1

GazetteThe Vette Set, Inc.

221 Paseo De Suenos

Redondo Beach, CA

90277

NOVEMBER 2019

The Vette Set

Sponsored by

Exploring Joshua Tree National Park

OFFICERS AND APPOINTEESThe Vette Set Gazette is a monthly publication of The Vette Set, Inc., sponsored by WinChevrolet, 2201 E. 223rd Street, Carson, CA 90810. Articles from members are alwayswelcome, and are to be submitted to the Newsletter Editor by 6:00pm Sunday followingthe General Meeting. These meetings are held on the first Thursday of each month at7:00pm at Win Chevrolet. Guests are always welcome to attend any Vette Set event.

Vette Set Officers & Appointees

Chevrolet trademark(s) used with the written permission of General Motors.

2

Outside contact can be made with:1. President Rob Weimer, 310-941-7061, robert.a.weimer@me.com 2. Vice President Chuck Hammer, 310-874-6657, ballpien99@hotmail.com3. Ambassador Anton Wijenayake, 310-283-5426, awije@yahoo.com

OFFiCE NAME

PRESIDENT Rob Weimer

VICE PRESIDENT Chuck Hammer

SECRETARY Stephanie Bloom

TREASURER John Tully

SERGEANT-AT-ARMS Gary Gaffney

ACTIVITIES Jennifer Walton

AMBASSADOR Anton Wijenayake

BY-LAWS Jerry Clement

CHARITY Linda Tully

FILMMAKER Bob Borge

HISTORIAN Sharon Cowley

N.C. MUSEUM

AMBASSADORGeorge Person

NCCC GOVERNOR Bruce Gaines

NEWSLETTER EDITOR Pat Cowley

PROCUREMENT Kim Foster

RACE David Tavares

RAFFLE Emma Dela Cerna

SPONSOR RELATIONS George Person

SUNSHINEDixie Foster

Sharon Cowley

WEB MASTER Raul Rodrigues

AWARDS BANQUETDixie Foster

Sharon Cowley

PREZ SEZRob Weimer

3

Hi Vette Set Members,I have decided to make November my Key Fob battery replacement month every year. So, I will remind our club members to consider replacing their fob battery. I think that for the relative low cost wouldn’t it be better to have a fresh battery and never have an issue?

Our holiday party is quickly approaching so make sure to send your check, payable to The Vette Set, to Diane Feher at her home address as soon as possible. Our December general meeting is your last opportunity to buy or cancel, but please don’t wait, mail your check today!

October was a very busy month for The Vette Set. What a great time to belong to our club. We have many opportunities to get our cars out on the road. We were high in the mountains at Big Bear and down in the desert at Joshua Tree. It’s a real treat to be in a caravan with all the Corvettes lined up on the road, really an awesome site. Our club also had a great turnout at the Automobile Driving Museum Corvette car show taking many of

the awards, what a great time. Rob

VETTE SET ACTIVITIES CALENDAR

ACTIVITIESJennifer Walton

**BRING UNWRAPPED TOYS for children in need. Linda Tully will donate those.

November 11 --- 10am-3pm Veteran’s Day Car Show benefiting the Paralyzed Veterans of America-California Chapter. Huntington Beach Parking Lot at PCH and Huntington St. Visit: www.VeteransDayCarShowHB.org Kim Foster is the contact person for this event.

November 20 --- Activities Dinner Meeting at 6:30pm at New York Deli, 2424 Sepulveda Bl., Torrance, 90501. Bring your well researched ideas for new runs and events!

**BRING UNWRAPPED TOY for children in need. Linda Tully will donate those.

December 5 --- General meeting at WIN Chevrolet at 7pm. Book & magazine donations go to Linda Tully for our veterans and Carolyn Shofner for the Heritage Rehabilitation Center.

***LAST DAY TO SIGN UP or RECEIVE REFUND FOR HOLIDAY PARTY!

**BRING UNWRAPPED TOYS for children in need. Linda Tully will donate those.

December 12 --- Thursday night Holiday Party 6-11pm at Ayres Hotel, 14400 Hindry Ave. in Hawthorne, 90250. Cost is $45/person and includes dinner buffet, music and dancing. There will be a cash bar and free self-parking. Make your checks payable to The Vette Set, and mail to: Diane Feher, 23508 Carlow Road, Torrance, CA 90505.

