HISTORY OF THE WESTERN KENTUCKY CORVETTE CLUB

History of the Western Kentucky It's amazing what can be accomplished with a little interest and a lot of persistence!!Several people in Hopkinsville that owned Corvettes had, at various times, mentioned the possibility of starting a Corvette Club. Patsy and John Brandon had talked with Rod and Sharron Lucy about organizing a Corvette club after learning that Sharron and Rod had belonged to one in Shreveport, Louisiana. When David Burke mentioned to Bill Farrell that he and Phyllis had purchased a Corvette, they started talking about getting a group of Corvette owners together for a "cruise".  Bill called Patsy, and they discussed the idea of trying to get a group of people together for an outing. Everyone agreed that it was a great idea. All that was missing was "Doing It"

In September 1997, Bill sent out 21 "red Corvette" invitations to people that he knew owned Corvettes. They were invited to go on a cruise to the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green , KY on the last Sunday of the month. Everyone was to meet at Arby's on 7th Street. Ten Corvettes took that trip. Those traveling to Bowling Green were : Bill and Ann Farrel , John and Patsy Brandon, Rod and Sharron Lucy,  Keith and Sheral Harmon,  Diane and Joey Pendleton,  David Gilliland,  Jim Love,  Billy Gloyd,  and Danny McLaughlin. The group toured the museum then had an early dinner at Martin's Country Fram House. Lots of good food served country style had everyone loosening their belts!!.  After returning to Hopkinsville, the group met at the Sonic Drive-in on Fort Campbell Boulevard for ice cream.It was at the Sonic that the idea of starting a Corvette Club began to be kicked around earnestly. Most believed it would be best to wait until the first of the year (1998) to try to get it going , and bill offered North Drive Middle School as an initial meeting place. After that, the idea just "floated" for a while.

After several months of hearing no more about the formation of a club, Patsy Brandon called Bill Farrell in February of 1998 asked, " What happened to the idea of organizing a Corvette Club?" They decided that they just needed to jump in and try to get something going. Bill and she agreed to have a pre-organizational meeting at North Drive Middle School on March 3rd. David Gilliland, Bill Farrell, and John and Patsy Brandon attended. They looked over the information provided by the NCCC and Longhorn Corvette Club of Texas concerning the formation of a club. But before proceeding any further, they decided to poll the known corvette owners in the area to see if there was enough interest to go forward. No sense in forming a "memberless" club! David,Bill,and Patsy divided the list of Corvette owners that Bill had compliled and did a phone survey. The phone survey disclosed a great deal of interest. Almost everyone contacted gave a positive response! Bill and Patsy made a phone decision to send out invitations to the first organizational meeting to be held on Thursday, April 30, 1998. Patsy wrote a PSA for all the media in Christian Country.

At the first organizational meeting, 32 people attended. We were thrilled to have such a great turnout . Bill Farrell moderated the meeting, and Patsy Brandon kept a record of the proceedings.(This they would pay for later.) Sue and John McGee from Lebanon, TN attended. Sue was the membership chairperson for the southeast region, and she discussed various aspects of organizing a club. Mike Van Winkle, regional membership chairman for Indiana and Western KY ,addressed the group about NCCC membership and distributed printed material related to Corvette Clubs. Other items on the agenda were: nomination of officers, club name suggestions, incorporation of the club, and a possible dues structure. A By-Laws committee was slected to draft a sample by-laws for the organization. That committee consisted of Bill Farrell, Patsy Brandon, Brad Deason,Phyllis Burke, and Danny McLaughlin. Everyone in attendance agreed to set the next meeting for the last Thursday in May, 1998.

