December, 2016
EDITORS NOTE:
Our President has gone AWOL so I am sending this out without his message. He must still be having computer problems. I know he would tell
everyone to have a wonderful Christmas
and Happy New Year.
I will not be sending out a newsletter.
For the months of January and February.
will be sending out an abbreviate newsletter for March. If you have anything
you want included in the March newsletter, please email it to me.
I
Have a great time at the Christmas Party
and have a wonderful holiday season.
Your Editor—Paula Down
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President:
Marc Amante
9580 Oriole Dr
Coopersville, MI 49404|
616-837-0565
[email protected]
Treasurer
Annette Kogut
12600 White Creek Ave. N.E
Cedar Springs, MI 49319
(276) 591-8224
[email protected]
Newsletter Editor & Webmaster
Paula Down
8502 Carriage Lane
Portland, MI 48875
(616) 780-0815
[email protected]
VP of Competition
Secretary
Gail Schuiling
1330 Webster NW
Grand Rapids, MI 49504-2954
(616) 446-6569
[email protected]
Governor
Jeff Janus
6650 Twin Springs Ct.
Rockford, MI 49341
(616) 560-5200
[email protected]
VP of Membership:
Todd Tamminga
2625 Cedar Grove South
Jenison, MI 49428
(616) 669-8718
[email protected]
Kool Chevrolet Club Sponsor
3770 Plainfield NE
Grand Rapids, MI 49525
Phone 616-364-9431
GRAND VALLEY CORVETTE ASSOCIATION
GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
November 10, 2016 – Branns on Leonard St.
President Marc called the meeting to order at 7:20 pm with board members Todd, Jill, Gail and Marc present along
with 14 members. Great news about our member Roger Gabbert doing much better and a great picture of him and
his car posted on Facebook. Roger and Char’s goal is to make it to our Christmas Party. Go Roger!!
Roger Davis has agreed to pay $1000 for our club trailer. The money from that sale is to be earmarked charity per
original motion by Jim Westerhuis. Much discussion was heard about the matter and Marc will research that issue
and get back to membership with his findings and resolution to the situation.
There will be no regular membership meeting in December, January or February. The two open board positions
have been filled by Todd agreeing to remain membership and Annette Kogut will be our new Treasurer.
Secretary’s Report: Accepted as pr esented in the newsletter .
Treasurer’s Repor t: J ill r epor ted both Kevin Smith and Paul Kissel’s bricks have been paid for. There was
some confusion on what is to be on the future bricks. It is agreed only the members name and years along with
GVCA should be on them. This matter will be resolved by President Marc before future bricks are purchased.
This needs to be resolved soon as Chuck Honeycutt’s wife may want a brick for him.
Membership Report: Todd r epor ts we have lost sever al member s and ar e cur r ently at 92 member s.
Old Business: The Color Tour was the day after our last meeting. Cor y r epor ted a good time was had by all
that attended.
Lots of great ideas were exchanged at the Power Lunch. All the ideas were sent out on our web site and emailed to
our members. President Marc will review those ideas and follow up on this over the winter months.
Members are asked to bring an unwrapped gift for Toys for Tots to the Christmas Party which is a long standing
tradition of the club. It was suggested the President get a flyer out to membership covering the details of the party
like hours, location and White Elephant gift exchange for each person attending. There was no food sign-up sheet
available but members are asked to each bring a dish to pass an appetizer, salad, main dish or dessert. The club will
provide ham.
Remember the Short’s Party will be held December 28 at “Home Team” on Remembrance at 6:30 til 9:30. Members are “strongly encouraged” to “wear your shorts”. A voice of experience shared that the “other patrons” or otherwise known as “civilians” really enjoy seeing us come in with our shorts on. Please let Denny or Char Link
know if you will be attending so he can give Home Team a heads up.
New Business: Ty Mason will be hosting a Daytona party at his place on Sunday, February 26, 2017.
Meeting was adjourned at 8:12 pm
Respectfully submitted,
Gail Schuiling, Secretary
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CALENDAR OF EVENTS
DECEMBER
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GVCA Christmas Party: - BYOB 6:00 pm at the Rockford Log Cabin—See flyer
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No General Membership Meeting this month
GVCA Shorts Party at Home Team (for mer ly Beer 30) 6:30 p.m..