January 2 or 9, 2020 --- Date to be voted on by the membership. Selected date will appear in the December Activities Calendar. General meeting at WIN Chevrolet at 7pm. Book and magazine donations go to Linda Tully for our veterans and Carolyn Shofner for the Heritage Rehabilitation Center.

January 15, 2020 --- Activities Dinner Meeting at 6:30pm. Location TBA.

November 7 --- General meeting at WIN Chevrolet at 7pm. Book & magazine donations go to Linda Tully for our veterans and Carolyn Shofner for the Heritage Rehabilitation Center.

4

info, contact David Tavares at davidtapc@earthlink.net or (562)308-0390. Entry $3/car.

Cruising 50’s --- 2nd Saturday of each month, 2-6pm for pre 1974 cars at Farmer Boys, near the 110 Freeway & Redondo Beach Bl.

Caffeine Cruisers --- Every Saturday, 7-10am in Torrance, on SE corner of Artesia & Hawthorne, between Starbucks & Sizzler.

Jennifer

February 1, 2020 --- Awards Banquet will be held at the Automobile Driving Museum, 610 Lairport St, in El Segundo.

February 6, 2020 --- General meeting at WIN Chevrolet at 7pm. Book & magazine donations go to Linda Tully for our veterans and Carolyn Shofner for the Heritage Rehabilitation Center.

February 19, 2020 --- Activities Dinner Meeting at 6:30pm. Location TBA.

NEW IDEAS FOR CLUB RUNS1. Nethercutt Museum/Peterson Automotive Museum, Gary Gaffney

2. Filling Station/Antique Stores, Gary Gaffney/Jennifer Walton

3. Mullin Museum, Oxnard: Private tours T/Th plus two Saturdays/month, Hal Holzman

4. Central Coast Trip to Mullin Museum, Island Beach (?), Cachuma Lake, Solvang

5. California Speedway Race Track, Chris Donlou

NON-VETTE SET SPONSORED SO CAL ACTIVITIES

November 9 --- Corvettes of Bakersfield Veterans Charity Car Show, 8660. They’ve invited every Corvette Club in the surrounding areas. They’ll also have a Little Miss Corvette contest. Register online: https://corvettesofbakersfield.org/registration/ They have rooms reserved at the nearby TownePlace Suites by Marriott Bakersfield West (661) 589-2200.

November 9 --- 10-3 Vettes for Veterans Car Show in Carlsbad. carmfino@roadrunner.com

Garden Grove Car Show --- Every Friday 4-8pm in Old Town Garden Grove. For more

NCM AMBASSADOR &SPONSOR RELATIONSGeorge M. Person, Jr.

NCM NEWS

1954 'Entombed' Corvette Donated to MuseumIt was 1954 and successful business man, Richard Sampson of Brunswick, Maine had just purchased a brand- new Corvette. After driving it for four years, he wanted to park it somewhere safe. Sampson was constructing new stores for his grocery chain and decided one of them would be the perfect structure to keep his car secure. A tomb was built inside the store - literally around his Corvette. Sampson specified in his will that the car was not to be taken out of the man-made "time capsule" until the year 2000. Although Sampson changed his wishes before he passed away in 1969, the car remained entombed for 27 years.

Performance Gallery Closing for RenovationIn less than two weeks, the Performance Gallery will be closing temporarily for renovations. From Wednesday, November 20, 2019 through April 22, 2020 the exhibit will be closed - receiving a much needed refresh.

5

More details, plans and a specialannouncement regarding the revamp will be announced in conjunction with the closing -so stay tuned to NCM eNews for additional details about the exciting improvements! The new gallery will debut as part of the Michelin NCM Bash.

Corvette RaffleThere are THREE raffles available! Anyone can participate, simply download the order form from the NCM website and mail in payment!

