Saranac Lake 12th Annual Cruisin' Around the Mountains • June 16 - 18, 2017
The frequently threatening weather of this year’s driving season again greeted us Friday morning June 16, 2017 as fellow Corvette drivers and navigators met in Central Square to begin yet another journey.
With Saranac Lake and the Found Caravan Corvette Club’s yearly “Crusin’ Around the Mountains” event as the destination 8 cars headed north under a cloudy, dark sky. As the trip progressed the roads stayed dry, the skies brightened and by the time we hit Saranac Lake we were running our A/C and sporting sunglasses. The Corvette gods smiled again! Lake Placid for a walk around the town and a delicious lunch at the Black Bear restaurant. That place was coincidentally fitting because a rather large Black Bear crossed Route 3 in front of us on the way up. Don’t see them very often.
Back to the hotel for check-in and meet-up with 3 more members cars (and 1 guest car). Then cocktails and dinner next door at the Casa Del Sol where most of the weekend participants gathered. There were folks from Maryland,
Pennsylvania, Buffalo and some Corvette brothers and sisters from the Mohawk Valley club. Many familiar faces and it was nice to catch up with Russ and Brenda Harrington, former secretary and V-P of our club.
Saturday the perfect weather continued and 35 Corvettes cruised to Tupper Lake and the Big Tupper Brewery. A street was closed off for the show with live music and lunch was served inside along with some of the house beverages. Thanks for A/C!
After lunch awards were announced and the SCC took the first place trophy for club participation with 11 cars and 21 members! 2 of our member’s cars also took home nice trophies for sponsor awards which was a total surprise.
After the show a nice cruise back to Saranac Lake on some winding mountain roads, with an ice-cream stop, made a nice end to a near perfect day. Along with dinner and drinks on the deck, of course. Sunday’s weather continued the “hot” streak of no rain for a quick trip south and home.
Many thanks to Joanne and “Beef” Bevilacqua and the Found Caravan Corvette Club for putting on another great event as they have done for many years. One year it snowed there in June and sometimes it can be cool and rainy but this year again the weather was perfect contributing to the great time had by all.
Save The Wave!
Oswego County Airport - Fly-In Breakfast - Sunday, June 11, 2017
35 Cars, 54 Members, 6 Guests & 1 Member Airplane!
Thanks to members Steve Nadelen and Al Kalfass for the photos
Click arrows to advance the slide show
The Larry Rice Memorial Scholarship
Each year at this time, the Syracuse Corvette Club presents a check to a Jamesville DeWitt High School graduating senior who plans to further their education in Criminal Justice. This award was initiated in memory of beloved member and former DeWitt police officer, Larry Rice, who passed in 2012.
Pictured is the 2017 recipient, Natalie Finocchiaro, being congratulated by event chairman, Kevin Hamilton (L) and past president, Peter Patrician (R).
2nd Annual Jeffrey's Autobody Corvettes and Coffee by Rick Rinefierd
On May 20, 2017 the 2nd annual Corvettes and Coffee show took place at Jeffrey’s Autobody. The sunny, but cool and breezy morning, was just about perfect for a car show and somewhat of a rarity so far this spring.
After the success of last year’s inaugural Corvettes and Coffee our sponsor and hosts Jeff and Tracy Lyman vowed to make this event a yearly tradition. They generously took a day out of their busy schedules to again open their doors and provide the members of the SCC, and any other Corvette owner who wished to show up, refreshments, a place to hang out, socialize, meet new people, see a variety of Corvettes, and do what they most like to do —talk about America’s One True Sports Car. Among other things, of course.
So 55 members and 28 guests brought 57 Corvettes to the show. I think I missed a few of each on the sign-in sheet so those numbers should be a little higher. The early birds all got a goody bucket until they ran out— proving once again if you snooze you lose. And 4 lucky door-prize winners got to take a short but very quick ride on a secret test route strapped into the passenger seat of Jeff’s track-prepped Z06.
