Capitol City Corvette Club
Montgomery, Alabama
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Ambassador's Corner
Ambassador’s Corner
By O. J. Webster
As your NCM Ambassador, I am re-submitting this article with some updates for your reading pleasure and hopefully to get your “NCM juices” flowing. During the first few years of the Capitol City Corvette Club we had a club newsletter for which I wrote an “Ambassador’s Corner” article each month. The following is the second of those articles. I have updated it from the original version for appropriateness, since ten years and 19 additional visits have elapsed since I originally wrote it. As you read this article, please remember this was written immediately after returning from my second visit to the NCM in April, 1999. The emotions and memories expressed in this article were life changing for me, and I think they are worth sharing with the Corvette community once again. I still experience most of those emotions every time I pull into the NCM parking lot.
In April of 1999 I attended the second annual C5 Birthday Celebration hosted by the C5 Registry and National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Attending this function provided some experiences I thought would be interesting to all Corvette enthusiasts.
My association with the C5 Registry and the National Corvette Museum began in March 1998, shortly after taking delivery of MY FIRST CORVETTE. That’s when I attended the first C5 Birthday Bash at the NCM. To this day, that remains the most memorable and exciting weekend of my lifetime. While at this function, I joined the C5 Registry as member number W507. Today, the Registry has over 10000 members. .
That’s how it all started for me, but I want to share some of my observations, perceptions, emotions, and experiences from this particular visit to the NCM in celebration of the second annual C5 Birthday Bash. There were approximately 300 C5s and approximately 500 people in attendance. This group was the most positive, supportive, and energetic Corvette enthusiasts I’ve ever met. I guess you could call it a “real Corvette Family Affair.”
Several of these folks have owned Corvettes for years, so it is safe to say there were thousands of years of Corvette experience in attendance. One individual from Ohio actually owned 9 Corvettes at the time. Several others owned multiple Vettes. Everyone had numerous stories and experiences and were willing to share them, as well as any advice and counsel desired. The spontaneous parking lot conversations, alone, made the trip worthwhile. There I was with 16 months of Corvette experience, right in the middle of all this. How could I not be absolutely obsessed with my Vette, when everywhere I turn, someone was offering ideas, or other pearls of wisdom that only comes from experience. I simply soaked up every bit of it, like a dry sponge suddenly exposed to water. An encounter I would not have had, if it were not for MY CORVETTE, the C5 Registry, and the National Corvette Museum!
One of the most memorable moments of the weekend occurred Friday afternoon at the Corvette plant. Approximately 400 of us went over to the plant and formed two lines at the employee exit doors. Some of us were armed with large posters that said, “Thanks for my C5,” “I love my C5,” “WE appreciate your great work,” etc. Others of us had a double handful of candy bars. Just inside the door, a few members were positioned to give each employee a C5 pin as a token of our appreciation. The pins were specifically developed for this occasion and provided by Mike Yeager of Mid America Designs. After receiving their pin, and passing through the door, the employees walked between two lines of Registry members, 50 to 75 yards long. The aforementioned signs were displayed enthusiastically, and the candy bars were given out graciously, while accompanied by “thank yous,” whistling, and applause like I have never heard. I personally witnessed a full gambit of emotions from the employees. There were tears, embarrassment, humor, bewilderment, and shock. There was a lot of appreciation displayed by everyone that day in Bowling Green. The plant manager stated that our gesture was a first in automotive manufacturing history, where a group of customers actually gathered at an assembly plant to thank the employees for their work. It was indeed a very touching moment for everyone involved, certainly a moment I will never forget. A moment I would not even had experienced if it were not for MY CORVETTE, the C5 Registry, and the National Corvette Museum!
I know some Corvette enthusiasts have never had the opportunity to meet, and talk one on one with Will Cooksey, the Corvette Plant manager, or Dave Hill, the chief engineer of the C5, or John Cafaro, the chief designer of the C5, or Jim Minnicker. Who is Jim Minnicker? He was the C5 power plant manager, and the co-driver of the Corvette entry in Car and Driver’s One Lap of America race, as well as the Chairman of the Board for the National Corvette Museum. I’m also certain most Corvette enthusiasts have never had the opportunity to meet and talk with John Heinrichy, a co-driver for the General Motors sponsored Corvette Racing Team. In addition, I’m sure most enthusiasts have never had the opportunity to sit down with John Lingenfelter and Chuck Mallet to discuss Corvette performance issues. I experienced all of this in one short weekend. Once again, an experience I would not have had, if it were not for MY CORVETTE, the C5 Registry, and the National Corvette Museum!
As most of you know, I am now in possession of my second C5 and have been for over six years. After all this time, nothing has changed. Although most of the folks mentioned in the article are no longer in those positions, they were when the C5 was developed, and for that, they will always remain “larger than life” to most Corvette enthusiasts. As a matter of fact, most of them still come to every C5 Birthday Bash and their autographs remain the most sought after memorabilia of the weekend!
What am I saying? Enjoy your Corvette life to the fullest! Make every effort to get involved with Corvette organizations. Become an active member and take advantage of opportunities and experiences when they present themselves. I don’t know a lot of things, but one thing I know for sure, it always hurts to say, “Gee I wish I would’ve…”. I also know, buying my first C5, joining the C5 Registry and the National Corvette Museum, have given me a whole new understanding of “enjoying life to the fullest.” I love MY CORVETTE and all the ownership experiences it has provided for me. After all, it’s part of “keeping the legend alive.” SAVE THE WAVE, and keep the shiny side up!