At the second meeting, club officers were elected. Bill Farrell, President; David Gilliland, Vice-President; Patsy Brandon, Secretary; Vicky Thomas, Treasurer; and Don Yoder, Officer-at-Large. Members elected to the Board of Directors were: Phyllis Burke, Brad Deason, Phil Fuller, Keith Harmon, Danny McLaughlin, and Rhonda Greathouse. The drafted by-laws were read by Brad Deason with questions being answered by the by-laws committee members. The by-laws were accepted with very few changes. The group then voted on a list of suggested names for the organization and agreed upon Western Kentucky Corvette Club. Club applications were distributed to those in attendance. It was decided that those who returned their dues and application by July1, 1998 would be "Charter Members". The Charter Members were: Bill and Ann Ferrell, John and Patsy Brandon, David and Phyllis Burke, Donn and Patsy Yoder, Danny McLaughlin, Keith and Sheral Harmon, Marty and Rhonda Greathouse, Mark and Vicky Thomas, Joey and Diane Pendleton, David and Rita Gilliland, Brain Burkhead, Larry Wilson, Fred Taylor, Brad Deason, Phil and Glenda Fuller, Steve and Debbie Mallory, Barry Armstrong, David and Betty Hardwidk, Larry and Linda Stiill, Dennis Swain, Mike Danick, Ed Harris, J.D. and Betty Lingenfelter.

That first year was a busy one with trips to the Corvette Homecoming in Bowling Green, Diamond Lakes, and the mid-America Funfeswt in Effingham, Illinois. The club conducted it first annual meeting and Bar BQ dinner at Patriot Chevrolet. A GM engineer from the Corvette plant was the guest speaker. The first tradition of mystery cruises was taken, and the club adopted its official logo, designed by Beverly Vandeveer. The first year of the Western Kentucky Corvette Club was deemed exceedingly successful. The members agreed that the foremost purpose of the club would be social in nature with planned trips, fun events, and a variety of activities for the members to enjoy.

For 1999, the club members decided to retain the same officers that had been elected the previous year and had served since June of '98. In the fall of '99 the club had a 12X12 paver set in the entranceway to the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green. It was set at the 5th year anniversary of the museum celebration on Sept. 4, 1999. Also, the club held it's first Sonic Cruise at the Sonic Drive-In Restaurant on Fort Campbell Boulevard, and it was a huge success. The club held it's annual club picnic in June at the home of John and Patsy Brandon. Everyone had a great time, and we decided to make it an annual event. Several members also helped with the "hot dog" booth that the club set up at the Hopkinsville Jazz Festival. A fun trip to Chattanooga Aquarium.

Another important event of '99 was the establishment of the club's own web site thanks to the efforts of Anthony Underwood, Danny McLaughlin, and others.

Officers elected for 2000 were: President, Bill Farrell; Vice-President, Ken Culwell; Secretary, Patsy Brandon; Treasurer, Rhonda Grteathouse; and Officer-at Large, Mike Ousley. Members elected to the Board of Directors were: Marty Greathouse; Phyllis Burke; Steve Mallory; Phil Fuller; J.D. Lingenfelter, and Danny McLaughlin. The end of the year was celebrated by the first of our annual Christmas pot luck dinner. Everyone brought gifts ,and we played a gift-swapping game called "Dirty Santa".

The year 2000 saw several events added to the club's calendar. an overnight trip to knoxville Expo and Pigeon Forge was taken. A cruise to Sikeston, Mo. to Lambert's House of "Throwed" Rolls was taken, and several members participated in the American Cancer Society's Cancer Walk at the Stadium of Champions. Several club members began talking about taking a Caribbean Cruise in Jan. of 2001. Officers elected for 2001 were : President, Ken Culwell; Vice-President, Anthony Underwood; Secretary, Patsy Brandon; Treasure, Leigh Ann Underwood; Officer-at-Large, Bill Farrell. Elected to Board of Directors were : Marty Greathouse, Steve Mallory, Beverly Vanderveer, J.D. Lingenfelter, Danny McLaughlin, and Phyllis  Burke.

The big event for 2001 for several of the members was the Caribbean Cruise. Fifteen club members went on a 4day cruise to Key West, Florida and Cozumel Mexico. Members who "cruised" on Carnival's "Ecstasy" were Bill and Ann Farrell, Anthony and Leigh Ann Underwood, John and Patsy Brandon, Mike and Brenda Ousley, Butch and Beverly Vanderveer, John Michael Morris, Phyllis Burke, Rhonda Greathouse, and Elaine Sparks. Some of the members took guest for a total of 18 in the group. We had such a great time that the idea to plan a cruise every other year was proposed.