Many thanks and much appreciation from the Syracuse Corvette Club to Jeff, Tracy, their family and the staff at Jeffrey’s Autobody for a giving us the opportunity for a great Corvette get-together.
Save the Wave!
Allentown Area Corvette Club Annual Car Show • Springfest 2017 by Rick Rinefierd
Corvette show weekend road trips are meant to take place in nice weather. It is springtime but so far that’s been somewhere else, definitely not around here. Fourteen SCC members (and one guest) in 8 cars can now swear to the fact that Corvettes don’t melt in the rain. The Saturday May 6 trip down to Allentown, PA for the Allentown Area Corvette Club annual Springfest took place as a rain or shine event and we were very short of the “shine” part. We did finally drive out of the rain by the time we crossed the PA border. After a lunch stop at Bingham’s—highly recommended, by the way— we arrived in A-town and most of us stopped at a car wash before we checked in to our hotel. Priorities, you see.
photo courtesy of Allentown Area Corvette Club
After hotel check-in we all boarded a shuttle and headed to the Sands Casino for dinner, and yes, a little gambling. Around central New York we hear the word “huge” quite frequently in those well known TV commercials. “Huge” takes on a whole new meaning when applied to the interior of the Sands which has been resurrected from part of the old Bethlehem Steel Works. Even “vast” is an understatement. The glitz of the casino could not hide the size and scope of what was once a great example of the size and power of US manufacturing. Trying to imagine what it must have been like in the heyday of steel output operating at full capacity with thousands of employees running 24-7 was a little mind-boggling. A trip to Bethlehem for the “Cars and Coffee at the Steel Stacks” monthly event may be added to our calendar at some point.
Sunday morning found it necessary to dry off the cars yet again due to the overnight rain. No problem, on to DeSales University, the beautiful, pastoral location of the annual AACC show. Great venue. Great hosts. Great organization. Great cars. Great event. Lousy weather. Frequent rain showers between some patches of blue sky forced everyone to re-detail their cars many times during the course of the day. Some owners almost never stopped wiping because of the serious judging taking place. The inclement weather kept attendance down to about 150 corvettes, much less than past years. Gee, that sounds familiar. The frequent rain showers made many of us give up early on the cleaning thing, preferring to spend time with a hot cup of coffee in the glass-walled dining room or shopping the vendors set up inside.
Steadier rain moved in as we were leaving on our trip north and was with us all the way home. By this time running in rain was our new normal along with the steady use of our windshield wipers, causing more total swipes over two days than many Corvette windshields see in their lifetimes. The trip was close to a wash-out but our intrepid members didn’t let a little rain dampen their spirits. However, we all hope the rain gods smile on our events for the rest of the driving season.
Another Central New York “Honor Flight”
of our nation's veterans and their escorts took place Saturday April 29, 2017. Flight 009 left Hancock Airport early in the morning, landing for the day in Washington, DC., returning to Syracuse that evening after an exciting and exhausting day for all those participating. Judging by the size of the crowd waiting to cheer the arrival of our “Greatest Generation" on their return home I would say such events will continue to be well supported.
The SCC had 20 members (and 5 Corvettes) in attendance. This number includes SCC Governor Sandra Winkworth, participating as an escort for her father, Raymond Garzia. SCC President Jim Ennis was also on hand to greet his Uncle James Kerlin in the returning procession of vets.
The usual procedure of the returning airliner taxiing under the crossed streams of Fire Truck water canons was cancelled due to an onboard medical issue. Later we found that all on the plane were OK and the Ambulance deemed unnecessary. Quite a relief for everyone there!
The hundreds of spectators waited patiently for the plane to unload and the parade to get organized. It understandably takes more than a few minutes to get everyone lined up and nobody seems to mind, maybe adding a bit of anticipation and excitement. Soon the color guards, bagpipes and drums, veterans, escorts, and volunteers passed the now cheering, applauding, and flag waving crowd causing a highly emotional tide to sweep down through the terminal hall.
