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How Was YOUR Wednesday?

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Story: Mike Woodings
Photos: Mike Woodings

Our club has always rolled out in large numbers for weekend activities and runs, and that is to be expected. You can’t spend all of your time doing chores, watching football or waiting for the sunset . No, I say! Leave that for the non-Corvette people.


Well then, what about the other five days of the week? They are just as beautiful as Saturday and Sunday, and there is some expensive gas in the tank. So I say let’s hit the road for a MID-WEEK run in our Vettes and the heck with work or television or whatever!

Wednesday, October 24th was just one of those days for 28 of our club people as we got together for such an escape to the Cold Springs Tavern for some driving fun and excellent eating.

It was also an excellent opportunity for Jim and Donna Webster to introduce their brand new 2019 Admiral Blue Grand Sport to the open road. 

Our fifteen Corvettes looked terrific all the way outbound on CA 126, north on US 101 and up the San Marcos Pass Road on CA154 as your “road captain lead the procession. At the summit, our trusted “mountain goat” Steve Turkheimer took the lead through the curves on Stagecoach Road on to our destination since he knew every curve and also to give him his choice of the few parking spots available.

San Marcos Pass is to most off the beaten track and the Cold Springs Tavern is almost off the grid, but it is top notch with their service, food and ambiance. Our Activities Committee made a great call putting this run on the schedule as a weekday destination.

The fortunate 28 in attendance for the hump-day run were: Jim & Donna Webster, Dick Meier and Leah Granen, Steve Hilton & Jo Ayers, Dave & Karen Jewett, Dan & Marcia Stern; Les Hershberger & Mami Wong, Steve & Judy Turkheimer, Shelia Percivalle and Linda Roselund, Tom & Judy Tomlinson, Don & Connie Ceo, Gene Schmidt, Brian de Avila, Jim & Maggie Bancroft and Mike & Judy Woodings.

   

An informal survey of all attendees was taken and their unanimous response indicated the continued viability of the Santa Clarita Valley Corvette Club…none of Wednesday’s caravanners had any relocation plans on their schedule or in mind!

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Taste of the Town – Another Chili Night

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Story: Judy Woodings
Photos: Mike Woodings

If you are one of the many Corvette family members here in Santa Clarita, you know this article has nothing to do with the weather…it does though have everything to do about the gathering of our fabulous friends and their Corvettes at Chili’s in Canyon Country.

As always, it’s exciting to get together and hear about the happenings in our club and each other’s lives. It’s our way of staying in touch and hey, at our age, much can happen in just a few days!

The food at Chili’s is always good and the portions are more than we should eat in one sitting. Then there might be dessert too. There are plenty of comfort food offerings to choose from.

Our attendance was down some this month with only fifteen in number, but the enthusiasm was still alive. We had two visitors in our midst, Bob and Donna Dunham who found us on the web and wanted to check us out. They commented that with such a great website, we must be a good club as well.

Taste-of-the-Town seems so easy for most of us – we are hungry, we show up, we eat and then we leave happy – in most cases. But for our Activities people it is: consider what restaurant, can it hold our numbers, make contact for our desired night, coordinate attendance numbers for staffing. You get the idea.

Let’s not forget to thank our Activities Committee members for the great job they do!

So until next time, in November our next TOT will take us to Yamato’s in Stevenson Ranch. Put that one on your calendar for a great time of visiting and dining out.

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Two Weekends – Two Homes – One Club

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Story:  Mike Woodings
Photos: Janene McDonald and Mike Woodings

Fall has arrived and backyard functions are once again great ideas with the sizzling temperatures a thing of the past until next year. October offered not one, but two opportunities for our club people to get together in the open-air surroundings to enjoy food and games and just plain fun.


Don and Connie Ceo opened their home to the club on October 13th for the third edition of Lasagna Night and social get together. Corvette people from near and far rolled in beginning at 4 PM and found their way to the Ceo’s splendid back yard to sample the refreshments and marvel at Don’s newly upgraded Corvette Bar.


