Edwards AFB Winterfest
Story: Mike Woodings
Photos: Mike Woodings, Moira Moe, Google
The Holiday season is a time to join family to enjoy the traditions and festivities that go with this time of year. In that light, the invitation we received from the Simi Valley Corvette Club to join them in being part of the annual Edwards AFB Winterfest celebration was a great idea. Additionally, the concept of us and our Corvettes being part of the event was even more inviting.
Each year Edwards personnel and families gather in the Exchange parking lot for special winter activities and a tree lighting ceremony and this year, our Corvettes on display were to be an added attraction. But this year, rain came and we all anxiously watched the forecast hoping there would be no dampening of the Winterfest event.
On Friday, November 30th, 26 Corvettes and 45 participants assembled in the Kohl’s parking lot on Golden Valley Road to caravan up CA-14 for our final event of the month. We met up with caravans from Simi Valley Corvettes and Vintage Corvettes in Lancaster for a combined caravan of 65 cars onto the base. 
We had already received clearance from USAF security for admittance onto the base, so our entry through the Rosamond gate went smoothly with all having already passed muster.
Edwards AFB is not only remote, it is big and spread out too, over 500 square miles. It was quite a drive just from the gate to the BX, but smooth sailing with our USAF Security Police escort.
The Winterfest celebration is organized by the 412th Force Support Squadron which this year additionally provided a tour of several sights on the base to show us where some of our taxes are spent.
The true highlight of the base tour was the up close and personal briefing we had about the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fighter, a single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multi-role aircraft. At $125 million apiece, the jets certainly would give our Vettes a run for the money, but our still worthy Corvettes, parked on display for interested base personnel, were a hit.
Edwards AFB dates back to 1937 when the Army Air Corps moved some bombardment exercises to Muroc and later in 1941 operations expanded with our build-up with WWII. In 1942, super-secret jet aircraft testing began. Following the war, testing continued and Muroc was renamed to Edwards Air Force Base in 1949.
The day was long, with our caravan, tours, and Corvette display and ended with the Christmas tree lighting. 
Our run to Edwards can be summed up as an All-American holiday event with the coming together of our American military and our American Corvettes.
Our thanks to the Edwards staff and families and to the Simi Valley Corvette Club for including us in the Winterfest 2018 celebration.
Our route bypasses the fire and resulting congestion and included a lunch stop in Buellton at Morrell’s Farm Fresh Dining on McMurray Road. It’s an American food place with excellent ratings where we were all welcomed and well taken care of. The restaurant staff was excited to have us all pour into their place and photo’d us leaving. We apparently were the guests of the day. Our caravan of 23 Corvettes was spectacular as we headed north and all the way into SLO and took over the Best Western Plus on Madonna Road for the weekend. Naomi, the manager, was gracious and she and her staff all treated us as longtime family friends, like her buddy Don Ceo.
Besides getting to SLO all together, there was no set agenda for the weekend, but despite that we all dined together at Tahoe Joe’s nearby to end our day. Our club is one that likes to stick together, and this getaway was no different. After Saturday’s leisurely breakfast, most of us lined up for another caravan, outbound on Los Osos Road to Morro Bay, then north on CA-1 to Cambria where one of our own, Chuck Negri suggested a stop at the little known Nitt Witt Ridge house. It was at least worth a drive-by.
With the Nitt Witt detour in our rear-view mirrors, we continued north on Highway 1 past San Simeon and on to the gateway to Big Sur, Ragged Point. There were plenty of photo ops there and the fresh ocean air was a welcome change from our hot summer’s end.
The caravan then continued, back south to Sebastian’s in San Simeon for lunch. The Corvettes rolling in all together were an added attraction for the many tourists at the café and my chili burger was especially good.
Onward south to Cayucos was next for a mandatory stop at the Brown Butter Cookie Co. for our favorite cookie selections and for some a look at the other spots of interest in the great little beach town.
Our caravan splintered into several smaller groups through the day, but we all made it back to SLO in good order in time to once again assemble for another “group meal”. This time the location was the nearby and infamous Golden Gong Chinese Restaurant. It was a close walk from the Best Western.
Then, almost as quick as the weekend started, it drew to a close. For some, Sunday morning had an early drive home in store and others had local stores to visit. With the ongoing fire situation in our home area, the route home was a consideration for all and there were several options discussed and taken, but we were all in the same accord, the Central Coast Getaway was another great event for the SCVCC!
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.
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!
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.
Once we were rolling sometime after 9 AM, we all witnessed an exceptional welcome and cheering as we passed the tremendous number of spectators assembled along the route. Reports are that this year’s attendance surpassed previous attendance and was well over 26,000.
This year’s parade theme was “It’s a Grand Old Flag” and our club took the theme to heart with the grand showing of flags decorating our Corvettes. The parade route was the same as in years past, beginning on Main Street in Old Town Newhall, then on Lyons Avenue and onto Orchard Village and 16th Street to the finish.
John and Sandra Macik of Santa Paula Chevrolet joined us for the event as Vette people enjoying time with other enthusiasts. It was a good opportunity to get to know John and Sandra in this casual surrounding. The Maciks previously introduced us to the BBQ served by Laird’s Butcher Shop in Santa Paula and our planners called upon their cooking skills to once again serve us an excellent picnic BBQ meal. Great call by all involved in putting together our grub and beverages!
But wait, there was more. Our band, “Drop Zone”, rocked. SCVCC’s own Chet Morse even joined the band with a great blues number! I can attest to the great selection of tunes by the band and was posed this question by member “M.C.”, “this is from your era, right?” How could I not appreciate the Rolling Stones song “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”? All of us in our earlier days heard that Stones song and probably only wished we or owned a Corvette then, but looking at the parking lot, we have certainly all gotten a lot of “what we want”!
All in all, the picnic was fun, delicious and a success. We all convey our thanks and appreciation to our Activities people and their set-up crew for putting it all together and a pat on the back to all of us as well, since without each of us there would be no club. Job well done!
