Corvette Chatter

Corvette Memphis Inc.

www.corvettememphis.org

April 2008 newsletter

Doug Turner, President, 755-2626

Tina Caronna, Vice President, 381-4267

Deborah Hochstein, Secretary

Susan Allen, Treasurer, 901-521-9321

Ann Hamblin, Membership Chair, 901-491-7232

Sherrye Willis, Officer at Large, 291-4125, sjwmphs@comcast.net

Sherrye Willis, Shirley Jones – Newsletter

It’s a Secret!!

Norm & Shirley Jones won’t reveal the destination, but they want you to come anyway.

It’s a Mystery Driving Cruise May 17. Meet at Appling and Hwy 70 at 8:45 a.m. Come with a full tank of gas. And plan to be out driving, seeing, and eating until late afternoon. For additional information call 377-9448 or nanacaleb@earthlink.net

Super Chevy Show

Gray Locke invites all Club members to attend the three-day Super Chevy Show Apr. 18-20 at Memphis Motorsports Park. There will be drag racing, a used items corral and a cookout Friday and Saturday for Club members. If you have items you want to sell, let Gray know --- 359-2168. For parking, look for the Corvette canopies in the grass near the swap meet.

Please Note: May Mystery Dinner Cruise Change

The meeting location for May 7 will be Sears Wolfchase Mall instead of the Agricenter parking lot.

May 8^th – 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. – Senior Expo at the Agricenter. Club members are encouraged to show their cars during this event. In charge person is Fritz Crombie, 754-8066

May 16th – 18^th – Year One Experience, Road Atlanta and Atlanta Drag way. Joe Underwood, 731-2211.

June 7^th – One-day car show in Blytheville, AR. Nine club members have committed to attend this one-day drive about an hour north of the new bridge. Meet at the NE corner of the Pyramid at 8 a.m., leave at 8:30 a.m. sharp. City police will meet Show participants at the city limits of Blytheville and escort them into the Show area. The day will be filled with food, music, cars, and door prizes. Contact Joe Sluder, 755-7182.

June, July or August – Request for volunteers. To all of you guys with really neat or unique garages who would like them to be included on the upcoming Garage Tour, please contact Fritz Crombie, 754-8066. After four or five garages are offered, a date agreeable to the most participants will be chosen and the Club notified. It will be a fun event and the ladies are welcome to join the guys. Coffee and donuts will be available at the first stop and a potluck or cook out lunch is a possibility at the last stop. Details to follow.

Coming This Summer …

*** Corvettes at the Drive-in *** Redbirds Game

*** Comedy Club *** Pool Party

Any Club member or members who can coordinate these events or be on a committee should contact vice president Tina Caronna, 482-8422.

Regular Monthly meetings, events

1^st Wednesday Mystery Dinner Cruise, meet, 6:30 p.m. Sears Wolfchase, just for May. Regular meeting location is the Agricenter parking lot.

2^nd Tuesday Monthly Corvette Memphis meeting, 7 p.m., Bill Heard Chevrolet, 4605 Bailey Station, Collierville.

3^rd Thursday Cordova Sonic Cruise-in.

3^rd Saturday East End Cruise-in for St. Jude, 7956 Winchester Rd.

March, April Happenings

Wednesday Mystery Cruise

The Wednesday Mystery Dinner Cruise for April was another success thanks to Len Hudson. It was a beautiful evening and eleven couples all in their corvettes cruised the winding back roads of Shelby County to Corky’s in Collierville. We enjoyed a lot of good conversation and a great meal.

Joy McDowell

CORVETTE EXPO – SEVIERVILLE, TN

With CORVETTE “Spring Fever” in the air, an enthusiastic group of Corvette Memphis members made the 6-½ hour drive from Memphis to Sevierville - the “new” home for both the Spring and Fall Corvette Expo events (formerly located in Knoxville).

Those making the drive included Steve & Julia Wilson, George & Joy McDowell, Gary & Pat Hathaway, Gray & Patty Locke, Joe & Tina Caronna, Bill & Diane Allen, Stan & Carolyn Rhodes, and Bob Salley.

This year, the 31^st Annual Event was held Friday and Saturday, March 28-29. However, most of the Spring Expo CMI attendees made the I-40 trip to Sevierville on Thursday the 27^th to get an early preview of Corvette “stuff,” and hopefully, take advantage of the “early bird gets the parts” theory during the designated Vendor set-up day! Of course, the ladies who accompanied the guys were also able to get a jump-start on their Outlet Mall shopping spree, too! As expected, following the “early” Expo site preview and the mall-shopping fling, our next order of business was dinner (of course)! Tina Caronna coordinated the evening’s arrangements for our group to meet and eat at a local eatery, Puelo’s Grille - OUTSTANDING food, service, and very reasonable prices!

On Friday, March 28, the group met for breakfast at the Cracker Barrel (which is located next door to the hotel), and then it was off to the “official” opening of Expo and a day of shopping for everyone. The overnight weather brought some rain to the area, and the early morning skies remained overcast with light drizzle that eventually gave way to partly cloudy skies and occasional sunshine with comfortable temperatures. As for the Expo event, there were many nice (and a few not-so-great) vehicles “for sale” in the Sales Corral, some absolutely outstanding high-dollar Show Cars located in the new Events Center, and a reasonable amount of parts vendors with “stuff” for sale (unfortunately, for some folks there were more “new” parts available than “old” parts from the vendors).