There are some terrific cooks in our club as we all know from our potluck activities. The spread had plenty of main course entrees to compliment the lasagna and of course, there was no shortage of desserts either.

As the day transitioned into evening, the focus of the affair changed as well with many digging into their pockets and purses for some loose change to try their chances at the card tables.

Just a week later on October 20th, Ed and Deana Shaver put out the welcome mat for club members to enjoy an equally fun afternoon, and into evening get together, in their equally inviting yard and patio. More potluck offerings and plenty of desserts were available with the inevitable Acey-Deucy and Bunco games that were on hand to make or break the players.

Once again, there was an abundance of socializing and time to relax in another open-air get together.

Some say we “drive and eat”, but what we really do best is enjoy spending time with each other. Corvettes are wonderful, but not the only thing we have in common.

Many thanks to the Ceos and the Shavers for their hospitality and preparation for TWO weekend events this month. With the change of seasons upon us, we might miss the back-yard venues for a while, but we all hope they’ll be back!

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The Streets of Willow Springs

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Story: Jeff Hernandez
Photos: Jeff Hernandez

Mark Ware and I had been talking about doing some performance events/track days with the club for some time now, and here it is, Saturday, October 13, 2018!

Any time I have a fun day planned it’s hard to get sleep the night before. Tossing and turning all night, my brain racing, thinking … Do I have everything? Is my car ready? Am I ready? Going over in my head the checklist of things to bring, and not to bring!

I was awake at 3AM, an hour before the alarm was to go off! I was up, dressed, and out the door, ready for whatever the day may bring! But it was only 3:30, and it was raining, WTH, anyway! We were to meet at Denny’s at 5:15AM. I got there at 5AM, I saw Ron Nolan already sitting there, waiting! It was still raining, not looking too good. But we were determined. Shortly after that, Mark and Brian De Avila showed up. It was 6 o’clock, time to go. Steve Turkheimer pulled up just in time, and we were ‘off like a prom dress’!

A quick drive up Highway 14 to Rosamond and in no time we pulled into Willow Springs International Speedway! And no rain, the track is dry! We set up a base camp and about that time Steve Hilton showed up, the group was excited and ready to race!

On this day there was a lot of confusion at the track, it seemed that they had overbooked the track (in my opinion). There were 6 different ‘run groups’. Most of the time there are 3 run groups:

Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. This day they added 3 special groups: muscle cars, hot rods, and some crazy track vehicles.

After check in they held a Drivers Meeting. It’s very important to pay attention at the Drivers Meeting! This is where you get the Do’s and Don’ts and learn what the racecourse flags mean! In other words they are telling you NO KNUCKLE-HEADS on the track!

Our group got on the track for the first time at about 9 AM for a Lead/ Follow session. This is mostly for beginner’s to show them the track up close and show the best way around the track (the Line). This is led by an experienced driver. This is fun. You go fast enough to get a feel for things, and learn what to look for, like the Apex of the turn and Landmarks (like traffic cones placed at the apex).

Willow Springs was experiencing technical difficulties with their lap timing (transponder) system, so that delayed things. Once they got that operational, they opened the track session and, sure enough, someone’s car dumped oil on the track! Shut down again. Clean up on aisle 3, please! Then the lap timing broke again. All of this made for a long delay. Sorry, but this is racing, you just make the best of it!

Okay, back on the track and it’s our turn! And OH, BABY! What a blast! Much faster pace, quicker turns, oh yeah! After our session, we were back to the pits, everybody was amped up. We talked about our track experiences with each another, how we raced through the turns, catching up with other cars, and passing them! Definitely worth the wait! This is what it is all about. Friends having the time of their lives!

If you get a chance, just ask the guy’s about their Track Day experience, and maybe someday you will join us for the wild ride of your life!

Thanks to Mark Ware, Ron Nolan, Steve Hilton, Brain De Avila and Steve Turkheimer for coming out to play!

