CORVETTE GAZETTE
June, 2008
The next club meeting: at the Golden Corral, Dothan. We dine at 6:00 p.m.
PCB Caravan '08 photo by Charley
IN THIS ISSUE:
National Corvette Museum
Tech Tips
New Members
Events approaching and departing
Check out our website at www.circlecitycorvettes.com
Well there's another Beach Caravan in the books and this chapter will be all
about the rain on Friday and the auction total for Saturday evening.
This was the first caravan that I've been in that rained for most of the
drive down to PCB. Fortunately there were no incidents and with a little
elbow grease all the cars were looking great for the Tommy Thomas display.
Congratulations to Rick Early! That's a B-E-A-U-TIFUL RED 08 ZO6 that you
got while we were there. Yes I am jealous, and am I the only guy who didn't
get to drive it !!!? :)
Thankfully Saturday & Sunday turned out to be the usual beach weather,
bright & sunny.
The car display Saturday had some awesome looking cars and I'm glad I didn't
have to pick a favorite!
Well as usual Charley managed coerce, cajole & confiscate some great items
for the NCM Auction on Saturday evening. Needless to say Barrett-Jackson has
nothing on us! OK maybe not, but when we have just a little ol' get together
for Corvette lovers we do great things! When everything is said & done we
will have raised approximately ------ (drum roll please)-------$15,000.00!!!!!
Some of the older members can correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that is
an all time high for our club. Thank You ALL for making this happen.
I can't say thank you enough to all our members that helped make this
event happen. Our results show that we are doing it right. It may not always
be smooth but by God were going in the right direction!
To all our sponsors, we could not do what we do without you. Your support
is greatly appreciated and my wish is that it will continue for a long time
to come. Thank You!
That's all for this month so get out there and CRUISE! Enjoy our American
Icon!!!!
Save The Wave Ya'll
Kelly Walker-President-Circle City Corvette Club (BDCS)
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Click for the Museum Homepage: National Corvette Museum - opens in its own window.
The Museum Homepage has links to all museum pages!
Click here for Charley's NCM Newsletter page.
Greetings from your NCM Ambassador!
- Charley
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( Recovering from the trip !)
Upcoming Local Events:
June 7 - We’ll be meeting on highway 84 about halfway between Enterprise and Dothan at the Chevron station, co-located with a lawn mower shop (more details on this location at the June meeting). Lets plan to meet at 4:00. We will cruise south for about 30 minutes to the restaurant. Let’s call this a “Mystery Cruise” cause that’s all I’m going to tell you about the location for now!!
June 14th - some from the Emerald Coast club will be going to Breakaway Drag way in Fountain FL, about 25 north of PC.
July 12th (and 11th) - the Capitol City Corvette club (Montgomery) is having a car show. Also on the Friday night prior, they will be going to Montgomery Motorsports Park for some drag racing (Friday night Test and Tune).
August 1-3 - the Emerald Coast club will be making a trip to Helen GA. If you have never been there, Helen is a copy of a typical German town, complete with a crystal clear river running thru town. And you can rent floats (inner tubes) and float down the river.
Recent Events:
Beach Caravan 2008, a Salute to Wil
When Wil Cooksey took over the Plant Manager position at the Corvette
Assembly Plant in 1993 he knew that he could make the Corvette a world class
sports car. He had the education and skills that enabled him to teach his
employees to take pride in their work and work together as a team. His goal
was to produce a quality automobile second to none. More importantly he
could make the big GM brass let him do things his way and trust him that he
could not only produce a quality and first class sports car, but also make a
profit while doing it. Sales grew, and with the C5 came the prestigious J.P
Powers award. In a few short years Wil had made the Corvette no. 1 in
quality. Little did he know that with all of his accomplishments, being
known around the world, a towering 6'- 4" frame, and even having a Special
Edition Corvette bearing his name, he didn't have the power to say no to a
little lady from Circle City Corvettes.
This past month Circle City Corvettes held its 28th annual Beach Caravan from Dothan, AL to Panama City Beach, FL. Our Sponsors were Bill Cramer Chevrolet, Tommy Thomas Chevrolet, RTI Medical Solutions, Xtreme Motorsports, Fit-to-Go, Boyd Marine, and Prettyman Construction Company. The theme of this year's caravan was honoring the retirement of Wil Cooksey. Wil retired in March after 15 years of service as the Plant Manager of the Corvette Assembly Plant in Bowling Green, Ky. The design on the event shirts, gifts ranging from a photo album detailing Wil's involvement with Circle City Club members, a corvette golf club, and a card signed by all participants all paid tribute to Wil for his dedication to the Corvette. Wil has been very good to Circle City in the past and attended the event in 2005 and 2007. With his retirement and his wife's Liz's love for the beach, Wil gladly accepted Charley's invitation to come back this year this past January. However, with more free time on his hand, Wil also accepted an invitation to another fund raiser. One that Wil paid $1,500 for a table. Wil broke the news to Charley on April 25 at the B-Day Bash that he would not be able to attend the Beach Caravan due to the other event. Event shirts had been printed, gifts made and now the honoree wanted to cancel. Charley in a polite but very stern voice said as she left the B-Day bash that she would see Wil in a couple of weeks in Dothan and left no doubt that she meant it. A couple of days later Wil called and told Charley that he had sold all of the chairs at his table and would be attending our event. Charley, though very relieved, did not let on to Wil as if the other event was an option.
