CORVETTES OF SONOMA COUNTY GENERAL MEETING MINUTES - JULY 21, 2009
Meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by President Cliff Johnston.
Cliff introduced the guests. Dick & Shelly Hummel. They have a 1964 Silver Blue Roadster. Joe & Diane Swart had their granddaughter Molly as their guest.
Cliff talked about the run to Grants Pass, Oregon. It was a lot of fun. Bob Beltzer won 2nd place in his C6 Class in the car show. Dottie Vonderhaar won the 50/50 drawing. Next year the Northern Oregon Corvettes will be having a run and it will be held in Sisters. Jeff & Kim's Fun Run to the Presidio was very nice
V.P.: Cliff gave a report on the swap meet. Everything seemed to go fine.
Treasurer: Tom gave the report of monies taken in and expenses paid out.
Secretary: Joe Swart made a motion to approve the minutes. It was seconded by Vickie Johnston. Motion was passed.
Publicity: No report
P.R.: No Report
Property: Ralph hasn't sold out the clothing and license plate holders. Some of the items in the catalog have been discontinued. He has catalogs you can browse if you want to order clothing.
Social: AUGUST 9 - Kevin is planning a Fun Run to Mare Island. He will have Margaret send out an email as to time and place of departure.
AUGUST 15 - The Club has been invited to show their cars at the Grand Opening of Platinum Chevrolet in Santa Rosa from 10:00 - 3:00. There will be food, drinks, and music. The Chevy Club will also be invited. Meet at Long's parking lot at 9:30 am.
Webmaster: Lonnie said the website is up to date.
Sunshine: Carol announced that Bob Hirsch has completed having chemo and he says hello. If you know of any member who is ill please email or call Carol Thompson.
Historian: Bruce has updated the photo album. He has been busy taking pictures at all the socials.
Old Business: Jerry Courteau reported on the Corvettes of Lake Tahoe run. There were 5 cars from our Club. Rich McColgan won 1st, Victor Vitti won 1st, Jerry Courteau won 2nd, and Butch Nordin won 3rd in their respective class. Jerry & Rich went to the NCRS convention in San Jose and Jerry's ZR1 won 1st in his class.
New Business: Joe Swart talked about the Nethercutt Museum in Slymar. It was very impressive and well worth going to see.
For Sale: Barry Sigel has wheels for a C6
Raffle: Money won by Gene Reise and Name Tag drawing won by Barry Sigel
Meeting was adjourned at 7:45 pm,
Respectfully submitted: Toni Kastanis, Secretary Pro-team.
B-days and Anniversaries:
Birthdays for August: Mary Varela Arlene Leal Jim Decker
Anniversary's: Frank and Myra Lazio Bruce and Carol Thompson Ralph and Margaret Hadden Rich and Joan McColgan
Tony and Mary Varela Pete and Toni Kastanis
Jerry and Sue Courteau Larry Ligon and Gwen Cauthren
My Last Hot Rod?
Probably not. My cousin (a Chevy salesman) had been wetting my appetite for cars by feeding me his previous years’ Chevy sales books since I was 6 years old. And then he took me for a ride in a new 1953 Corvette. The love affair for hot cars and Corvettes began.
I built my first “hot rod” when I was 17. It was a Tudor, 57’ Ford sedan with three on the floor and a six cylinder engine that I rebuilt along with its front-end in my buddy’s driveway. I painted the engine purple with white bolt heads and had the exterior painted a bright blue balanced with chrome rims on the rear and E.T. mags up front. It provided great memories while I cruised “the Main” in Walnut Creek and went to Diablo Valley Junior College. I began to feel the need for speed.
My buddy loaned me his 1967 split-window Corvette to get married in. I remember that Corvette fondly with its unleashed speed tearing across the Nevada desert.
After hiring on at Hewlett Packard in Palo Alto, I added a Triumph 500 Daytona motorcycle to my stable. I lost the second and third of my nine lives on that bike in the upper reaches of Page Mill Rd. and Skyline Blvd. I sold the 57’ Ford and bought a 66’ Malibu SS along with my first garage (including a house conveniently attached). The Malibu fed my need for speed with a 375 HP 396, Muncie 4-speed and positraction rear end. Although I couldn’t pass up many gas stations, it was the first vehicle where I experienced the feeling of “G” forces when accelerating. I had it painted with 30 coats of purple hand rubbed lacquer, stripped off much of the extraneous chrome and painted accent areas flat black. I went through a lot of clutches and learned how to rebuild Muncies in my sleep. Becoming addicted to speed.
I added a 1967 VW Bug to my stable and promptly blue printed and hot rodded the engine, storing cleaned or machined parts spread over my living room floor protected with white sheets. Formed the exclusive Santa Barbara Street Racers Association with two other, next-door hot rodders and terrorized my Santa Clara neighborhood. Somewhere in this period I traded my wife for the single life in the fast lane. Felt the need for more speed.
A buddy dropped out of the blue with an early fuel injected Corvette ragtop. It was the fastest wheels I had experienced. The yearning continued.
I added a Kawasaki 1000cc LTD. motorcycle to my stable and promptly lost two more of my nine lives, one at over 130 MPH while experiencing my first high speed wobble – I saw my life flash before me for the second time. High speeds seemed to lose some luster as I began to feel mortal. But Fremont Drag Strip was in its heyday. I still felt the need for more speed.
I sold the Malibu to purchase a 1987 Dodge Van custom painted by the factory in Plum Crazy purple. I quickly added headers and the right sounding mufflers. Friends easily recognized when I was in town. It was a legend of some kind.
Found the right woman and moved my stable to Santa Rosa. Sold the motorcycles, VW bug, purple van and bought a new 95’ Z28 Camaro w/6 speed and an LT1 engine. I modified the Z28 every winter for speed and handling. Felt the need for more speed.
Purchased my 4th Master Craft ski boat, this time with an LT1 Corvette engine. It turned out to be the quickest accelerating ski boat I’ve driven. This Corvette thing was beginning to rise in my consciousness.
Added a 500 sq. ft. shop to my Santa Rosa home along with a car lift and endless car tools. Felt the need for more speed.
I retired so I could spend additional time searching for more speed. Last year that “right woman” (Gwen) told me to quit screwing around with these imaginary fast cars and just get a new Corvette. I took her advice, found the speed I needed - 2009 Jet Stream blue, six-speed, C6 Corvette.
Now, thanks to So Co Corvettes, I have found new friends that have traveled similar roads in their quest for more speed.
Larry and Gwen
P.S. – I’m now having these strange dreams and all I can remember are the letters ZR1...