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SCVCC 2018 All Corvette Car Show!

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Story: Mike Woodings
Photos: Janene McDonald, Tony Munshi and Mike Woodings

The planning for our SCVCC All-Corvette Car Show 2018 began several month ago at out monthly board meeting where we discussed the charity choices for this year’s event and who would fill the positions on the show committee.  Our super-successful 2016 show was the logical place to begin and we soon found our past show workers were ready and eager to make the 2018 event bigger and better than ever. Still a year away from the next National Corvette Caravan, we had the time and desire to show off our Corvettes yet another time. The idea of a 2018 show was put to a vote of the membership and we were ready to make it a reality with Joe Ryan once again our chief advisor and Dwight McDonald as our leader.

As the year progressed, the committee members again solicited sponsors and donors for the event and made busy with all of the behind the scenes planning for a successful car show. AutoNation Chevrolet of Valencia helped as a sponsor as did our local KHTS radio station in advertising the event. Our many thanks go out to both for all of the help!

The show date of September 29th was earlier than in previous years and was here almost before you knew it, but our crew was ready. All of our show committee members pulled together and prepared the venue at Route 66 Classic Grill in Canyon Country in conjunction with George Thomas and his worthy Route 66 staff. 

By start time at 4 PM, the venue was all together and Corvettes from near and far descended and parked in their designated parking areas by generation and the SCVCC All-Corvette Car Show 2018 was under way. 

121 beautifully washed, waxed and polished Corvettes filled the lot, all to benefit the Santa Clarita Coalition in their focus to help local veterans in their transition to civilian life following service to our nation.

All of the generations of Corvettes were well represented with an amazing showing of entries representing each of the seven generations. Among the highlights were the earliest model, a 1954 convertible and the latest Corvette supercar, a 2019 ZR1. Joe Ryan and his son restored the 1954 and Ron Nolan recently purchased the ZR1. From the 155 hp Blue Flame 6 to the 755 hp supercharged LT5, amazing changes, but nonetheless, both Corvettes!

 Entertainment was provided by the band, Celebrity Trash, as spectators enjoyed the rows of Corvettes on display. Vendor displays included Bling-Ur-Thingz and 3D Products were on hand for all to check out. Then, on to the raffle prizes. Once again there was a great selection of items on display that we all wanted to take a chance on winning, all donated by our members and businesses throughout the community. Who could help buying lots of tickets to place in the bins for a chance to win? It was all for the veterans after all!

Our president, Dwight McDonald, was in his element as the show Master of Ceremonies, awarding all of the raffle prizes and the trophies to the winners of the show judging.  The trophies went to 1st, 2nd and 3rd place for each of the Corvette generations and special categories of Corvette.  The judging was done by the entrants themselves, each voting for all of the trophy categories. What a chore it was, deciding who to vote for with so many terrific and beautiful Corvettes to choose from.

The votes were cast and the winners were chosen with a great split between our own members and entrants from other clubs and the community. The proud winners are as follows:

C1 CATEGORY
1st Donna Nolan
2nd John Fisk
3rd Joe Ryan

C2 CATEGORY
1st Gary Songstad
2nd Harry Rieger
3rd Ron Nolan

C3 CATEGORY
1st Steven Herbert
2nd Patty Kemple
3rd Peter Di Orio

C4 CATEGORY
1st Mark Gerson
2nd Richard La Grasta
3rd Donna Bledsoe

C5 CATEGORY
1st Ed Combs
2nd Rob Bitner
3rd Dan Esqueda

C6 CATEGORY
1st Jack Atkins
2nd Timothy Torp
3rd Brian De Avila

C7 CATEGORY
1st Al Aird
2nd Thomas Couples
3rd Barry Jacobson

GRAND SPORT CATEGORY
1st Mike Woodings
2nd Jeff Hernandez
3rd Tony Munshi

Z06 CATEGORY
1st Mark Ware
2nd Ron Bergmann
3rd Brett Robinson

ZR1 CATEGORY
1st Ron Nolan
2nd Keith Shaw
3rd Tony Messina

SPONSORS CHOICE
Joe Ryan

Oh, by the way, we have heard of a “hat trick” with sporting events like hockey or soccer, but how many have associated the term with car shows? How about those Nolans taking home THREE trophies from the same show? 

