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Corvette Club of South Florida corvetteclubofsouthflorida.com

AUGUST 2019

On Sunday March 3, 2019 we presented our 8th Annual Corvette and Open Car & Truck Show at our sponsor’s dealership - Lou Bachrodt Chevrolet Coconut Creek. We reg-istered just under 300 cars & trucks plus had close to 2,000 spectators in attendance.

We awarded 166 trophies, distributed over 400 door prizes, raffled 34 incredible gift baskets, had a great 50/50 raffle and gave away a big flat screen TV. Goody bags and dash plaques were given to all registered vehicles. Our amazing sponsor, Lou Bachrodt Chevrolet Coconut Creek, put on their own raffle with a chance to win a beautiful 2000 Corvette Coupe WHICH WAS WON at our show!

2019 Club Donation!

Mohawk Woman

Reunited with

1953 Corvette

Welcome to the Corvette Club of South Florida!

We’re excited to debut a brand new newsletter design - we hope that you like it! The first half of 2019 has been filled with fun and exciting events, with our annual Club Show being the headliner! I couldn’t have been more proud of the work that you put into making this year’s show one of the best we’ve ever had. On that note, I hope that you enjoy this newsletter!

IN T

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On Friday, March 29, 2019 the Corvette Club of South visited the Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Hollywood, FL. We were extremely pleased to present this great hos-pital with a donation check in the amount of $20,327 and our eight years of contributions have now totaled $109,100!!

A special thanks to all of the car clubs and individuals who registered for our show. We could not have achieved our goal without your full support.

We are extremely pleased to announce that on Sunday March 1, 2020, from 11 am - 5 pm we will present our 9th Annual Corvette and Open Car & Truck Show. We will put up the flyer on our website once it has been finalized.

Joe CutroniPresident

1965 Corvette

Featured at

Corvette Museum

Corvette Club

Announcements!

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Corvette Club of South Florida Newsletter

What an incredible year for the Corvette Club of South Florida since our last newsletter in 2018.

The highlight of the year was our 8th Annual Open Car & Truck Show held on Sunday March 3, 2019. Weather was sunny with moderate temperatures. We registered almost 300 cars & trucks to this event with 12 high quality vendors and over 2,000 spectators on hand. Special entertainment included the fabulous South Florida Cloggers and special guest David Morin with his “Tribute to Elvis”. David has performed in Las Vegas, as well as numerous other great venues. He put on a spectacular Elvis show. Our very own Tony Sotallaro dressed up as the Transformer’s Bumblebee and entertained the kids – young & old – for over an hour. Tony did an outstanding job. Everyone in attendance, including spectators, enjoyed a day of free hot dogs, hamburgers, chips & drinks. We gave away door prizes valued over $8,000. We raffled off our amazing gift baskets which were valued over $9,000. A special raffle by the dealership of a 2000 Corvette Coupe was won day of show. Music by the best DJ anywhere, Scott the “Music Man”, with judging & production by our good friend Jumpin Jack. 166 trophies were given away. All this in one spectacular day. This was to be the year in which we would reach, and surpass, our goal of giving over $100,000 in donations to our one and only charity, Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Hollywood, FL. This year’s car show produced a donation check to this great hospital in the amount of $20,327 which brought our 8-year donation total to $109,100. What a huge accomplishment to say the least. We have wonderful people to thank for this achievement:

Our outstanding members who have contributed so much to this success story, working so hard at our show to make it run so smoothly.

Our club sponsor Lou Bachrodt Chevrolet Coconut Creek. The Lou Bachrodt family, starting with Mr. Lou Bachrodt himself & his son Sean Bachrodt who have inspired & supported our club from Day One. With the addition of Mr. Erick Nunez –COO, Les Nunez, Ira Greenbaum and their entire team, we have taken our club to new heights. Erick has been the spearhead to so many important factors that have not only made our club into a partnership with Lou Bachrodt but part of a great family & tradition. We are so proud to be associated with this great organization.

