago's skyline, including the city's iconic Willis Tower.

By Staff and wire reports sj-r.com

 

Which Chicago Team Has the Most Specialty License Plates on the Road?

CHICAGO — The Chicago Blackhawks are the most popular sports team in Illinois, at least based on license plate preference.

According to the Illinois Secretary of State's office, the Hawks have the No. 1 specialty license plate in the state, with 8,356 plates purchased.

The Blackhawks — who have a bright red plate that features the team logo — beat out all other city sports teams.

The White Sox are next, with 4,893 purchased plates. That figure is perhaps surprisingly more than the Bears (4,519), Cubs (4,393) and Bulls (1,528).

The Blackhawks' plates debuted in 2010, after the team won the Stanley Cup, while the other four Chicago pro sports teams' plates were released in 2011.

"The Chicago Blackhawks license plate was the first in the sports series to be made available to the public, and their fan base embraced the opportunity to purchase the license plates," Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White said in an emailed statement.

The specialty plates are pricey, as much as $330 for first-time vanity plates. Annual renewal is $141 for specialty plates, $42 more than standard plates.

April 22, 2013 6:09am | By Justin Breen, DNAinfo Senior Editor

 


 

 

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