The 2018 SCVCC show was a success. Joe Ryan and Dwight McDonald want to thank all of the volunteers on the show committee for their planning and work that made the show a reality and for all who contributed and attended for helping reach our goal in support of the Santa Clarita Coalition. Good job one and all!

Check out Shutterfly (https://scvcc.shutterfly.com) for all the pics!

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Prescott Vette Sette Car Show

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Story: Mike Woodings
Photos: Prescott Attendees

The twelfth annual Corvette Car Show at the Courthouse Plaza in downtown Prescott, AZ, has been on the calendar for many SCVCC members ever since last September. Their enthusiasm about a road trip to Prescott has been right up there with that of a caravan to Bowling Green and it was contagious.

Over twenty Corvettes and their associated drivers and co-drivers were raring to go on Sep 20th when the trip began its first leg to Laughlin, NV for an overnight stop and then on to Arizona for the event which promised to showcase seven generations of Corvettes dating from 1953 to the current 2019 models. 250 cars were scheduled to be on display representing customized, restored, and current models, along with a variety of vendors and exhibits.

 Our own Tony and Kathy Munshi and John and Linda Noble have recently departed California for a better life in Arizona and were anxiously awaiting our members’ arrival to help with the lay of the land and word is that several others are in the process of relocating soon and others have begun looking at real estate.  But that will have to wait for another article.

 Although the attendees have missed the deadline for this Gazette article, my detective work has uncovered some pics of their smiling faces and rumors that they had a terrific time and our people were trophy winners, to boot! 

It was great to have the travelers back in time for the latest SCVCC All-Corvette Car Show just days after the Prescott Run.

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Cruise Night – Another Road to Travel

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Story:  Mike Woodings
Photos: Judy Woodings

Suppose if you will, Highway 126 was closed or worse, didn’t exist.  How would we get to Santa Paula or Ventura or points beyond?  Where would we caravan as a Corvette Club?  Would our well-shined ‘Vettes just stay parked in our garages remaining low mileage for the next buyer?  NO, I say!  We have to Drive.  We Have to Caravan.  And, we HAVE to EAT!

And so it was on August 26th.  No, Highway 126 wasn’t closed, but we found there is plenty for the Santa Clarita Valley Corvette Club to do right here in the Santa Clarita Valley.

It doesn’t matter if it is Saturday morning, Thursday night or in this case Sunday evening.  Our well-shined Corvettes are ready to go and are NOT going to remain parked for the lucky next buyer!

 We have lots to do right here in the area without having to pay Sacramento those crazy taxes any more than we have to.  After all, we live in Los Angeles County’s third largest community and have plenty of roads to travel and along the way, plenty of places to EAT.  So, I and 40 others were all in agreement on August 26th.  Our Activities had a local caravan and destination planned. None of us knew the details but were all willing to forego an evening of summer re-runs to put the tops down on our Corvettes for a Cruise Night through our own backyard.

We still had Walmart as our gathering place, and gather we did.  Corvette after Corvette rolled in at the appointed time.

Even Russ Obarski came out with his spanking new black/black 2019 Stingray.  Then, onward we all rolled, taking over Newhall Ranch Parkway and then an unbroken file outbound on Bouquet Canyon Road.

A right on Vasquez Canyon Road took us through some curves and another right onto Sierra Highway and a left onto Sand Canyon got us Soledad Canyon Road and into our “Corvette Corral” at Route 66 Classic Grill for what else, food!