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JANUARY
No General Membership Meeting or newsletter this month
all info will be sent by email
FEBRUARY
No General Membership Meeting or newsletter this month
all info will be sent by email
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Daytona Party at Ty Mason’s
MARCH
9
General Membership Meeting resumes at Branns on Leonard Street
APRIL
13
General Membership Meeting
MAY
11
General Membership Meeting
8
General Membership Meeting
13
General Membership Meeting
AUGUST
10
General Membership Meeting
JUNE
JULY
21-25
NCCC convention will be in Bowling Green KY
All bold items are GVCA sponsored events
Michigan Region of NCCC Corvette Clubs Home Page and Link to Calendar
http://www.michcorvette.org/index.html
Cards and get well wishes or expressions of sympathy, please contact
Jan Czerney at ([email protected])
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Hello Everyone,
About 25 members attended the Power Lunch on October 22nd at Play Station Pub. Mary W. and Char L. were kind enough to
log the ideas that were presented and that are summarized below:
1. NCC Convention, Bowling Green, KY, 8-21/25-17. Contact Jeff Janus.
2. Corvette Adventure, Wisconsin Dells, WI, 6-7/10-17. Contact Jill Mieras.
3. Spring Trip to Elkhart Lake, WI, 5-19/20-17. [Vintage Sports Car Racing] Contact Jeff Janus.
4. Mentoring program for new members to get them involved in sanctioned events.
5. N.A.I.A.S Detroit Auto Show, 1-21/22-17. Contact Sally Rynberg.
6. Burger Wars in colder months, with steel cars.
7. Follow-the-Leaders during the summer driving season.
8. St. Ignace Car Show, 6-22/25-17, K-Royale Hotel.
9. Corvette Cross Roads, Mackinaw City, 8-24/27-17.
10. Halloween Party at Rockford American Legion.
11. "Escape Michigan." Mystery puzzle with group locked in a room in N.W. Grand Rapids. Contact Sally Rynberg.
12. MI Region Sanctioned Events. Members attend one Rally, Speed Event and Concourse during 2017.
13. Brann's meeting location. Eat by 6:00 to 6:30 p.m. Move meeting time to 7:30. Discuss at next meeting.
14. Offer free one-year GVCA membership to purchasers of Corvettes from local dealers.
15. Investigate Kent Co. Road Commission Highway Clean-up for one or two miles [including sign]
16. Make effort to have activities more centrally located in Kent Co.
17. Attend White Caps Baseball Game at 5/3 Park.
18. Attend Berlin Raceway event on a Saturday night.
19. Bowling event.
20. Road trip to Branson, MO.
21. Road trip making a reverse lap of Lake Michigan [counter clockwise]
22. Car care seminar with our own Curt Craven and his Curt's Car Care.
23. Daytona Watch Party at Ty's storage. 2-26-17.
5 Corvette Car Show]
24. Mid-America Motor Works Corvette Event in Effingham, IL [all
25. Tour Felt Mansion in Saugatuck.
26. Great Lakes Pub Cruiser in downtown G.R. [only small groups]
27. Tour Hackley House in Muskegon.
28. Low Country Boil at Gordy and Dawn's cottage. [Iffy in 2017 due to construction at their cottage]
29. Attend major out-of-state car show. Contact Marc Amante.
30. Photo Shoot including members and cars.
31. GVCA sponsor a Poker Run.
32. Publish GVCA Meeting Minutes within one week.
33. Publish Hard Copy of member list to fit GVCA Hand Book. New members should receive a package of info.
34. GVCA Member Lists on various websites should be audited for accuracy.
35. GVCA sponsor a Fun Rally on our own or co-sponsor with nearby club.
36. Shoreline Pub Run.
37. GVCA Shorts Party at Home Team Grill [formerly Beer:30] Wednesday, 12-28-16, 6:30 to 9:30.
38. St. Patrick's Day event, 3-17-17.
39. Test -n- Tune at Martin Drag way, 2017 dates to be announced.
40. Trailer Trash Party [what is a trailer trash party???]
41. GVCA Christmas party at the Rockford Cabin, Friday, December 2nd. [check newsletter]
42. If we attend Ada 4th of July Parade, Young's will host their pool party.
43. Ladies' Follow-the-Leader. Contact Pam Amante.
44. All members start wearing name badges at meetings and events.
45. Possibly not have our December meeting.
46. Paula Down offered to host a game night at their home in Portland, MI.
47. Have a 50th Year Reunion Party in summer of 2019 [GVCA will be 50 years old.] Need committee/volunteers to research approx. 560 members' whereabouts. Weekend event; various activities and a hotel location needed. Especially need input from
former Vice Presidents of membership.