2019 Shadow Gray Corvette ZR1Raffle Drawing 11/21/2019Tickets $300 / Limited to 1,500 TicketsOnly 755(half) SOLD as of 11/07/2019.

2019 Torch Red Stingray CoupeRaffle Drawing 12/19/2019Tickets $100 / Limited to 1,500 TicketsOnly 773 SOLD as of 11/07/2019

2020 Black Corvette CoupeRaffle Drawing 4/25/2019Tickets $20 / Unlimited Tickets

Celebrating Our VeteransThe rain couldn't dampen their spirits - or their spirited laps around the NCM Motorsports Park road course as they celebrated military veterans with complimentary Corvette rides, lunch provided by Don Franklin Chevrolet of Somerset, KY and free Museum tours.

Check out the video of the day's festivities on the NCM website, and if you didn't get to visit today - no worries! November is Military Appreciation Month with complimentary admission for veterans, police and firefighters and their immediate accompanying family members (spouse and children living at home under the age of 18). Simply show proof of service at the admissions counter to take advantage of this offer.

Chevrolet Confirms 2020 Stingray is Quickest in its History

Jaws dropped when Chevrolet first announced the 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray coupe would accelerate 0 to 60 mph in less than three seconds with the available Z51 Performance Package. The brand confirms the sports car with the available Z51 Package can reach 60 mph in 2.9 seconds and cross the quarter mile mark in 11.2 seconds at 121 mph.

Even without the available Z51 Package, a base Stingray, starting at $59,995 (including destination charges, excluding tax, title, license, and dealer fees), can reach 60 mph in three seconds flat and cross the quarter mile mark in 11.2 seconds at 123 mph. Performance numbers may vary, as different climates, tire conditions and road surfaces may affect results.

George M. Person, Jr.

7

NCCC REPORTBruce Gaines

Farewell, Santiago & BonnieSantiago and Bonnie Chavez, Two more escapees!

Not from The Vette Set, but they have fled to Arizona to be close to family. They will remain Vette Setters for 2020 at least and we hope they will join us occasionally on runs, etc. We have many wonderful remembrances of Santiago and Bonnie. Santiago was our President(2014), Secretary(2011), and Car Show Co-Chair (2010-2013), Race Chair (2013,2015-2017), Bonnie was Sunshine (2010). Santiago loves to race. He has raced Spring Mountain, Big Bear Bash, Santa Maria, Fontana, and Elsinore.

We wish them well and suggest that The Vette Set might join them on some great runs to Arizona for sightseeing, racing, and great comradery.

JT, for all of the Vette Setters

NCCC national meetings at the

Sheraton Westport Plaza Hotel,

St. Louis, MO -- Allen Morris (949)

367-9000

Email: amorrismv@aol.com

14th Corvette Pirates cruise.

Eastern Caribbean cruise on

the Carnival Breeze,

departing from Port

Canaveral.

Super bowl party with

exclusive Corvette Pirates

pool

Matchbox car show,

Matchbox drag racing,

miniature golf tournament,

parties.

Ports of call will be:

Amber Cove, Dominican

Republic.

St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin

Islands.

San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Grand Turk, Turks and

Caicos.Click here to go to the Corvette

Pirates Facebook page

1-8 Sat-Sat

West Coast Region events are in blue

Other events are in black

NCCC West Coast

Region Calendar

Sanctioned events are in red

November  2019

8-9 Fri-Sat

February  2020

nCHARITYLinda Tully

This Holiday Season, the Vette Set will once again be supporting the charity Cheer for Children. Please bring an unwrapped toy donation to either our November 20th Activities Dinner Meeting at New York Deli or to our December 5th General Meeting at WIN Chevrolet. Thank you, Linda

TREASURERJohn Tully

ni

CORVETTE CAR SHOWAUTOMOBILE DRIVING MUSEUM

8

OCTOBER 12, 2019

HISTORICAL REPORT

Kim Foster, Stock C2

Bonniegay Bacon, Modified C2

Bob & Susan Gibbs, Modified C4

David Tavares, Modified C5

Jack Walter with Kelley & Chris Donlou, Stock C7 & Best of Show

TVS Winners, Class of 2019

Jack Walter’s, Stock C5

The Automobile Driving Museum had a Corvette Car Show. TVS member, Jack Walter, is a docent at the museum. There were 66 Corvettes in the show, 20 from TVS, with 6 TVS winners.