The Route 66 staff must be applauded for their excellent service, taking great care of all of our dining needs.  We appreciate it and are looking forward to our next big event coming up on September 29th, our All-Corvette Car Show.

The almost autumn evening air then called us for ice cream at the nearby Cold Stones and then some more hanging out with friends before heading to our nearby homes.  It was a great call by our Activities people and by the way, a great caravan lead by Steve and Judy Turkheimer.

 

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Santa Paula Chevrolet BBQ

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Story: Mike Woodings
Photos: Mike Woodings and Steve Turkheimer

We have all caravanned out on the 126 a time or two. Most of us have even been to Santa Paula Chevrolet for both business or pleasure or a combination of the two.  We have partaken of the great BBQ prepared by Laird’s Butcher Shop & BBQ and have enjoyed the hearty fare. The same is likely true for the Redline and Ventura Corvette Clubs as well, but twice a year we are faithful in answering the call and return to Santa Paula Chevrolet for yet another lunchtime BBQ feast surrounded by scores of terrific Corvettes (ours and theirs) and plenty of other tempting Chevrolet products.

On Aug 18th, our pilgrimage began with the mandatory sign-in and drivers’ meeting in the Walmart lot under a pleasantly cool blue sky. There were a large number of tops down or off for the drive as eighteen gorgeous Vettes lined up and rolled west toward a partial marine-layered and cooler destination. Judy and I led the way in our ’62 with its new water pump and enjoyed this trip to Ventura County without any overheating. A reading of 160˚ on the water temperature gauge and wind in our hair, a perfect combination for our easy morning drive.

Once we arrived and lined our Vettes up among the early arrivals we went about the usual tire-kicking, visiting, and maybe even some shopping. The dealership had numerous tempting retail Corvette related items for sale and of course there were new Corvettes and other Chevys to drool over.

Even though this caravan was similar to other BBQ caravans, it still offered it’s own unique flavor. This was the first club caravan for Peter and Carrie Di Orio, who enjoyed the ride tremendously. Tom Tomlinson brought his neighbor Don Knight, not yet a Corvette owner, but Don bought a Corvette hat from the dealership display, so what might be on the horizon?

Oh, there was still another unique event at the BBQ. We conducted a special new member induction of our first and only Honorary Members. Your board recommended the recognition of John and Sandra Macik as Honorary Members in recognition of their outstanding service and support as sponsors of the Santa Clarita Valley Corvette Club.  Our Membership Chair, Judy Woodings, presented John and Sandra with club name badges along with special membership certificates as they were welcomed into our club. John and Sandra proudly wore their new badges throughout the day and a “spy-shot” into John’s office even spotted his SCVCC certificate displayed in his bookcase!

The BBQ meal was delicious as always…The Corvettes were beautiful as always…
Time with friends was great as always…What could be better? Next time, I will drive the air-conditioned, modern Vette for the 97˚ return home!

 Many thanks to Santa Paula Chevrolet for another great BBQ, and welcome to the club John and Sandra!

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Taste of the Town: Mama’s Table

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Story: Mike Woodings
Photos: The Web

Hot August Nights are not enough to keep our club away when it’s Taste-of-the-Town evening here in the Santa Clarita Valley. It’s too hot to heat up the house with cooking and too hot even to fire up the grill outside.

We have been living off salads for too many days straight, so when the email arrives from our Activities Committee by way of our Communications Guy saying we are going to Mama’s Table for some “home cooking” for TOT, I say “let’s go”! Apparently that was the response most had as well with another great turn-out of hungry Corvette people.

As I arrived, there were plenty of Vettes filling the lot and apparently lots who opted to drive the ferrous vehicle as well since out club people filled the restaurant even before the 6 PM start time.

Mama’s Kitchen is located at 23340 Cinema Drive, where Freshworks was previously. The owners ran a successful restaurant in Washington for 9 years and decided to sell and start new in SoCal. They are kind and enthusiastic and happy to serve. This is literally a mom and pop operation where they even make their own pies. His wife bakes the pies and helps with the cooking. I’m sure most of us will be going back to Mama’s Table again, maybe in a few weeks, maybe in a few months, but we’ll definitely be back.

