SoCal/SoNev Caravan 14 eNews Issue No. 1        1/11/11 Presented by Zip Products

Top Story

We're baaa-aack

Fourteen months ago, we published our final eNews issue from the 2009 National Corvette Caravan, then the SCSN Organizing Team was mothballed and we all went on a 12-month hiatus. During our year off, we had lots of memories of the 2009 Caravan to think about. Here are several of my favorites:

The smiles on the faces of Ed and Leslie, our "Be the Lead Car to Barstow" raffle winners, as they led the Southern California/Southern Nevada Caravan out of the Auto Club Speedway at Fontana on Saturday morning, 29 September 2009.

Caravaners, showing the true spirit of the Corvette community, stopping along I-40 to help Steve Lemmon with his balky, Vortec V6-powered '54 during the run from Barstow over to Flagstaff on that hot...no, very hot, first afternoon.

The photo taken on the morning of Day 2, in Adrian TX of the Lead Cars for Southern California/Southern Nevada and Oklahoma/Texas Panhandle parked nose-to-nose with the two Captains shaking hands.

Goodyear's Bob Toth, speaking to a big crowd of Caravaners from Southern California, Southern Nevada, Oklahoma, the Texas Panhandle and Central Texas at a banquet in OKC on the third night of the trip.

During the fourth day being "escorted" by two Oklahoma State Police motorcycle officers riding super-fast, Suzuki Hayabusa sport bikes. We were told they were "special pursuit" bikes.

The big BBQ at Bale Chevrolet In Little Rock AR on the final night of the trip.

The entire Western Caravan Group of four Sections (SCSN, OK/TXPan, CenTX and AR/WTN) running together on I-65 North to Bowling Green after the Reform at Kentucky Downs.

The long Caravan from out West arriving at the Museum, a process that took the better part of an hour.

...Great memories. It was a wonderful trip. So...let's do it again.

Organizing Team Reactivated

(Goleta CA, 11 January 2011) After a year off, the SoCal/SoNev Organizing Team, which plans, organizes and operates the Southern California/Southern Nevada Section of the National Corvette Caravan, is back at work.

Hib Halverson returns as Section Captain. He was reappointed by Caravan National Chairman, Paul Mariano, on 30 August 2010. This will be Halverson's third consecutive appointment as a Captain for the Southern California/Southern Nevada ("SoCal/SoNev" or "SCSN") Section of the National Corvette Caravan. Halverson is a 9-year veteran of planning, organizing and operating one of the larger Caravan Sections in the country. Two other members of the Team which put together the 2009 SoCal/SoNev Caravan are also returning as "Caravan Commanders", Brent Hicks and Tony Megowan. Also returning to the OT is Sandy Rubel who served on the Team for the 2003 Caravan. New to the Team is Paula Megowan, Tony's Wife, who will be the Section's Chief Financial Officer.

The SCSN Organizing Team's preliminary plan is to, once again, begin it's cross-country trip at the AutoClub Speedway at Fontana. The route across southern California and northwestern Arizona will be basically the same, including 90 miles of Historic 66 in Arizona east of Kingman and the customary ice cream stop in Seligman, except this time, we'll spend the night in Williams, Arizona about 35 miles West of Flagstaff.

We decided on Williams after the first 2014 Caravan reconnaissance trip to Arizona in the summer of 2010. Our friends at Bloomington Gold Tours use Williams as an overnight stop on their Grand Canyon Tour which Section Captain Halverson and his Wife ran in their '04 Z06. The Halversons found Williams more friendly to car events than is the City of Flagstaff. After a little additional research into the number of hotels and the amount of food service in Williams, Capt. Halverson decided on that city as the first overnight.

Beyond Williams, the SCSN Sections's route and schedule has not been finalized. The Organizing Team is considering two options: 1) continue along Interstate 40, as we did in 2003 and 2009, with overnights in Tucumcari NM, Oklahoma City OK and Little Rock AR (where we'd link-up with Capt. Jan Marshall's Arkansas Section) making for a five-day trip to Bowling Green and 2) extending the trip to six days, with overnights in Albuquerque NM, Amarillo TX (where we'd link up with Capt. Tuna Dobbins' Oklahoma/Texas Panhandle Section), Tulsa OK and Poplar Bluff MO.

The SoCal/SoNev Section Organizing Team is interested in hearing from SoCal and SoNev Caravaners on the five-day vs six-day trip. issue. Interested parties can contact the OT about this by emailing .

Help! We Need Sponsors

Unlike most other Caravan Sections which sell merchandise to raise money, the types of events the Southern California/Southern Nevada Section stages during the trip to Bowling Green would require sales of thousands of shirts, hats, flags and decals which, of course, would be impractical.

Instead, the SCSN Section relies on individual and business sponsorship to raise the funds it needs to purchase equipment, fund the eNews and the Route Book projects, pay expenses for route scouting trips and for Organizing Team members for travel to National Meetings at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green. Sponsorship money is not used to pay for each Team Member's trip to Bowling Green during the Caravan itself. Organizing Team members, like other Caravaners, pay for the trip themselves. Any money left over after the event is donated to the National Corvette Museum.

Sponsorship of the SoCal/SoNev Section of the National Corvette Caravan has several benefits: 1) coverage in the SCSN eNews which will go out dozens of time to approximately 450 email addresses during the three and a half years leading up to the Caravan in late August of 2014, 3) exposure via the SoCal/SoNev Section's web page on the National Caravan web site, 4) coverage in the Caravan "Route Book" which, just prior to the departure of the Caravan to Bowling Green, is distributed to each car traveling in the Caravan and will be read repeatedly during the five-day trip by all SoCal/SoNev Caravaners. and 5) the goodwill of Corvette enthusiasts throughout the hobby.

The SCSN Organizing Team has initiated a "Start-Up Sponsor" Program. These special sponsors are a group of supportive individuals and businesses which, in spite of the actual event being more than three years away, support the SoCal/SoNev Section is necessary right out of the gate. The SCSN Organizing Team wishes to thank our first Start-Up Sponsor for the 2014 Caravan, Zip Products. The company is family-owned and has been in business for 33 years supporting the Corvette hobby with the best parts and accessories available anywhere. When asked, owner, David Walker was quick to respond with support for our eNews over the next three and half years.

Anyone or any business interested in becoming a Start-up Sponsor or a Sponsor of the Southern California/Southern Nevada Section of the 2014 Caravan should contact Hib Halverson by email at .

Thanks for reading,

Yeoman L. Sharke, Editor

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Hib Halverson