The events since our last newsletter of 2018 are numerous so I will highlight the following:

• Sunday 3/18/18 – Sunshine Corvette Club Spring Meet All Corvette Show. This was a very good all Corvette show and we had a very good turnout by our members.

• Sunday 4/22/18 – Stuart Corvette Club held on the river in Fort Pierce. This was a long ride to this all Corvette show in a great location. Our club members were awarded numerous awards.

• Saturday 5/19/18 – Our social trip to the Elliott Museum on Hutchinson Island was followed by a ter-rific lunch at the Twisted Tuna restaurant in Port Salerno. 25 members enjoyed this great day. Wonderful museum featuring a unique three-level car system which holds over 50 vehicles and is the only one of its kind. You just choose which car you’d like to see and it retrieves it for you.

• Sunday 6/17/18 – 8th Annual Father’s Day Car Show at Mizner Park. 18 member cars on hand for this fun show in a great location. 10 awards went to our club members.

• Sunday 7/15/18 – 1st time show at Weston Town Center. Great display of open cars & trucks set on the streets of this location. We had 14 in attendance and 7 members were awarded trophies.

• Saturday 7/28/18 – A first time social event at the newly opened Saiko-i Hibachi Restaurant in Boca Raton. We took up 3 hibachi cooking tables with 30 members who enjoyed great food from their enter-taining chefs. A most enjoyable event. We will be back.

• Sunday 8/19/18 – Gulfstream Park, Hallendale Beach. Another first time social event for us for a day at the races. 14 members enjoyed the trackside restaurant featuring an all-you-can-eat buffet lunch with betting on the thoroughbred horses. A fun day to say the least and some members even came home with some additional cash in their pockets. We will go back again.

• Sunday 9/16/18 – Delray Yacht Cruise. Our first time trying this social event. We had 31 members in attendance for this lovely afternoon cruise down the Intercoastal Waterway from Delray Beach to Boca Raton and back. Lunch was served onboard making this a delightful day.

A message from our President...

Corvette Club of South Florida Newsletter

• Sunday 9/30/18 – Cruise down to Islamorada & the Coral Castle. Our club member, Bernard H., or-ganized this wonderful day for our club. We enjoyed driving our Corvettes down to the Mile Marker 88 Restaurant for a fine outdoor lunch. We had 30 members in attendance for this so we had a nice line of Corvettes driving down. Lunch was followed up with us cruising our ‘Vettes to the Coral Castle in Miami – a remarkable place to visit. Thanks Bernard!

• Saturday 10/13/18 – City of Sunny Isles Beach Car Show & Craft Fair – First time show. We had 6 members attending. Most enjoyable, a little hard to locate but we did ok.

• Weekend of October 19-21, 2018 – Lakeland Auto Show – Lake Mirror, Lakeland, FL. A terrific week-end at a terrific car show – a one-of-a-kind show. We all stayed at the Hyatt Place in Lakeland which was within walking distance of Mirror Lake. We had 17 members in attendance. This is a show that needs to be seen to be appreciated. Amazing concourse cars parked around this beautiful lake. They closed the streets to traffic for the rest of the beautiful variety of cars on display. This is an exceptional show which we feel is a must-see event every year.

• Saturday 10/27/18 – Corvette Club of the Palm Beaches Halloween Car Show – This year’s show was held at the Mall at Wellington Green. We had 18 member cars on board and we went home with 10 awards.

• Sunday 11/11/18 – B’Nai Torah Congregation Car Show in Boca Raton – We had 12 member cars in attendance to this show. We got multiple awards. A good show for a good cause.

• Sunday 12/2/18 – Festival Marketplace Annual Holiday Car Show – We had 14 member cars in attend-ance and received 2 awards. Extremely overall large turnout in attendance for this popular show.

• Saturday 12/8/18 – Goodyear Blimp Toys for Tots Drive – We were invited to join the Stingray Cor-vette Club to visit the new Goodyear blimp in Pompano for their annual holiday toy drive. The new, larger, blimp was on hand to view and they collected donations of toys for kids. We followed up this social event with lunch at J. Marks restaurant.