Volunteer Chevrolet of Sevierville was the new title sponsor this year, and for the folks who drove their Vettes to Spring Expo, the local Chevrolet dealer sponsored a “Corvettes Cruise The Smokies” event. The Corvettes left the Events Center on Friday at 6-PM and cruised the foothills of the Great Smokey Mountains. The Spring Expo cruise took a different direction from the one last Fall - the 50-mile drive was designed to last a little over an hour. The event was planned to terminate at the Volunteer Chevrolet location with a free BBQ dinner provided by the Chevrolet dealer! The people who participated in the Great Smokey Mountain Cruise said they really enjoyed the drive!

For our Friday night dining pleasure, the CMI group chose several different locations, partially because the area offers many excellent eating choices - but, everyone wanted to ensure they were somewhere that they could see and enjoy Tiger Basketball!

Once again, the overnight weather was rainy, and the light showers continued into early Saturday morning, accompanied by temperatures cool enough to warrant a wind breaker or light sweater; but, by mid-morning, the skies began to clear. At 11-AM, a car auction by the Thompson-Carr Auction company offered a number of “low” and “high” quality vehicles for bidding purposes. It appeared that many of the vehicles with a “high” Reserve did not sell extremely well during the auction; but, apparently some were “sold” by their owners following the auction, and before the 31^st Annual Expo event closed on Saturday evening. As expected, “No Reserve” vehicles moved well, but the selling prices were only “average.” It should be noted that all Sellers paid an auction Registration Fee that ranged from $150 to $200, depending on the Seller’s desire for a “Prime Time” number. All Buyers paid their “winning” bid, plus a 5% “Buyer’s Fee” and the sales tax.

About mid-day Saturday, some of the CMI Spring Expo attendees began the I-40 trip back to Memphis - glad to know that CORVETTE “Spring Fever” had arrived! For anyone desiring to attend the Fall Expo event in Sevierville, the new hotel facility (which is located on the same site as the Corvette Expo event) is scheduled for a mid-to-late Summer Grand Opening. Although the new hotel accommodations and rates are not published yet, there will likely be “vacancies” for you at our usual hotel location – and, “we’ll leave the lights on for you,” too! The dates for the Fall Corvette Expo in Sevierville are October 17-18, 2008. Once again, a Corvette “only” cruise is planned for the Great Smokey Mountains on Friday evening (10/17); and, Saturday, October 18, the Cooper Events promoter has added judging by the NCRS-SE Chapter - plan to be there!

Steve Wilson

OUR FIRST-EVER BRUNCH

Turned out to be a beautiful day for our first-ever Brunch. After years of Progressive Dinners it was suggested that we do a Brunch. I believe everyone who attended thought that it was a nice change from the regular Progressive Dinner.

We first met at the home of Sally and David Freeman in Southaven where we were served a wide variety of brunch items (i.e. quiches, shrimp, sausage and biscuit, pork and biscuit, salads, fruit, donut holes, etc.). There were approximately 40 people in attendance. The weather was nice and many were able to eat outside. Special thanks to the Freemans for opening their home to us. Also, a special thanks to Julia and Joy for helping clean the kitchen afterwards as they so often do and are never formally thanked.

Our next stop was at Jan and Paul Ferguson’s in Arlington. The distance between the two houses made for a nice Sunday drive. At the Ferguson’s we were served desserts, which consisted of homemade cinnamon rolls, bread pudding, monkey bread, fruit, etc. Again, thanks to the Ferguson--s for the invitation to their home.

We wish everyone could have attended. We missed those of you who were not able to attend.

Shirley Jones

April monthly meeting

Visiting at the monthly meeting were Angie Merryman from Collierville who has a ’98 triple black convertible and John Knight from Olive Branch who has an ’08 Vette with 1500 miles. Following the meeting most in attendance drove to Chili’s in Collierville for dinner, arranged by Joy and George McDowell.

Who’s Who in Corvette Memphis

Jim & Ann Hamblin live in Southaven and Jim has been a member of the club eight years. They are from Memphis and Jim has three sons, 20, 26, and 32. His interest in Corvettes started when he went shopping for a Mustang and the rest is history, he said. He first owned a ’64 roadster and still owns a ’54 Vette. The farthest he’s driven his car is 80 miles.

Cathy Gardner has been a member of Corvette Memphis since she moved to Arlington from Kansas City three years ago, with her career in the accounting field. She has five grown children and four grandchildren. Cathy’s interest in cars first came from her father and older brother, then from all of the terrific muscle cars of her high school/college era. Her first Corvette was a white ’62 (both tops, red interior, 340 hp and 4-speed) that she bought in college from the girl that had bought it new. Seven Corvettes later, she now owns a 50^th Anniversary coupe, and a 2000 Silver coupe. Her longest trip in a Corvette was on her honeymoon, in their ’68 Corvette coupe with a Captain America (red, white & blue) paint job. They went from Kansas City to New Orleans, around the Gulf Coast to Ft. Myers Beach, across Alligator Alley to Miami Beach to Orlando & Disney World to Daytona Beach to the Blue Ridge Mountains and home again. “It was like three weeks in the cockpit of a jet fighter, with suitcases tied on the luggage rack,” she said, “but a fun trip to remember always!”

Barry & Deidre Baker came to Memphis via Beckley, WVA and Dublin, Ireland. They live in Germantown and have been in the club two years. Barry is VP of maintenance for Pinnacle Airlines and Deirdre is a part-time office worker. They have two children and a ’05 Vette. The farthest they’ve driven their car is 2000 miles.

(If you have not completed a questionnaire to share details about your Corvette life, please contact Sherrye Willis for the form so you can be included in a future newsletter. sjwmphs@comcast.net, 291-4125)

Check the website frequently for updates on events, pictures of members, meeting minutes,

and links to other sites.

www.corvettememphis.com