ni

EXPLORING JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK

9

SUNDAY. Jack Walter and Nico Palmieri planned and led a Monday Driver’s Club run through Joshua Tree National Park. Because of the scope, this was a two day event that started on Sunday. Jack and Nico pre-drove the run earlier in the week. In all, we had 26 people, 13 Corvettes and 3 metal cars. The meeting point was Krispy Kreme where Jack gave an overview of the run.

OCTOBER 27-28, 2019

Lunch. We stopped at Chiriaco Summit, CA for lunch and a tour of the adjacent General Patton Memorial Museum.

“This museum was erected in tribute to General Patton on the site of the entrance of Camp Young, part of the Desert Train-ing Center of World War II. Though Patton spent less than four months here, his establishment of the training grounds directly impacted more than one million troops." John, Jerry & Bob

Front row: George (helmet), Ike (center)

George and his adversary, Gen. Rommel

ni

In the National Park, our sights included the Cottonwood Visitor Center, ChollaCactus Garden and the Oasis Visitor Center.

Lodging was at the Best Western Gardens at Joshua Tree National Park in TwentyninePalms, CA.

MONDAY. Early in the morning, the “Wheel Jockeys’, went for a spin.

10

Cholla Cactus Garden

Group photo in the garden

Later, outside the breakfast area, there was a guitar playing singer resembling our own Gary Gaffney.

Emma awarded Bob the money from the 50-50 drawing

On the road

Monday’s tour featured Skull Rock, Balance Rock, Keys View, Hidden Valley and Joshua Tree Visitor Center.

The first stop was Skull Rock. We got out and moved around to keep warm. We left warm Santa Ana conditions at home, but the high desert weather was another story.

Next we went on a slow scenic drive through Jumbo Rocks Campground.

Skull Rock, Cone Head Style

Rob, Naomi, Jack, Sharon, Linda, John & Bob

11

nH

11

Cap Rock was our next stopping site where we arranged the cars for a group photo.

This was followed by a short stop at Keys View, “the highest elevation in the Park with views of mesas, mountains and the Coachella Valley.” It was cold and extremely windy. I took a picture of the view with my new Vette Set cap in the other hand.

Our next stop was Hidden Valley, “a self-guiding, one-mile loop trail that winds among massive boulders through what was believed to be a legendary cattle rustlers' hideout.” (This is not to be confused with the Hidden Valley Ranch, a former dude ranch in Santa Barbara County’s San Marcos Pass and home of the salad dressing.)

Start of the Hidden Valley Trail

Jack took us to the Joshua Tree Visitor Center in Twentynine Palms. After a short visit, we went across the street to the Joshua Tree Saloon for lunch. Rustic does not begin to describe this place. They had live music and awesome food and beverages.

Photo Op at Cap Rock

Coachella Valley, from Keys View

Jack, Bob, Nico & Wendy (Nico’s mom)

Thanks, Jack and Nico, for putting this fun outing together. At the end of the first day, I was wondering

why this park had “Joshua Tree” in its name. On the second day we were treated to a “mother-load” of these trees. As being Jack’s heir apparent, is there a National Parks tattoo in Nico’s future?

Susan & Pat

12

1984 CORVETTE FOR SALE

• $9.75K Or Best Offer 56K Original Miles Black Exterior/Black Interior L83, 5.7 OHV 350 V-8 Engine 4-Speed Automatic Transmission B. F. Goodrich Tires Epsilon Wheels, $1.8K Value Contact: Richard @ 310-707-7293

Note: Richard Gonzalez is Sharon & Pat’s mechanic and owner of Pierce Bros. Garage in San Pedro. This car belongs to Richard’s aunt who turned 89 and sadly decided that she should no longer drive it.

13

WIN CHEVROLET

HOME OF THE VETTE SET

14