"Presidents Page"

Happy New Year!

Thank you for looking us up! Our club has grown and our “Car family” is strong, so please look around the site.  As I shared in my end of the year page, Southern Maryland Corvette Club (SMCC) closed out the year by leading the La Plata Veteran’s Day Parade with distinguished guests and participated in the Leonardtown Veteran’s Day parade as well.  We have been honored with the request to lead the La Plata Veteran’s Day parade for the last two years and will be leading it again this year. To top it off, we visited the Marine Corps League “Toys for Tots” toys collection site as a group to make our donations. I was later told by a Marine Corp volunteer, that half the toys they received that day came from the Southern Maryland Corvette Club.  Thank you for your support club members!

What a parade it was: The club led it with flying colors starting in a Corvette “Red, White and Blue” sequence; the first six corvettes in the line bore the colors of this great nation to honor our “Heroes” who made the greatest sacrifice a person could ever make for their country and for those who have served or are still serving.  Please keep our “Service Members” in your prayers, for their safety as they protect our borders and safely return to their families.  Also, keep their families in your prayers; they are making the same sacrifice while their loved ones are away.

While the majority of us have stored our cars and are patiently waiting for the cruising season to start back up, some of us (me included) are still cruising in our Corvettes.  One member had his car re-painted to refresh the look (looks GREAT Jeff); another added to his collection (got a 79 to restore); while others are still looking around for that perfect second or third addition.

That ‘79 I mentioned is meant to be sold once I am finish restoring/upgrading it.  So, whoever buys this Corvette will be able to make it a daily driver if they choose to, and literally be able to drive it cross county and not do anything to prepare it for travel…road trip anyone?.

As I shared previously, our passion for these iconic sports cars is contagious; one or two members are looking to add to their collection, while others are continuing to upgrade the one they have.  I also shared that our club is in the re-building stage. I think we may be done re-building and on to the enjoying what we have, to carry out our club motto, “just have fun”.  Yes, we have new members with greater passion for cars, but we also have members who do not own a Corvette (ever seen a four door Corvette?).  They simply joined our club to share their passion for cars and experience the camaraderie of our club members. We had our holiday get together and our monthly dinners.  Others just decided to start a family…congratulation James and Patrice Hopkins! They are expecting their first child.  How’s my “other” Corvette, Patrice?

Our “Car family” is strong and growing and beginning to make plans for the 2016 driving season. For the second year, club members are making the trip to the “Tail of the Dragon”; five members have committed to making the trip this year. We will continue our monthly dinners, our gas ‘n goes, and our club anniversary and holiday celebrations.  Keep those ideas for fun activities coming!  

In closing, I want to thank all the members for keeping our club alive.  A Corvette owner from another club said: “Your club is more active than I thought”. He shared that with me after his request to be removed from our distro list.  I guess this is due to the wave of emails I send out trying to keep the club informed of the events taking place. 

Thank you for visiting our site, I hope you found something that will revive that “young boy (or girl)” passion for cars (Corvette...or otherwise) and join us during one of our club events.  “Don’t crush them, re-build them”! 

Drive Safe and God Bless!

Ben Mendoza

Southern Maryland Corvette Club (SMCC)