Hi Vetters,
Well, it's hard to believe, but the year is half over. It seems like we just had our New Years party at Patti & Hutch's home. I'm happy to say we have had some really nice people join our club. Also, there is a new club in town, we wish them the best of luck.
Our trip to St. Augustine was a great big success - fun, sun, and everyone got home safely. When I pulled into Lake Mary rest area, Lisa our membership director was signing up a new member. Her name is Carol Stephens. She then joined us for our trip to St. Augustine.
We had a good turnout for our meeting at Michael's Restaurant in spite of the heavy rain. I was surprised to see so many members, plus seven guests. Two of our guests signed up. Welcome to Ray & Judith Dacey, members 175 & 176.
At the next two meetings I will have a suggestion box for our members to give us some ideas of what they would like to do. We will discuss these ideas at the meeting at my home on July 29. I have received some suggestions that we can work into our calendar.
Don't forget Homecomings are not far off, please help Shelley with this project. Homecomings are our biggest money maker for the Russell Home.
I'll see you on the Eckler's Casino Cruise on July 14, 2001. We now have over thirty members signed up.
Let's Go For It
Wavin'-2U
Save The Wave
Mr. Dan
- Dan Dragonetti, President
We have 174 members to date. Our newest members are Jack & Deisy Davis who own a 2001 Mag Red Coupe, Sue & John White who own a 82 Bright Blue Coupe, Carol Stephens who owns a 99 Black Coupe and Ray & Judith Dacey who own a 98 Torch Red Coupe. Make sure you introduce yourself when you see them.
I still have some of your long sleeve T-shirts. Please give me a call or email me if you're going to be at the July 19th meeting. I will make sure I bring your shirt.
I attended the NCCC Regional meeting in June and it was no surprise when I opened the NCCC membership report for the Florida Region to see that CFCA is still the largest club in the region. This has become sort of a tradition with CFCA and it is the past and current membership that keeps this tradition alive. Our website has really brought the exposure that we needed to get the word out that this is the place to be. And again I have to thank all of you for your help in making our membership grow year after year.
We have lots of great events coming up in the next few months. Some repeat events, like the Sterling Cruise with Eckler's and then a couple of new events that we have never participated in before. The Village's car show up in Lady Lake is one, and we got an invitation from Mike Shad Chrysler-Jeep in Jacksonville to help them put on a car show to benefit the Ronald McDonald House in August. I believe Clarks Fish Camp is on the way home from that dealership. [grin]
Just a note: if you see a guest come into a meeting, please encourage them to sign in and take some time to try and make them feel comfortable. We can be a bit scary to people who don't know us!
I still have some club shirts for sale and some of the older stock are now on sale for $12.00. I only have size small. So if your interested just see me at the meeting.
Well that's all for me. Hope to see all of you out at our events in the next couple of months.
Save The Wave!
Lisa
Hey Gang. Heck with NCCC news, I'll cover some of that next time.
Jon
Let me tell you a story of one man's pursuit of a show car trophy. Actually, the story is about my wife (Pat) and me attending the Vettes at the Village car show in St. Augustine at the World Golf Village Resort and hosted by the North Florida Corvette Club. Pat and I went up with about 30 or so of our fellow club members and had a great time.
On what promised to be a great weekend at a beautiful facility, a large contingent from our club met at the usual Lake Mary rest area so that we could all caravan up to St. Augustine on Friday afternoon prior to the Father's Day weekend. The weekend started off great. After a neat and uneventful ride up to the World Golf Village we almost immediately headed for the pool to spend the rest of the Friday in cool comfort. Heck with cleaning the car, that's what Saturday morning was for. Anyhow, after a lot of laughs and relaxing time in the pool (social adjustment time as they say) we gathered again later that evening to eat dinner at Bill Murray's new Caddy Shack Restaurant on the Village property and right next door to our hotel. As usual, finding seating for our large group is often a problem. However, they were able to place us outside on the patio area without too much fuss. After all the weather was good and without bugs. Even after all those relaxing and social adjustment hours we spent in the pool, and with the addition of more club members on the patio (number now close to 30), the restaurant staff never "cut us off" if you know what I mean. Things were going well… then Saturday came.
Saturday morning found me needing more sleep. Imagine that. Anyhow, I was at a car show and I had a car to clean. So, after registration and parking the car in the assigned spot, the task at hand was "Clean the Car". Sounds simple enough, right? HA! I know the rules. Clean, clean, clean. Everything must be clean. All by NCCC rules. No floor mats, no trunk liners, no seat covers, no bra (Pat could wear one, the car couldn't), no dash mats, the glove box and ashtrays must be spotless, and on and on. Clean. I think there are 101,214 little places where dirt and dust can accumulate on a Corvette. Some think that number is much higher. Now, as I look around for maybe a little help, everyone is slinging towels and Z6 around like there would be no tomorrow. Fortunately, most all of our club members were parked somewhat together, but that didn't mean that there was any extra help. After all, they were after some of the same trophies that I was chasing. Also, just to set the stage, our Joan Wollenhaupt, along with Eckler's Mike Wilson was working through the Corvette crowd with the "Corvette Dream" TV Guild and camera crew shooting stuff for an upcoming show. All neat stuff. The weather was perfect (OK, maybe a little hot), all the green grass, the flowers, gorgeous lake, and all the color of the Corvettes, there was electricity in the air. Everyone cleaning at a feverish pace. As the stop cleaning time arrives I'm thinking that Pat and I didn't do too bad. The car looked good… then the moment of humility arrives. Time for the judges to check the car.