48. Next GVCA General Membership Meeting at Brann's on Leonard St., 11-10-17, 7:00 p.m.
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My thanks to all the GVCA MEMBERS for passing on the infamous ELVIS VELVET on my
Birthday at the last "meeting"! He is on the wall! I'm so grateful to you all! What a special gift!
Thanks To All!
I feel so special!
Karen Young
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My First Car: 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air
Photo Courtesy of General Motors 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air
For decades, the first car has been a rite of passage for teenagers everywhere. It’s what comes immediately after getting your driver’s license. Nowadays the fever of owning a first car isn’t as desirable
to teenagers; technology seems to have eclipsed transportation. Generation X is probably the last
generation that held fast to the desire for a first car, but Baby Boomers were the luckiest when it
came to classic car choices for first cars.
Robin, an avid car enthusiast, sat down with me recently to talk to me about his love of classic cars.
He lamented the fact that the youth of today seem more interested in electronic devices as opposed to
cars, but he is making a point to spend time with his grandchildren to pass on the legacy of love for
classic cars. Robin had a great story about his first car, a ’57 Chevy.
In 1966, Robin had just turned 16. Soon after he acquired his license, Robin had the opportunity to
purchase his first car for $50. That’s right. Fifty Dollars.
“I bought this car from a neighbor that lived about two doors down the street from my parents house.
It was a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air, two-door. Today that would be considered a classic car. There’s no
question of it.”
I pressed him for more details about this this car. I mean, $50? What was the catch?
“My car, probably, is not in somebody’s garage as a classic car today, I would guess,” he told me.
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“This car had a lot of rust, the tires weren’t particularly good. In those days, a manual transmission
usually meant three-speed on the column. The guy I bought it from ripped that off and put a Hurst
3-speed floor shifter in. He didn’t worry too much about the other holes in the floorboard, so as
you were driving down the road you could see where you were going because you could see the
pavement; there were lots of holes in the floorboard. Not really good on a rainy day because the
water would splash up on you coming up through the floorboard as you drove down the road.
He also had never bothered to change the wiper blades, so when the wiper blades got bad, the supporting structure for the windshield wiper started digging into the windshield and you had these
big grooves cut in the windshield that could only be fixed by replacing the windshield. Well, who
can afford to do that on a fifty dollar car?”
Robin said owning this car was constantly an adventure for him, particularly since he was now
working as a cashier at a grocery store.
“I would drive this car to work always wondering ‘Will this car start when I leave or will it not
start?’ And some days it did and some days it didn’t. I don’t even really remember how I got it to
start when it wouldn’t. I probably had somebody push me and then I’d pop the clutch and get it
started that way,” he recalled.
Robin said that while the car had its share of headaches it at least lived up to what he paid for it.
And for a first car, what more could you ask for?
“The car just, you know, it ran and the windows rolled up and down, and that’s about all I can say
for it. This was not luxurious transportation. But again, you have to bear in mind the car cost fifty
dollars,” he said.
When asked how long he kept this car, he said that it wasn’t in his possession for very long.
“I kept the car about six months, and I sold it for $50. So fifty in, fifty out. I probably didn’t fix
anything. I put gas in it. It started occasionally, and I had some fun. So for fifty dollars you could
have done a lot worse,” he shared.
Well, it sounds like Robin got his money’s worth. And I’m sure the next owner did, too.
Erika Greenberg is a classic car lover. When she’s not busy working for promotorsales.com,
she spends time gathering stories from other car enthusiasts to share via podcast or article. If you
have a story you would like to share with Erika, you can reach her at [email protected].
Happy driving!
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