The Domain of the Corvette Club of Rhode Island!
Founded by a handful of Rhode Island Sports Car enthusiasts back in 1964, the Corvette Club of Rhode Island {CCRI} has endured for four decades. The motivating factors for this enterprise have remained applicable to this day and are stipulated as "general purposes" in Article 2 of the club By-Laws. They are:
In more recent years, CCRI has had a sustained total membership of more than 200 Corvette Enthusiasts from all areas of Little Rhody, South Eastern Massachusetts, and Eastern Connecticut. CCRI is homebased in central Rhode Island and will be conducting business meetings on the first Tuesday of the month at our current location in Central Rhode Island area, the Shepherd of the Valley United Methodist Church located at 604 Seven Mile Road, Hope, RI.
Bear with us a moment as we digress from publicizing the legend of our fine club to discuss recent Corvette Summers. The Corvette Seasons for 2006 and 2007 were truly spectacular for CCRI and many of our sister clubs. In 2006 we had a great turnout for both our Marble & Glass Newport Weekend extravaganza in May and our SHow and shine in August. In 2007, our Super Heroes Show and Shine had a record turnout of 170 particippants. Our normally laid-back Corvette seasonal calendar was filled with weekend events, including many new shows. Additionally, our relentless activities committee had some sort of social or Vette related happening planned for nearly every week. August of both years was particularly harried with our annual show, our monthly Wednesday night Social followed by our club Family Picnic at Goddard State Park. Then it was off to Carlisle for a Corvette filled weekend of fun. There were events well into October. Yes, these certainly had been spectacular Corvette summers, and, due to our presnt day economical woes and astronomical fuel price increases, may just remain unsurpassed for we are now experiencing in New England.
Our 2008 MONSTROUS show, "Scares and Nightmares", an eerie PARANORMAL experience for the spirited souls, brave of heart, and the American Sports Car enthusiast was once again conducted at Marina Park on August 3rd. This event did not quite live up to our 2007's superhuman extravaganza of last August which had more than 170 entrants. Once again the efforst of our Show Committee to further improve our show layout enhanced our ability to field more participants. We had more than adequate space to field a record turnout, but the iffy weather appeared to take it's toll on participation and we fielded 120 participants. The shortfall in the number of C4 generation show competitors continues to be a dilemma, with a field ranging from 1984 through 1996, a 12 year generation only surpassed by the C3 genre, it is a golden opportunity for C4 owners to truly SHINE at our SHOW. Surprizingly, with 50 less participants than last year, we had a record 50/50 that presented $768.00 to Corvettes Conquer Cancer as well as the winner. It would have been higher but we SOLD OUT ALL OF OUR TICKETS!! With a theme ripe for costumes, it was rather a blase' turnout. No Wolfman, no Frankenstein, no Mummy on the field, the bride of Dracula (Judy Flock!) showed up and did a superb job selling 50/50 tickets. Randy Flock's treasured specialty awards were truly GOULISH renditions of Monster/Corvette combinations of collectable art. Our sponsor, Paul Masse dropped by to witness our attempt at perfection. It was obvious that he was duly impressed. Later, in the day, his staff brought in some NEW beauties that really grabbed the attention of many on the field. In the final analysis, it turned out to be a beautiful, comfortable day. It was acually balmy at times, the partially cloudy sky, cool ocean breeze and wafting sounds of music made for a pleasant happening. Now doesn't all of that make you wish you were there? There's always next year!!!
In August of 2009, barring some unpredictable disastrous circumstance, CCRI will be hosting our 39th Annual Judged & Participant's Choice Corvette Show and Shine. Due to the overwhelming success of this format, we suspect that it will be another TWO in ONE extravaganza. Our Heinz 57 Class Format... including 38 Judged classes with no Street class and 19 Participant's Choice classes appears to have great appeal to the competitors. Once again, we hope to be returning to the lovely Marina Park in South Kingston, RI. Nothing like having a show on a nice cool green lawn. Ernie, Jerry, and Company will be grilling burgers, dogs and other sumptuous treats. Our self-proclaimed cool DJ was born in the big band era, raised with R & B and Rock & Roll, and, while serving for more than two decades in Uncle Sam's Navy, learned to appreciate trucks and the meaning in David Allen Coe's perfect "Country" song. He's lived through it all and will be playing choice sounds (sans RAP) that will be sure to have a little something for everyone.