In April, the group cruised to Lynchburg, Tenn to eat at Miss Mary Bo Bo's Boarding House and tour the Jack Daniel's Distillery. Another cruise was taken in July. This was a dinner cruise down the Cumberland River on the riverboat General Jackson. After an afternoon at the Opry Mill's Mall, the group attended the Grand Old Opry where we saw Vince Gill, Allison Grauss and Union Station. It was a full day, but everyone had a great time.

In October, the club participated in the first "Cruise for Life" to raise money for Pennyroyal Hospice . Several local car clubs participated in the event. All of these new activities were in addition to yearly activities of the club like the Cancer Walk, the Jazz Festival, the Madisonville Veteran's Parade, our club picnic and Christmas party, and a group trip to Effingham.

At the October meeting a Patriot Chevrolet, the club elected it's officers for the year 2002. Those elected were : Bill Farrell, Pres.; Anthony Underwood, Vice-President; Patsy Brandon, Secretary; Rhonda Greathouse, Treasurer. Ken Culwell, as past president, will serve as Office-at-Large. New Board members elected to 2 year terms were John Brandon, Keith Harmon, and Leigh Ann Underwood. They will serve with Phyllis Burke, Beverly Vanderveer, and Marty Greathouse who have one year left on their term as board members.

The year 2002 was a great recruiting year for the club. 22 new members were added to our roster. Our club had grown so much that members were having a hard time keeping up with each other. So this year we ordered magnetic or pin name tags for every member. Wearing these at meetings and special events helped everyone learn the names of all the club members. True to our word, the club started discussing another "ocean" cruise for the year 2003. Tim Kittell was invited to the January meeting to discuss options for another Caribbean cruise in Jan.2003. In February we had a Daytona 500 party. Suzanne Greenfield won the winner's pot. We had lots of good food, a big screen TV, and lots of fun at the old Fuqua-Hinton Funeral Home building.

The club had 5 mystery cruises. One was an overnight cruise to Edenburgh, Indiana. The other mystery cruises consisted of a poker run to Milldale in Roberston Co., Tennessee, a cruise to Ashland City to Stratton's, a 50's style restaurant, a cruise to the "land between the lakes" - through the "trace" -to Miss Scarlett's Restaurant, and finally a cruise to the Garden of the Gods in Illinois. That last cruise involved ferrying across the Ohio and later driving to Evansville, Indiana for dinner at the Old Mill Restaurant. John and Patsy Brandon put 270 miles on their vette. Others probably put even more!!! It was a fun trip.

At our annual June picnic, we had a new activity - Hot Wheel Races. It was a triple elimination event, and everyone had a great time. In addition to these activties, the club participated in the annual events such as the cancer walk, cookout in the park, the Madisonville Veteran's Parade, the Hospice cruise, Fun Fest trip to Effingham, Patriot Chev. meeting, and the annual Christmas party and gift exchange. At the October meeting at Patriot, the new officers elected for 2003 were : Pres, Joe Allen, VP, Phil Fuller, Sec., Patsy Brandon, Treas, P.J. Heisler; Officer -at- Large Bill Farrell. Three new board members, David Burke, Ken Cullwell, and Brenda Ousley were elected to serve with John Brandon, Keith Harmon, and Leigh Ann Underwood, who had another year left on their terms board members.

2003 was another great recruiting year for the WKCC. We added 18 new members to our roster!! The Caribbean cruise to Jamaica and Grand Cayman was taken in January by several members and friends of members. We had a great time, especially John and Patsy Brandon who won $1100 in the casino the last day of the cruise!!! The club held a football ticket "raffle" in the fall of the year to raise money for the American Cancer Society, and at the Walk for a Cure held in June we held a "Race Against Cancer" featuring local politicians who raced Hot Wheel Corvettes to raise more money. In all, the club donated $1620.00 to the ACS.