• Sunday 12/9/18 – Our 8th CCSF Annual Holiday Party was held at the Tropical Acres Steakhouse in Ft. Lauderdale. This special holiday event was attended by 51 members & guests. We had a fabulous lunch followed by our ever-popular “Chinese Auction”. They have a great private room with excellent food & service at this restaurant. Our members brought unwrapped gifts which we donated to the Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital the following week.

• Sunday 1/13/19 – Renegade Corvette Club’s Annual Open Car & Truck Show. We had 20 members

cars in attendance and took 15 awards. Great showing for a fine show.

• Sunday 2/10/19 – Camaro Club of West Palm Beach 3rd Annual Open Car & Truck Show. Another very good show presented by our fellow club member Jim M. & his Camaro Club. We had a great turnout of 17 member cars and received 14 awards. Fun Day.

• Wednesday 2/13/19 – Joe DiMaggio Children’s Health Specialty Center Ribbon Cutting Ceremony. We were invited to attend this ceremony for their beautiful, brand new facility in Wellington, FL. Joe, Peggy, Tony & Mare represented our club and Renee & Kent represented the Lou Bachrodt dealership. We were able to get a tour of this wonderful facility which had it ’s soft opening the next day.

• Sunday 2/17/19 – Diamond Dolls Open Car & Truck Show – a Jumpin’ Jack Production. 15 member cars for this popular show for the boys. We got 10 awards for our club cars.

• Sunday 3/10/19 – Cars of Dreams Benefit Car Show – featuring the John Staluppi’s new collection of cars in his museum. 11 members attended with 7 awards taken.

A message from our President (cont’d)...

Corvette Club of South Florida Newsletter

• Saturday 3/16/19 - Joe DiMaggio Children’s Health Specialty Center Grand Opening. Once again we were invited to attend this great event. They had lots of different vendors giving away items, as well as a few food vendors. We set up our tent, displaying our new poster showing our 2019 check presentation to the hospital, and had 2 of our cars on display. Tony & Mare were nice enough to let the kids and their families sit in their car and take pictures. They were all so excited to have a chance to do that.

• Sunday 3/17/19 – Classic Car Show for Wounded Veterans Relief Fund – Worthy show to help those men & women in need, hosted by Valencia Reserve Veterans’s Club.

• Sunday 3/17/19 – Sunshine Corvette Club’s 33rd Spring Meet Car Show, West Kendall, FL. All Corvette show. Long drive, but good show.

• Saturday 3/23/19 – Corvettes Downtown at the Gardens – presented by the Corvette Club of the Palm Beaches. First time show at this very nice location. Great day. 10 members in attendance, 6 awards taken.

As summer approaches the car show season quiets down quite a bit. We are still active as a club, look-ing for other venues and social events for the coming months ahead. We have already started preliminary preparations for our March 1, 2020 9th Annual Car Show. Our goals are to make each year’s show bigger & better. With our outstanding members & full support of our club sponsor we will work to make us one of the premier Corvette clubs in Florida with outstanding car shows. We are a proud organization & we strive to be the best of the best.

On behalf of myself, my fellow founding members Tony, Howard, Peggy, Mary Ann & Donna, we thank everyone for the support & contributions that have made the Corvette Club of South Florida such a huge success.

A message from our President (cont’d)...

Corvette Club of South Florida Newsletter

Marie Hennings had often won-dered what happened to the 1953 Chevy Corvette she and her hus-band Jim use to own. Now she not only knows where the car is; she has seen it. Hennings and her sons traveled to Florida last month to see the car and meet its current owner.

That Corvette brings back memo-ries for Hennings, who retired last year as German Flatts town clerk.

“Jim and I were finishing college in Syracuse when Jim found the car,” she recalled. “We paid $300 for it in 1963.”