With regard to continued support for sponsor related endeavors, we were proud to introduce our 2008 event and show & shine participants and guests to our new benefactor, Paul Masse Chevrolet... As Rhode Islands #1 Chevrolet Dealer, Paul Masse Chevrolet is certainly no stranger to our fellow Rhode Islanders. We anticipate scheduling some seasonal Corvette related events involving our sponsor's dealership, and next year during our 39th, we expect Paul Masse will display selections from his available 2009 inventory. We have been blessed with spectacular days for our 35th, 36th, 37th and our most recent 38th show and shine events. We are always hoping for a repeat but will be sure to leave nothing to chance in 2009. Unquestionably, we shall not test fate and will be certain to establish a 39th show & shine Rain Date, usually the week following are scheduled show date... More than likely, in August of 2009, once again we shall don our judging "duds" and take to the field. We hope that the competition will be robust and zealous for those special theme oriented trophy creations of Showmaster Randy Flock, which will be based on whatever he selects as our 39th theme. Anticipating the designs of these collectable treasures is one of the most exciting aspects of a Corvette Club of Rhode Island seasonal show and shine event.
Getting back to our fine club: Thanks to the efforts of people like Charlie Henry and Richard Nelson and the handful who stood beside them in the fledgling years of CCRI's existence, this club was blessed with truly passionate people resolved to make CCRI a viable and successful social organization. From it's early roots as a "Sports Car Club" with only a few actual Corvette owners, Charlie's and Richard's persistent support enabled the survival of this club. Because of that persistence, CCRI has grown into one of the largest "CORVETTE" dedicated clubs in New England.
Over the years there have been many who have followed the example of commitment established by our founders to ensure the success of CCRI. For more than four decades, this club has continued to be blessed with leaders and members who have taken that mantle of dedication to new levels. The membership of this organization endeavors to continue to stand out amongst our peers. Not an easy task, I might add, because New England has several fine Corvette Clubs that share this level of enthusiasm and devotion to America's only true sports car. Sadly, we lost Charlie earlier in 2007. He was a life member of CCRI and a true inspiration over the years. He'll be sorely missed.
Since the close of the 2003 show season, there has been some activity toward making judging criteria uniform for all clubs in the New England Corvette Show n' Shine circuit. A group of Corvette show enthusiasts from several of the clubs have met and have established the:
They have put a package together that should significantly improve the manner in which judged shows will be conducted. Click on the link above to view the NECJC Introduction page which provides additional links to the LATEST updated PDF files containing the endorsed: Classification Information, Judge Qualification Standards, Judging Guidelines for Judges, Judging Guidelines for Participants, and the Uniform Judging Form for Judged Shows. These files can be viewed, saved, or printed from the linked site.
Our 2008 show & shine is officially sponsored by Paul Masse Chevrolet, 1111 Taunton Avenue, East Providence, Rhode Island. The membership of CCRI is extremely grateful to accept the support of such an upstanding dealership. We further hope that this new relationship will endure and prove to be mutually rewarding well into the future!
As previously stated over the years, "Weekends are truly made for Corvettes!" Its those rainy weekends we have come to know that were designated for Michelob... and, while we're speaking of Michelob, think of having your next in a chilled CCRI 40th Anniversary commemorative mug. OR! If you're like me, you are probably more apt to use one for "Miller" time while the Vette' is put away for the winter! SO! If you have not purchased one of our commememorative mugs from Quartermaster Larry Paolilli, there are still a few available at $7.00 each, or 6 for $36.00. Don't miss out on an opportunity to own a piece of CCRI history...
This official website was authorized by the membership and established in January of 2003, the year marking The 50th Anniversary of the Corvette, in order to give our prestigious club a fitting presence on the World Wide Web. This site will continue to be an ongoing project and will be updated on a regular basis to reflect the ongoing business of the club and to post information about club social and auto related events, and regional Corvette shows. Corvette Club of Rhode Island is a very active organization so check back often to see what's going on.
Whenever you come upon a fellow Corvette Enthusiast on the highway...
Remember to... SAVE the WAVE!
Notice: "The General Motors Trademarks are used with the required express written permission of GM".
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