The annual club picnic was again held at the Brandon's, and the match box Corvette races were a bit hit. The 50th anniversary of Corvettes celebration was held in Nashville with thousands of Corvettes cruising in for the event. In Sept. the WKCC took an overnight trip to Burbon Festival in Bardstown. A tour of the Maker's Distillery was taken. The group held a mystery cruise with a twist. We had a poker run where we had to answer questions about our route to a restaurant in Princeton. Everyone had a great time ! We took a cruise to Patti's in Grand Rivers and Lambert's House of Throwed Rolls in Sikeston. Some members joined with the Clarksville club for dinner at the Sportsman Lodge and some attended the Corvettes on the River in Paducah. In addition to the new events, the WKCC continued annual events like the cruise-in for the Humane Society, the Patriot Chevrolet October meeting, new officers elected for 2004 were : Bill Farrell Pres.; Joe Allen, VP; Patsy Brandon, secretary; Judy Shemwell, treasurer. Board members elected to serve for 2 years were : John Brandon, Julie Gibbs, and Seldon Sledd. They will serve with David Burke, Ken Culwell, and Brenda Ousley who have another year to serve.

The WKCC continued it's annual activities through 2004. Mystery cruises, poker runs, and monthly meetings were all attended.  The club's website was greatly improved with the expertise of Julie Gibbs. Seventeen new members were added to the club's roster. A Zaino products representative gave a demonstration to club members (mostly men) at the Classic Tires in Cadiz. The ladies of the club participated in a sweatshirt decorating class taught by Beverly Vanderveer. The club raised $1200 for the American Cancer Society by participating in the Relay for Life. The club took a fall cruise to Lambert"s House of "Throwed" Rolls in Sikeston, MO in October. The club picnic was held this year at Pennyrile State Park. Atb the annual Patriot Chevrolet dinner and meeting in October the following officers were elected for 2005 : Bill Farrell, pres.; Joe Allen, VP; Patsy Brandon, secretary; Judy Shemwell, treasurer. Board members elected to serve for 2 years were : David Burke, Rodger Clark, and Danny Johns. They will serve with John Brandon, Julie Gibbs, and Seldon Sledd who have another year to serve. Layne Smith was later elected to the Officer-at-Large position. Vickie Allen was asked to serve as the club's ambassador to the museum. The year was concluded by our annual Christmas dinner held at the Pioneer's Building.

A few new activities were added to the agenda of the WKCC for 2005 in additional to our regular meetings, mystery cruises, and annual events. This year we had a mystery cruise based on the movie National Treasure. participants were invited 

to a movie screening at homes of members to prepare them for the cruise. A poker run out of Madisonville was sponsored by Browing Chevrolet. Hopefully, this will become an annual event. Several members attended the Fun Fest in Effingham where they also enjoyed a concert by the Beach Boys. A group of about 40 took an overnight trip to Chattanooga to attend a Blue Angels air show and take a dinner boat cruise. Other activities included attending the aquarium, IMAX theater, or railroad museum. The club again raised money for the American Cancer Society by having a team in the Relay for Life. The annual picnic was held, and the Christmas dinner was held for the first time at Oakland Manor. At our annual Patriot Chevrolet meeting in October, the following officers were elected. President, Joe Allen: Vice-President, Layne Smith; Secretary, Patsy Brandon; Treasurer, Judy Shemwell; Officer-at-Large, Bill Farrell. Board members elected were John Brandon, Brenda Ousley, and Larry Shemwell. They will serve with David Burke, Rodger Clark, and Danny Johns who have one more year to serve. In 2005, 15 new members were added to the club roster. Not Bad!!!

2006 sped by with the usual activities of the WKCC. Several mystery cruises, some very interesting were conducted. Several members of the club participated in the NCM Volunteer Day. Our annual club picnic was held at the Tie Breaker Park, and our Christmas dinner was again held at Oakland Manor with those attending bringing gifts for a game of "Dirty Santa". This year our club hosted a tour of the Dana Plant in Hopkinsville where the Z06 frames are made. Tony Starkey, personnel officer at Dana, coordinated the tour as part of the NCM Z06 fest in Bowling Green. Following the tour, a special lunch was held at Oakland Manor. Several club members served as hosts for the event - escorting the group to Hopkinsville, greeting them at Dana and leading them to the luncheon site, and decorating and hosting the lunch. Everyone attending was very complimentary, and the museum seemed interested in repeating the tour in the future. At the annual Patriot Chevrolet meeting in October, officers were elected for 2007. New officers are President, David Burke; Vice-President, Mike Ousley; Secretary, Patsy Brandon; Treasurer, Judy Shemwell.  Board members elected to the three vacant positions were : Donald Doss, Pam Clark, and Rodger Clark. They will serve with the 3 board members who have one more year on their term. John Brandon, Brenda Ousley, and Larry Shemwell. The past president, Joe Allen, will serve as the Officer-at-Large. In 2006, 12 new members were added to the club roster.