The most satisfying comment from Wil as to why he came to our event over the charity function was that we made him feel like family, and you always put family first. Financially, this year's caravan was a great success. Both local charities and the Museum will prosper respectfully from the proceeds. Even the rain on Friday was not match to the way the event went off. Several club members contributed their talents and resources to make this year special. Memories were made that will last forever. The sox hop Thursday evening was beyond anyone's (except maybe Janice & Gregg's) expectation. I have never seen so many smiles on people's faces at one time. To see people from Atlanta, Tallahassee and club members dressed up like the 50's & 60's and having fun set the tone for the whole weekend. Giving away the door prizes for contest participants took away any chance for boredom as we have had in the past when calling out number after number. Special thanks to Randy McClure and Andy Gibbens for giving their part of the 50/50 back to be donated as the club sees fit. The fun times continued on Friday. Not only were the hot dogs and hamburgers good at Tommy Thomas, we had additional excitement as club member and sponsor Rick Early purchased a bright red 2008 Z06 right off the show room floor. Talk about making a sponsor happy. The evening consisted of participants either relaxing and dinning aboard the Lady Anderson Dinner Cruise boat or enjoying the dj and "no see um's" at the Pavilion. Both groups had a wonderful evening. Saturday brought sunshine, great seminars by Tom Peters and Kirk Bennion, a corvette display, Tom letting participants drive the 2009 Z06, and the banquet. I commend you all for a job well done. Even though the auction lasted until 10:30, I heard no complaints. Sunday morning was full of congratulations from our guest and participants on another great event, "can't wait until next year" and most importantly, a smile and two words, "Thank you".
I know I would leave someone out, so I am not going to try to list names. But thanks to all of you who made this year so special. I would like to recognize Andrew Countryman who made his first actual ride on the caravan. In the past Andrew was receiving his dialysis treatment as we rode to the beach. Isn't life wonderful? I have to mention Vel Bowens who made me forget just how tired I was Thursday. Vel manned the museum store as if she had been doing it forever. It was so good seeing a new club member so excited about being a part of the caravan experience.
Plans for next year have already started. The dates of May 14 - 17 have been confirmed by the hotel and Kirk has already confirmed that he will be back. I will be planning a trip to the museum this summer and will advise the dates as soon as Wendell lets me know what weekends he recommends. I encourage as many of you as possible to attend. Thanks again for your support, talents and friendship. You, are what makes the caravan such a success.
Caravan Event Shirts For Sale
We have a few club and several participant event shirts left over from the Caravan for sale. These will be on sale at the meeting for $5 each.
John Hickman
Caravan Coordinator
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Birthdays and
Anniversaries:
7 Kelly Walker
8 Russ Smedley
14 Debbie Hussey
20 Teedy Lummus
28 Charlotte Kloos
28 Carl Shea
7 Terry & Colette Weldon
17 Rob & Kitty Eggleston
29 Michael & Stacy Griffin
30 Bill & Jackie James
30 Jimmy & Gail Leonard
For Sale:
Here are some of the items I have for sale : These are for a C5 Corvette.
Delrin Hardbar Shift Knob with Corvette Logo in top
$25.00 click here for link to see item
http://www.lgmotorsports.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1549
C5 Corvette front spoiler ends., Both Ends !! These
are the black plastic pieces that get rubbed on curbs. New in Original
Packaging from GM. $20.00 for both ends. Here is link to image of one of
the end pieces
http://tinyurl.com/6eunha
C5 Corvette inner door latch pull handles and
complete assembly that goes inside of door and replacing whole mechanism
so if you have one going bad from use. I think all of them are black or
at least these are.
I have both sides new in packaging and are great if you have some
scratched up from finger nails or rings when opening doors. $25.00 for
both.
C5 Corvette rear lowering Bolts. New and never used. Heavy Duty with locking nuts. $10.00
C6 Corvette stock black shift boot ….free if you want it. Probably fit a C5 also.
2005 C6 Corvette Radio and AC Control knobs , black. Free if you want them.
All can be picked up at my home in Dothan. Will not ship.
call me at 334/673-9284 bring cash
Tom
Tom McAlister, tmcalister (at) sw.rr.com or
www.nationaldiecasters.com
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President:
Kelly
Walker
Vice
President: Bill James
Secretary: Barbara Pattberg
NCM
Ambassador: Charley
Robertson
Treasurer: Bruce Carter
Caravan Coordinator: John
Hickman
Local Event Coordinator: Bruce
Carter
Newsletter
Editor: Bruce Carter
Member at Large: Jackie
James
Member at Large:
Charlotte Countryman
Webmaster: Brent Gourley
Save the Wave