The restaurant has a large menu with plenty of choices for every taste. It’s open for breakfast, lunch and dinner with breakfast being extremely popular with the homemade jams that are available. It has been compared to the Black Bear Diner with a local atmosphere and with plenty of room for a large group.

September will take us to for our next TOT at Saddle Ranch Chop House, so if you’re not heading to Prescott, dust off your cowboy attire and mark your calendar for a great time of visiting and bull riding at another fine event put together by our Activities Committee.

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SACC National Convention – Ventura

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Story: Mike Woodings
Photos: Mike Woodings and Donna Nolan

Imagine a car show with no judges and no trophies. A show where every car is a winner. That is exactly the show that took place at the Four Points Sheraton over the weekend of July 20 – 22 at the Ventura Harbor. We are all members of our terrific Santa Clarita Valley Corvette Club where members own and enjoy Corvettes representing all seven generations, but in our midst, several members have in their corral some mighty fine C1 cars.

The C1s roll out when weather permits, not too hot and not too cold. They lead our entry in the annual July 4th parade. And their ownership is the key to membership in another terrific club, the Solid Axle Corvette Club (SACC), whose membership is open to owners of 1953 to 1962 Corvettes.

 

The SACC was formed by enthusiasts who enjoy the uniqueness of the C1s. The club has six chapters (Northwest, Mid-Atlantic, Great Lakes, Central Great Rivers, Southern California and Arizona). The club features get-togethers, a National Convention and an excellent quarterly magazine (On Solid Ground). The National Convention rotates between the regions each year and this month the event returned to our area, hosted by the Southern California Chapter.

This year’s convention in Ventura featured 61 C1 Corvettes in attendance with not only local SACC members cars, but also a large caravan from the Pacific Northwest and members from Missouri, Illinois, Texas, Florida and even Massachusetts to name a few.

The meet included a caravan from Ventura to the Mike Malamut Museum in Thousand Oaks and a Harbor Cruise in Ventura Harbor, informative Tech Sessions and special old-time Corvette racers telling us all how it was at the track in the ‘50s. Besides all that, there was plenty of time for owners to kick tires and compare notes about their passion, their C1s!

It’s not often we actually see a C1 on the road like we did in the days of American Graffiti, but a few of us in the SCVCC are still living the dream, driving our C1s whenever possible. The Ryans with their ‘54, the Fulmers with their ‘57, the Nolans with their ‘60, the McDonalds with their ‘61 and the Woodings with their ’62 are the current C1 people. We have to include the McCloskey’s in the count too with their longtime ties to C1s and the SACC and “Clutch’s” wealth of knowledge about the old Corvettes that helps us all to keep them on the road!

With that said, there was plenty of interest among our SCVCC membership in seeing all of the C1s gathered at the convention in Ventura. Yet another reason for a run in the more modern ‘Vettes and maybe even a surprise breakfast enroute.

On Sunday, the 22nd, while many of our SACC people were attending a tech session and still many more were hanging out with their C1s in the “corral”, another sight to behold rolled off Harbor Drive and into the lot with over 20 Corvettes from the SCVCC arriving en masse to check out the old-timers there, and their C1s too!

 

As mentioned earlier, every Corvette at the convention was a winner and with the arrival of the SCVCC Corvettes, a score more winners were added to the collection according to hotel guests and other passersby checking out all of the activity and fiberglass in the lot.

 

In 2019, the SACC National Convention will be in August in Detroit. Keep abreast of the details as they unfold and maybe some of us can even include the convention with the Bowling Green Caravan. In your dreams, you say. I say it can be done. Just ask this year’s attendee from Massachusetts who drove her ’59 over 3,000 miles in a six-day trip…by herself! No wimps in the SACC!

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