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Fine cars, fine weather
An enthusiastic crowd turned out for this year’s Corvette parade, which unlike last year’s did not end stormily.
By Heather Stauffer, The Sentinel Online - August 24, 2008
Last updated: Monday, August 25, 2008 7:45 AM EDT
Rich Cinminello of Bayonne, N.J. completes last minute touches on his 1977 Corvette prior to the start of the Corvette Parade in Carlisle on Saturday. Matthew Harris/Special to the Sentinel
Carlisle, PA - Spectators and participants in Carlisle’s Corvette parade shared two emotions Saturday: excitement, and relief that this year they didn’t face a stormy ending.
“It was horrible,” said Connecticut resident Bill Breski of what happened a year ago. He and some friends who come to Corvettes at Carlisle every year had been in the parade, he said, and they had just finished when Carlisle was visited with ferocious wind and rain.
“It happened so quick,” Breski said. Before they knew it, he said, a tree had hit the convertible his friend and fellow Connecticut resident Larry Arpin was driving.
“We were very fortunate,” Breski said. Somehow, he said, both their cars escaped without serious damage, as did Arpin. And, he said, when they got back to the ravaged fairgrounds, they found their tent standing tall amid many that were downed.
“It looked like a war zone,” Arpin said. But, they said, despite the damage that a number of cars and stands sustained, they were glad to hear later that no one had been seriously injured. In all the many years they have been coming to the show, they said, that was the worst weather they have seen.
<!-- old method 10 --><!-- old method 11 --><!-- old method 12 --><!-- old method 13 --><!-- old method 14 --><!-- old method 15 -->Sunny
This year, though, the two appeared to have put all that behind them as they prepared to drive to downtown Carlisle under a sky nearly as sunny as the Velocity hue of Breski’s 2006 ZO6 Corvette.
“The parade is wonderful,” Breski said. “We go to shows all over New England, and nothing holds a candle to this. It’s kind of the Corvette mecca.”
But, he said, he wouldn’t be doing any heroics during the parade.
“This car is actually a little dangerous,” Breski said. “I’ll rev it some, but I’m not going to let the clutch out.”
Arpin, who has owned seven Corvettes, was driving a ruby red 1968 convertible in honor of its 40th anniversary. Like Breski, he said, he likes driving his Corvette.
“I’ll be back every year,” Arpin said. “This is the epitome of being a Corvette owner.”
Further back in the field was fellow Connecticut resident and Corvette aficionado Al Dubien, preparing to drive his silver blue metallic 1958 Corvette.
“I’ve had this for 33 years,” Dubien said. Bringing it to Carlisle for the first time this year was especially meaningful, he says, because it was here that he got many of the parts he needed to get the car in the condition it is now.
Furthermore, he says, the car was selected as the Lady’s Choice of Michele Miller in the Fun Field Celebrity Contest.
“I’m thrilled,” Dubien said. His plans for the parade, he said, were to “wave to people and enjoy the time.”
Like most people there, Dubien said, his fascination with Corvettes is still very much alive.
“I guess what it is is the shape, the mystique, the name,” he said. “The old ones are really my fancy.”
Crowd
That the drivers weren’t the only ones looking forward to the parade was evident by the number of people who massed outside the fairgrounds a full 45 minutes before it was scheduled to start. Others, like Theresa and Douglas Stum of Newville, gathered on High Street to watch the cars make their way to the square.
“They’re cars,” said Zach Stum, 6, who had never seen the parade before. He was hoping to see a red one with black stripes, he said, and with prompting from his mother he revealed the other thing he was looking for: a teacher from his preschool, who would be riding with her husband in the parade.
His brother, Kyle Rhoads, 11, said he was looking forward to the show even though Corvettes weren’t at the top of his list of dream cars.
“They’re about fourth,” he said. “My favorite kind of car is a Dodge Viper.”
But for Carlisle residents Roger and Sandy Spitz, nothing compares to a ‘Vette.
“I’ve got a Corvette in my garage,” Roger Spitz said. They don’t drive the silver 1985 model much around town, he said, but they like to take it on vacations.
“I’ve always liked Corvettes, starting back in the early 60s,” he said. “We’ve talked about selling it,” Sandy Spitz said, but every time they drive it they change their minds and buy a new accessory for it instead.
And, Sandy Spitz said, they also like the parade and the general air of excitement that hits the area when the Corvette show comes to town.
“We’re just hoping it’s not like last year,” she said of the weather. But then, she said, threatening skies may not have made a difference in the turnout.
“I doubt that anything will stop a Corvette person,” she said.