They purchased the car from a family whose son had entered the military service and asked his parents to handle the sale of the vehicle.

“We brought it to Herkimer and we worked on it and drove it. We went on trips with it,” said Hen-nings.

They had the car until 1974 when they decided to sell it. Her hus-band handled the sale and she did not know who bought it or how the new owner connected with him. Jim passed away in 2004. Hennings asked anyone she thought might know something about the car.

Mohawk Woman Reunited with 1953 Corvette

“I called a lot of Jim’s co-work-ers,” she said. She used the VIN number for the car – she still had paperwork on it and even a spare key - and traced it to Hadley, Massa-chusetts, but no owner information was available. Then, last year, she heard about the C-1 Corvette Regis-try and was able to trace the car to its current owner – David D’Onofrio of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. There was even an email address, so she sent him an email, not sure he’d respond. “He got right back to me,” she said. That was last fall. They exchanged information, and Hen-nings sent him the spare key she had saved.

D’Onofrio informed her that when he turned the key, the car started right up.

“I got goosebumps,” said Hen-nings. “He said, ‘You should come down in March to a car show.’”

So last month, Hennings, along with sons John and Jeff, made the trip to Florida, where they met

D’Onofrio and reconnected with the 1953 Corvette, which was on dis-play at the Corvette Club of South Florida’s eighth annual Corvette and Open Car and Truck Show in Co-conut Creek, Florida. Proceeds from the show benefitted the Joe DiMag-gio Children’s Hospital.

As a member of sponsoring club, D’Onofrio was not eligible for priz-es, but the people at the show were fascinated by Hennings’ story and, as former owner of the car, she was presented with a “Best of Show” trophy for the 1953 Corvette.

D’Onofrio now refers to the Cor-vette as “our car,” said Hennings. She added that he also owns a 1967 Corvette he had as a youth.

“They love their cars down there,” she said.

According to Wikipedia, the 1953 model year was not only the Corvette’s first production year, but at 300 produced it was also the lowest-volume Corvette. The cars were essentially hand-built and techniques evolved during the production cycle, so that each 1953 Corvette is slightly different. All 1953 models had Polo White exteri-ors, red interiors and black canvas soft tops.

J i m a n d I w e r e f i n i s h i n g c o l l e g e i n S y r a c u s e w h e n J i m f o u n d t h e c a r. W e p a i d $ 3 0 0 f o r i t i n 1 9 6 3 . ”

Cutroni: High School Grad!

Corvette Club of South Florida Newsletter

Congratulations to CJ Spadaro, son of club

members Ron and Joy Spadaro. CJ graduated

from the University of Virginia School of Law!

Spadaro: Law School Grad!

Happy 25th Anniversary!We want to send our most sincere congratulations

to club members Susan & Dennis Prisant, who are celebrating 25 years of wedded bliss!

Here they are pictured celebrating at the Bubble Room in Captiva Island.

The next time you see them, congratulate them!

Congratulations to Addison Cutroni, daughter of Joe (Jr) & Susan Cutroni and granddaughter of Joe & Peggy Cutroni!

Addison graduated on May 21st from Mt. Juliet High School in Mt. Juliet, TN. She will be attending Chattanooga State College in the Fall.

Club Announcements

Corvette Club of South Florida Newsletter

Club member David D’Onofrio’s 1965 Corvette is on display at the National Corvette Museum!

Museum curator Derek Moore took a closer look at David’s 1965 Serial #00001, which is on loan to

the museum.

This special car, built mid year in 1964 as a pilot car, is believed to be the only Serial #00001

mid year left in existence! It is also the only 1965 Corvette to be painted in Satin Silver, a true

pre-production color. In fact, the interior color of the car matches the exterior!

To watch the National Corvette Museum’s “Moore Mondays” segment on this car, visit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWV79jt80FQ

1965 Serial #00001 Corvette

Corvette Club of South Florida Newsletter

Visit the Corvette Club of South Florida online at

www.corvetteclubofsouthflorida.com

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