Every one of us owes it not only to our veterans but to ourselves to attend these events whenever possible to remember and honor this rapidly dwindling group of men (and women) who sacrificed so much ultimately on our behalf.
by Rick Rinefierd
photos submitted by Jim Ennis
Christmas/ Holiday Party and 2016 Year End Report
From: Rick Rinefierd
With the end of year rapidly approaching, the last scheduled event on the 2016 calendar of the Syracuse Corvette Club took place Saturday night December 3rd. The annual club Christmas and Holiday Party is always the time stamp on the end of another driving season, ending only because of the climate here in the snow belt, not because we want to let our Corvettes rest for 6 months.
The party took place at the Hilton Garden Inn on Fair Lakes Road in East Syracuse and was a resounding success! Eva and the hotel staff could not have been more accommodating. Huge Thank You! to Eva and everyone at the hotel. The beautiful party decorations and tables were really well done, immediately conveying the holiday spirit as patrons entered the room. Our DJ for the evening’s festivities was Marty Santee, familiar to many “car” people around this area because of his work at local car shows. The club had him DJ at Vettes Near The Beach this past summer and at that point we knew we would like to have him at our holiday party. He was very receptive to our special requests. Great job, Marty! Thanks also to Mike Ramont for the hour of great music he put together for Marty to “spin” after dinner.
Marty Walters may have received the award for 2nd place participation points but her work on the Christmas Holiday Party and also through the year on the club picnic and Vettes Near The Beach was a huge, 1st rate effort. Doing the art work on notices, putting awards plaques together, printing invitations, decorating, and a myriad of other details could go unnoticed but will not if I can help it. Thank you, Marty! Super job! Thanks also to husband Dick Walters (1st place-- men’s participation points) for his able assistance.
A hospitality suite was opened so that those who wished to arrive early could begin partying before the “official” cocktail hour. Bill and Barb Goode with help from Jim Ennis and Sandra Winkworth did a great job setting up the bar and snacks. Bill and Barb’s daughter Alison volunteered to tend the bar. Thank you, Alison! As usual the suite turned out to be a great idea as the room rapidly filled and overflowed into the hallway but still allowed many members to meet others they hadn’t in the past. Soon it was time to move up the hall into the main room and the Christmas Holiday Party. The tables began to fill with guests, cocktails were mixed, hors d'oeuvres selected, a slide show begun of past year’s activities, good music at a reasonable volume, abundant laughter and comradery, good food selection with dessert, then an awards and acknowledgement ceremony, with continuing music and dancing immediately following for the rest of the evening. Yes, it was very much like past holiday parties in that all in attendance appeared to be enjoying themselves.
If there was a prize for those who drove the farthest to attend it would have been won by 2 guests from Manhattan, Wendell and Marie Charlton. They have become acquainted with some SCC members at various out of town events held by other clubs over the past few years and now are our newest members.
We even had 1 Corvette out in the parking lot. Jim and Jennifer Pipines came in Jim’s new Callaway Z06. With a snow brush in the back.
As the evening progressed it was obvious that some of our members were having even more fun than others and that also was highly entertaining. I hope I speak for everyone when I say "a good time was had by all”.
Photos courtesy of members Wendel & Marie Charlton
Anyway, as mentioned after dinner, this past year’s schedule had 63 club sanctioned events where members score participation points for attending. These events include business and social meetings, parades, picnics, sponsor shows, out of town events, and more. It’s all about choices for our 300+ members. It is not expected that anyone could attend every possible event and in 2016 no club member made it to every one. No problem. You get to pick and choose what you want to do to fit your schedule. Do what interests you whenever you can.
The club has not had an official Cruise Master for some time now. Some people refer to yours truly as the acting Cruise Master and that’s ok, but any and every club member is encouraged to put forth ideas for events and then work toward their addition to the schedule. Please don’t hesitate to send an email. Many people in our great club had a hand in setting up events through the course of the year. It’s usually not just one person setting up one event but many times it can be. I will attempt to thank these people because in retrospect I don’t think enough got said at the party to acknowledge their contributions this past year and this report will go out to all members of the club.