An enthusiastic crowd turned out for this year’s Corvette parade, which unlike last year’s did not end stormily.
By Heather Stauffer, The Sentinel Online - August 24, 2008
Last updated: Monday, August 25, 2008 7:45 AM EDT
Rich Cinminello of Bayonne, N.J. completes last minute touches on his 1977 Corvette prior to the start of the Corvette Parade in Carlisle on Saturday. Matthew Harris/Special to the Sentinel
Carlisle, PA - Spectators and participants in Carlisle’s Corvette parade shared two emotions Saturday: excitement, and relief that this year they didn’t face a stormy ending.
“It was horrible,” said Connecticut resident Bill Breski of what happened a year ago. He and some friends who come to Corvettes at Carlisle every year had been in the parade, he said, and they had just finished when Carlisle was visited with ferocious wind and rain.
“It happened so quick,” Breski said. Before they knew it, he said, a tree had hit the convertible his friend and fellow Connecticut resident Larry Arpin was driving.
“We were very fortunate,” Breski said. Somehow, he said, both their cars escaped without serious damage, as did Arpin. And, he said, when they got back to the ravaged fairgrounds, they found their tent standing tall amid many that were downed.
“It looked like a war zone,” Arpin said. But, they said, despite the damage that a number of cars and stands sustained, they were glad to hear later that no one had been seriously injured. In all the many years they have been coming to the show, they said, that was the worst weather they have seen.
<!-- old method 10 --><!-- old method 11 --><!-- old method 12 --><!-- old method 13 --><!-- old method 14 --><!-- old method 15 -->Sunny
This year, though, the two appeared to have put all that behind them as they prepared to drive to downtown Carlisle under a sky nearly as sunny as the Velocity hue of Breski’s 2006 ZO6 Corvette.
“The parade is wonderful,” Breski said. “We go to shows all over New England, and nothing holds a candle to this. It’s kind of the Corvette mecca.”
But, he said, he wouldn’t be doing any heroics during the parade.
“This car is actually a little dangerous,” Breski said. “I’ll rev it some, but I’m not going to let the clutch out.”
Arpin, who has owned seven Corvettes, was driving a ruby red 1968 convertible in honor of its 40th anniversary. Like Breski, he said, he likes driving his Corvette.
“I’ll be back every year,” Arpin said. “This is the epitome of being a Corvette owner.”
Further back in the field was fellow Connecticut resident and Corvette aficionado Al Dubien, preparing to drive his silver blue metallic 1958 Corvette.
“I’ve had this for 33 years,” Dubien said. Bringing it to Carlisle for the first time this year was especially meaningful, he says, because it was here that he got many of the parts he needed to get the car in the condition it is now.
Furthermore, he says, the car was selected as the Lady’s Choice of Michele Miller in the Fun Field Celebrity Contest.
“I’m thrilled,” Dubien said. His plans for the parade, he said, were to “wave to people and enjoy the time.”
Like most people there, Dubien said, his fascination with Corvettes is still very much alive.
“I guess what it is is the shape, the mystique, the name,” he said. “The old ones are really my fancy.”
Crowd
That the drivers weren’t the only ones looking forward to the parade was evident by the number of people who massed outside the fairgrounds a full 45 minutes before it was scheduled to start. Others, like Theresa and Douglas Stum of Newville, gathered on High Street to watch the cars make their way to the square.
“They’re cars,” said Zach Stum, 6, who had never seen the parade before. He was hoping to see a red one with black stripes, he said, and with prompting from his mother he revealed the other thing he was looking for: a teacher from his preschool, who would be riding with her husband in the parade.
His brother, Kyle Rhoads, 11, said he was looking forward to the show even though Corvettes weren’t at the top of his list of dream cars.
“They’re about fourth,” he said. “My favorite kind of car is a Dodge Viper.”
But for Carlisle residents Roger and Sandy Spitz, nothing compares to a ‘Vette.
“I’ve got a Corvette in my garage,” Roger Spitz said. They don’t drive the silver 1985 model much around town, he said, but they like to take it on vacations.
“I’ve always liked Corvettes, starting back in the early 60s,” he said. “We’ve talked about selling it,” Sandy Spitz said, but every time they drive it they change their minds and buy a new accessory for it instead.
And, Sandy Spitz said, they also like the parade and the general air of excitement that hits the area when the Corvette show comes to town.
“We’re just hoping it’s not like last year,” she said of the weather. But then, she said, threatening skies may not have made a difference in the turnout.
“I doubt that anything will stop a Corvette person,” she said.