The judges ask you to open the doors, trunk and gas cap cover. It's at that point that I realize I meant to finish off cleaning the car by getting to the gas cap and trunk hinge areas. RATS… points off, both places. Lint here, lint there… points off, both places. OH NO, the judges find water spots way down in the door hinge area,… and way down inside the headlight cover,… points off. Holy mackerel!! A smudge on the inside of the windshield… points off. As the judges finally finish I realize that I too am finished. There would be no glory for the "C5 FLYER" on this day. Just to finish me off, Pat reminds me that everything that she cleaned was perfect. No points deduction from her efforts.
What can I say…? Obviously it was time to head for the pool and just soak in the cool water. Maybe even get one of those funny little drinks with the umbrella in the top. At poolside I find a lot of our group. Many in the same frame of mind. Everyone no doubt thinking that maybe this is what we really came up to St. Augustine for in the first place. Pool time with our friends.
Back to the show. Some of our club members did very well, very well indeed. I'm really hoping that their names will appear in other parts of this newsletter because it took a Herculean effort in extremely hot weather to do good. I applaud all those that did well and I can't wait until next year. I know all the judges tricks now.
What's next? Bring on Silver Springs. Bring on the Paradise in the Keys. I'm ready.
Due to the 4th of July holiday, the month of July is a downright slow one compared to busy May and June, at least in regards to Corvette events going on in and around Central Florida. So we'll look a bit into the future to take a peek at upcoming events, as well.
Car Shows...
Well, this one is now over, actually, but I really wanted to mention what a great time so many of us had at the 3RD ANNUAL VETTES AT THE VILLAGE show in St. Augustine on Saturday, 16 June. Even though it was hotter than (insert your favorite colorful metaphor here), we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Its a beautiful setting, well organized, and the drinks by the pool were refreshing, too. Make plans now to attend next year. You'll be happy you did. And BTW, thanks to Joe Stillman and others who drove all the way up there not to show their cars, but just to volunteer their help however needed. Way to go!
Party Time...
One of the more "funner" events coming up promises to be the ECKLER'S STERLING CASINO CRUISE on Saturday, July 14th. The cruise will be from 6PM-1AM, departing from the Port Canaveral cruise ship docs. Best of all, its absolutely FREE! Well, if you choose to gamble, then all "bets are off," of course. You must register with Eckler's by July 6th. Just call Cozette Hammond at Eckler's at 321-385-1113 for details.
NCM Events…
August 30th - September 2nd, CORVETTE CELEBRATION & HALL OF FAME AT THE NATIONAL CORVETTE MUSEUM. The NCM's biggest event of the year will include a reunion of Apollo astronauts and their Corvettes, a Corvette Motorama, introduction of the 2002 model and Hall of Fame induction. Visit www.corvettemuseum.com for more information and to register for this big event.
Coming up!
-Hutch-
CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE
Bullet Bob & Annie's Road Trip 2001
What a trip! 27 days! 3,668 miles!
We traveled in 16 states, the District of Columbia and one Canadian province.
Along the way we used 1 large ferry to cross the Delaware Bay, a bridge/tunnel to cross the Chesapeake Bay and boarded the Auto Train to come home from Washington. (Thereby saving 800 miles). I do like to drive. Trying to sleep on the train was fun! Not all that successful, meaning we didn't sleep well, but great fun!
We visited the easternmost point of the US. On June 7th at 4:43AM we were the first blurry-eyed people standing on American soil to see the sun rise at Lubec, ME. Sunrise was gorgeous! We continued north to the northern end of the Bay of Fundy, Hopewell Cape, NB. This is where the tides rise to 40 feet depending on the cycle of the moon. This car drove up dirt roaded Mt. Washington to match driving up Pikes Peak the other year! We traversed green stamp roads like the Garden State Parkway, the New York Thruway and the Massachusetts Turnpike. In addition we traveled on US routes 1,2,3,4,5,6 and 7. All are in New England. We searched out three Norman Rockwell museums.
We drove the 1991convertible so we could do our rubbernecking "top down". That really didn't work 'cause we took too much stuff! We did drive top down one day but decided it really was too much work to repack the car to go top down. Next time we won't take so (nasty word) much stuff! As it was, we sent a heavy box home from Provincetown!
Nothing broke this trip. The car still has the same 4 tires, battery, alternator an' all that good stuff we started out with. We saw gasoline at $1.98.9! The white car has the L-98 engine with the automatic transmission. It's pure stock, but traveling 400 miles on a tank of gas is normal. (Checking the mpg showed low to mid 20ies). Yes, you better believe we were looking at gas price signs as we were going down the Interstates! The car now has over 81k miles, 52k of 'em are ours.
