Come join us! Life is a highway!

Welcome to the 2019 NACOC Events Journal.

It was a slow start to the year with our meetings and coffee runs as the only activities that drew us out of our cozy houses in the bitter cold of the winter. That is until the end of February when 14 brave souls made the hour-long trip to Bruce Hotel for their famous steak and shrimp supper. It was great, of course, and we couldn’t pass up on the wonderful salads, sides and desserts to go with the meat. There were smiles all around and good conversation as it was our first social event of the year.

We started March out with a trip to Bonnie Doon’s Bowling Lane. Sixteen bowlers managed to get the odd ball to dislodge the pins at the end of the lanes. We followed up another successful match with supper at Tony Roma’s where several on-lookers joined in to hear the stories of Strikes and Spares that were told to anyone who would listen. It seems that not a gutter ball was mentioned.

In April the weather gave us a break and there was even a couple of Corvettes in the parking lot when we met at Fastrack for Kart racing. There were 16 racers who ran in two sets and enjoyed the bumping and bouncing of the karts around the track and the taste of rubber off the tires! Racing finished up with a new group of champions for this year. We then went to Tony Roma’s for an early supper. Twenty-five attended and enjoyed the ribs and other offerings.

We moved into May where the real driving events kicked into high gear! First off was Class Car Connections Poker Run. Over a dozen NACOC members joined in with the 60 plus vehicles that made the run one of the largest events they have ever held. The pot at the end of the day was over $1,300.00 - which was great. Next up was a cold and miserable ice cream run to Leduc that only saw three cars attend this first ice cream run of the season. The next day many of the club headed west to Kelowna for the first major CCCC event of the year. Of course, the trip featured the typical rain along the way as well as some moisture for the Shine & Show and Rallye. The weather Sunday was great for the Racing Gods looked down and gave us a nice day to run the “cone-age” in Kelowna (well really Vernon). NACOC was well represented with over 20 member/spouses in attendance. A special treat for our club was a Friday brunch hosted in a beautiful home on Lake Okanagan by one of our major sponsors. NACOC picked up some of the CCCC Year End Awards and did well throughout the Kelowna weekend. The final event for the month was a first time Flash Drive. We met at the A&W in Acheson and then left for a drive. There were eleven cars that stopped at the Calmar Bakery for a tasty treat before heading on to Millet, Tofield and Lamont. A few decided to end the day with a late lunch in Sherwood Park.

June start off wet and the moisture continued throughout the month, giving us near record amounts of rain. Iain and Tammy hosted a paint night and video racing for those who didn’t want to paint themselves into a corner! Wetaskiwin was the next morning, and with close to frost temperatures, only one member ventured out to the Reynolds History Roads Car Show. Our June ice cream run had a bit better attendance, although the wet weather was still a deterrent. Next up was the Northgate Car Show. There was a great turnout of Corvettes along with many other Chevy vehicles. This show was also the starting point for our yearly Poker Rallye. This year we headed south and west of the city with a stop at The Point at Pigeon Lake for ice cream. We continued our journey through the country, driving the south side of Wabamun Lake and ending at a member’s cabin at Lake Isle for a wonderful steak supper. Next up was the Northland Corvette Conference hosted once again at the Executive Royal Hotel in Leduc. Turnout was down slightly from last year, but the weather held out for the entire event giving us only a little scare between the Shine & Show and Rallye. Race day at EIR track in Wetaskiwin was sunny, making for great day of racing. Once again the volunteers made this event the success that it was!

July was a relatively quiet month for Corvette events. Our club meeting and Ice Cream Run were well attended.

August kicked off with CCCC Convention 2019 hosted by Corvettes Unlimited. Dress up as your favourite TV character was the theme for Saturday night. There were many very interesting costumes!