Starting at the top I would like to commend our current president Jim Ennis on a great job this past year, sometimes in the face of adversity, moving our club forward and increasing membership to a record level. The rest of the lineup of club officers, myself included, have done their best to support and follow his lead each making their own contributions wherever and whenever possible. We hope the general membership concurs.
As most everyone knows by now our club co-secretarys will be moving south in the near future. Paul and Eileen Marczewski have done a great job for the past 2 years and we will certainly miss them. They say they will remain members of the club from afar. Hmmm…... Their new house in South Carolina has lots of bedrooms. Hmmm….
And we have their new address. Hmmmm….. Road Trip!!!!
Web Master Barb Smith and her husband John Smith along with co-chairman Jim Bandoblu did their usual outstanding job with our largest event of the year--Vettes At The Beach. Thanks to all the member volunteers whose efforts made possible another smoothly run and successful day raising money for charity.
Kind of going by the 2016 calendar—
Thanks go to John and Janice Moses for their efforts again this year at Clearpath For Veterans.
Thanks to Jim and Sue Kimmel for hosting 2 club parties at their beautiful home on Oneida Lake.
Thanks to Mike Ergort for his co-ordinating the Manlius Parade and also the event at Menorah Park.
Thanks to Jim Bandoblu for his efforts concerning the Parade Of Homes, the West Side Council Of Churches picnic, the cruise to Mac’s Drive-in, and especially for the 2 attempts at Golisano Children’s Hospital cancelled by bad weather.
Thanks to Maryann Bodley (and husband Ken) for setting up the event again this year at The Crossings nursing home in Minoa. And to both of them for taking on the job of Publicity Directors.
Thanks to Pat and Al Kalfass for again hosting a summer picnic at their beautiful home on Oneida Lake, probably for the last time due to their move south.
Thanks to Ray Vivlemore for setting up the events at Oswego Speedway and Oswego Industries. Ray received the second place award for this years men’s participation points.
Special thanks to Lynde and Howard LeFever for hosting 2 great Adirondack Champlain Exotic Car Club events and inviting the SCC. The first-- at their country estate and the second at the Linclaen House in Cazenovia.
Thanks to Bill Goode for the 2nd annual car show at LeMoyne College Family Day.
Thanks to John Pouliot for setting up the State Fair Parade again this year and also along with his wife Julie for always collecting the gift toys for kids at the party.
Thanks to Don and Marie Gondek for organizing the Fall Foliage Cruise to the newly reopened Buffalo Head restaurant.
Thanks to the social meeting committee—Jim Ennis, Dick Walters, Pat Kalfass, and Michelle Jetty Hamilton.
Honorable Mention--for a high level of participation points—Larry and Sharon Sattler, Dave and Elaine Boull, Jane Ramont, and Bill Goode.
Thanks to Kathy Menzell and Dee Bandoblu for their efforts distributing gifts to the young patients at Golisano. (And we hope for a speedy recovery for Bill Menzel)
Thanks to 1st place women’s participation points award winner Kathy Rinefierd, especially for helping me keep track of all the event attendance through the year.
Last but certainly not least I would like to acknowledge and thank this year’s sponsors whose contribution and support is greatly appreciated. They certainly helped make this year one of the best ever. They are:
Burdick Chevrolet
East Syracuse Chevrolet
Jeffrey’s Autobody
Edward Jones Investing/ Scott Stefanco
Nick Orso’s Body Shop
Reymore Chevrolet
If I have forgotten or missed anyone or any event I assure you it was not intentional.
Thanks to all our members for making this past year a great one for the Syracuse Corvette Club!
This snowbird will be back in spring….if the good Lord’s willin’ an' the crick don’t rise…………….Rick Rinefierd