What's up next? Labor Day at Bowling Green, after going to Cleveland to work on the '65!
Bob
- Bob Ellis
CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE
Ramblings from the Road
Well, the results are in. Autoweek magazine just released their 12th annual "America's Best" survey. Corvette placed #2 overall behind BMW and #1 for the second year in a row in the American Cars category. Here's the top 10 in American Iron (last years results are in parens):
1 (1) Chevrolet Corvette
2 (3) Ford F-150
3 (6) Dodge Viper
4 (7) Ford Mustang
5 (10) Ford Focus
6 (5) Lincoln LS
7 (4) Cadillac Seville
8 (9) Ford Taurus
9 (8) Chrysler PT Cruiser
10 (2) Chrysler 300M
The poll was taken by a survey directly mailed to 1% of Autoweek's subscribers and also via a poll on the internet. The results of the two sources provided slightly different results.
Interesting statistics? Nearly 1/5 of the respondents said performance is the single most important factor in their new car purchase decisions. And (get this!), not one respondent listed fuel economy as a paramount concern in his or her decision to buy a particular car.
Age demographics were interesting as well. I've included the #1 pick in each age group (GM should appreciate this). Autoweek broke down their respondents by age and percent of total response as follows:
18-24 15% Corvette
25-34 24% Corvette
35-44 20% Corvette
45-54 23% Corvette
55-64 12% Corvette
65-74 3% Corvette
Full details appear in this month's Autoweek, and on the website at www.autoweek.com.
Closer to home. I'd like to thank everyone for an outstanding show of support for the NCM at our June 21st meeting. We were able to sell $290.00 in raffle tickets that night to support the NCM! The winner of the free NCM membership was Roger Schwartz, who promptly turned around and presented the NCM membership to son Eric. Now THAT'S support! So far this year, CFCA has contributed over $500.00 to the NCM in this year's raffle. There are still a few tickets remaining to be sold - see me at a meeting!
How about member photos on our website? From '59 to '01, we're more than 50% there! I did a quick count and see that we currently have 77 member car photos posted on our members page. Today, we have slightly over 130 Corvettes in our club. Let's collect photos of them all - contact our webmasters for details!
Half-Time is over. The second half of our year has begun. Now things really get going. Fall homecomings, OctoberVettes, Islamorada, and what else? That's up to you - it's time to give your Board suggestions for what you'd like to plan for the rest of the year. There will be a Board meeting at the end of July to plan for events for the rest of the year. Be sure to take a few moments to jot down YOUR ideas and suggestions!
Easy reading on the net. Been through all the magazines already this month? Need more Corvette content to fuel the fire? Take a look at www.corvettemagazine.com for some interesting articles on Corvettes at LeMans, a ZR-1 vs. Z06 shootout, and be sure not to miss "Flashing the Double Zero" to learn what happens to the C5's HUD at 180MPH… 190MPH… and beyond.
Car of the Month. Here's a new feature I'll try to do periodically when space is available. I'll draw at random from our member photos posted on the website, so if your car isn't there yet, better get a photo to our webmasters pronto!
This month, we'll feature Marty Grove's 1967 Mossport Green convertible.
Marty is just completing many months with an engine rebuild, is about to drop the engine back in, and promises to let us see the result real soon!
That's all for now. See you on the road.
Gary
- Gary Wollenhaupt
NATIONAL CORVETTE MUSEUM NEWS
To help commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Corvette, the National Corvette Museum will have it's third National Corvette Caravan. At this time a final date has not been set pending information from Chevrolet. It is anticipated that the caravan will be the last of June 2003. This will be the event of a lifetime for Corvette enthusiasts! Be sure to keep up to date as plans evolve at http://www.nationalcorvettecaravan.com. There is even a web site devoted to the Florida contingent of the carvan, chaired by Susan Barton. See http://www.floridacorvettecaravan.com.
The NCM now offers a mailing list service to allow you to keep current on NCM events and promotions. Check it out at: http://www.corvettemuseum.com/ncmnet/index.htm
NEW! NCM Members-Only section of the NCM website! It's a special area to introduce members to hot news, Corvette Store specials, event updates, special offers, and Museum information. A members-only mailing list as well as exciting updates will be made available through this special site before it is made available to the general public. To access this site, you must be a current member of the NCM in good standing. For details, see: http://www.corvettemuseum.com/members/
One of the features of the newly redesigned website is information on the recently announced 2002 Corvette and an interview with Sam Winegarden, chief engineer for GM Powertrain's small block team, as he discusses the new 2002 LS6. Be sure to visit and check out: http://www.corvettemuseum.com/specs/2002/index.shtml
Slightly over 20% of CFCA members are also NCM members. Let's raise that percentage in 2001! Become a member!
The National Corvette Museum was built by and continues to grow thanks to its members; members who believe in its mission of preserving the past, present and future of the Corvette.
For more information, please contact the NCM at 800-53-VETTE (800-538-3883). The National Corvette Museum is a nonprofit foundation exempt from federal income taxation under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions to the National Corvette Museum are tax deductible as provided by law.
Gary
- Gary Wollenhaupt, NCM Ambassador
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