The Shine and Show, Rallye, Poker Run and Slalom were all well attended. It was a nice weekend with Sunday being a beautiful day for slalom in the parking lot at CrossIron Mills in Airdie. NACOC brought home the Participation Award for the weekend as well as many individual competition awards. Car shows were big in August. It began with “Rock’n August” in St. Albert on the 10^th where most of our members participated to show off their cars. After the show we were invited over to one of our member’s home for a BBQ and more socializing. The “Endless Summer” car show on the 17^th in Sherwood Park was also well supported by our members. One of our members MC’d the day and provided a lot of personal knowledge of most cars at the event. Attendance at these major fundraising car shows are one of the many ways we are able to give back to the community. The month ended off with our, ever popular, Ice Cream Run. Not all were able to attend, however, as several NACOC members left on the same day to experience the cross-country trek with the 5^th Annual Corvette Caravan to Bowling Green, Kentucky, USA. Sixty-one cars in the Western Canada contingent travelled across the country on a 12,000 kilometre (plus or minus a few kms) very exciting adventure. Many stories were told along the way and many will be remembered for years to come. The big excitement was the unveiling of the new generation, mid engine C8 Corvette at the National Corvette Museum where we were able to see, up close and personal, all the features of this new generation car. It will be interesting to see if sales will take off like the last generation, C7, as they begin to arrive in 2020!

September, and with many of our members still returning from the caravan, was a slow month for Corvetting in Alberta with the weather not cooperating, at all! Club business still took place at the regular monthly meeting and we met for, sadly, the last Ice Cream Run of the year.

October, as always is the business month for the club. We start with new executive nominations being put forward at the regular meeting and then further nominations and voting taking place at the Annual General Meeting, (AGM), toward the end of the month. We were pleased to welcome several new faces to our executive. Many thanks must be extended to the outgoing executive members, those who continued on in positions, and those who stepped up to participate in what will surely be an exciting year for our club. NACOC turns 50 in 2020!

November saw our Annual Awards Banquet, which this year took place at the Edmonton Inn. Members were treated to a delicious dinner (all part of the membership fee!) and an evening of socializing and an entertaining surprise silent auction. Of course, the main event of the evening was the introduction of the new Executive and the presentation of awards to all the members who earned them through competition this past season. Our prestigious Competition, Member of the Year, Couple of the Year, and Donna MacDonald trophies were also presented. Congratulations to all! Our first coffee run, held the third Wednesday of the month all winter, took place at the Second Cup in Mayfield Common. We talked about anything of the day, including cruising the Med and the latest movie, Ford vs Ferrari. Again, good company and a hot beverage were enjoyed.

NACOC’s Annual Christmas party, hosted at one of our members home, was a wonderful evening of good food, friendship, and fun. About 30 people gathered in the late afternoon of December 14^th to celebrate the season together. As usual, food played a central role and there was a delicious selection of food to tempt from the potluck turkey supper! The evening proceeded with our Gift Exchange. There were a few “hot” items, prompting some good natured “stealing”, but in the end everyone went home with a new treasure. Speaking of new treasures, the generosity of our club members will go a long way towards making Christmas morning happier for Edmonton and area boys and girls as there was a good collection of toys donated to Santa’s Annoyomous. In addition, a cheque was sent to the organization from fundraising efforts throughout the past year. Thanks to Tom for hosting and thanks to all who came out and helped make the evening merrier!

The following weekend, many members found themselves “making merry” at another home gathering. A huge thanks goes out to Danna for including an invitation to members of NACOC for her Christmas Open House. Again, a wonderful evening of tasty treats and a very Christmasy atmosphere while enjoying good company!

Calendar Archives

Check out some of the things we have done in previous years.

Thank you to all of our sponsors and to everyone (including out of town guests) that helped out. From the organizing committee to all of you that committed your time to take on tasks - you helped make this weekend another NACOC weekend to be remembered - as it has been for the past 44 years. For more details about the weekend please enjoy reading all about it in the “Come join us! Life is a highway” section under the About Us tab of this website.