2007 began the 10th calendar year of the WKCC. How time has flown!! This year manyof our usual activities were continued. We had several mystery cruises that were very good. Somehow the Brandon's managed to get us lost - again. But, that was the fun of it. A small group of members attended the Strawberry Festival in Adairville, KY. A great return trip through the countryside was enjoyed. The club picnic returned to the back yard of John and Patsy Brandon after several years at public places. The group played Bingo for prizes and competed in matchbox car races. Several members attended the Funfest in Effingham, Ill. Our Patriot Chevrolet annual meeting saw the election of new officers for 2008 and the group was treasted to a walk-through of a new Corvette by a Patriot salesman.  One needs to be an engineer to drive one of these things. This year, the WKCC made charitable contributions to the Warm the Children - a program to buy coats for needy children. And donations were made to 2 local nursing care homes for personal wear for needy residents. 2007 again saw the WKCC participating in the Veteran's Parade in Madisonville, and for the first time, participating club members decorated their cars for Christmas, put on their Santa hats, and drove their vettes in the Hopkinsville Christmas parade. Our annual  Christmas dinner (and Dirty Santa game) were held again at Oakland manor. We had a great turnout, and Julie Gibbs took couples pictures before the Christmas tree of those attending and posted them on our website. The officers newly elected for 2008 were : Pres., David Burke; VP, Phil Fuller; Sec, Patsy Brandon; Treas, Judy Shemwell. Tommy Tichenor will serve as Officer-at-Large. The three board members elected for the 3 vacant positions were : John Brandon, Brenda Ousley, and Larry Shemwell. They will serve with Rodger and Pam Clark and Donald Doss. who have 1 year left on their term. Donald Doss will also serve as the club rep ton the Corvette Museum. In 2007, 8 new members were added to the WKCC roster.

2008 - What a year!!! The WKCC set records all over the place in 2008. We had better average attendance at meetings, events, trips, - everything was bigger and better!! A new record for new members added to our rosters in a single year was set with 22 new members joining the WKCC. How exciting!  And the great thing is that most of them are very active. The attendance at our 3 mystery cruises was way up with over 20 attending the first two and a whopping 35 attending our last one. 14 members and guest participated in the NCM volunteer workday this year.  In addition to these exciting statistics, the club had many interesting and fun activities this year. We took an overnight trip in the spring to Louisville, KY and stayed in the historic Brown Hotel in downtown Louisville. It's where the famous "Kentucky Hot Brown" is said to have originated. We went to the  horse races , of course on Saturday. On Saturday night we went to 4th Street Live within walking distance of our hotel, had dinner, and some of us went to "Howling at the Moon", a wild duel piano bar. That was a lot of fun. Another overnight for the club was a trip in October to Nashville, TN. We went to the flea market on Saturday, attended the Grand Ole Opry that night, and saw Keith Urban, and on Sunday, took a tour of Nashville and the star's homes. It was a blast!! In addition, we had our annual club picinc and hot wheels races, took a fall cruise to Sikeston to eat a Lambert;s House of "Thrown" rolls, participated in the Madisonville Veteran's parade and the Hopkinsville Christmas parade .The club donated canned goods and our split-the-pot proceeds to the Salvation Army for our charity this year. At our annual Oct, meeting at Patriot Chevrolet, we elected new officers for 2009. Those elected were : Pres, David Burke; VP, Tommy Tichenor; Secretary, Patsy Brandon; TYreasurer, Judy Shemwell. The three vacancies on the board of directors were filled by Donald Doss, Phil Fuller, and Barry Marsh. They will serve with John Brandon, Brenda Ousley, and Larry Shemwell who have 1 year left to serve on their 2 year term. Terry Rudd was elected to the Officer-at -Large position. The year ended with our annual Christmas dinner at Oakland Manor and the group having a ball playing "Dirty Santa".

2009 started with a bang or maybe I should say a crackle and pop. the ice storm in January caused the cancellation of our first meeting of the year. Many area residents were without electricity for weeks. Lots of damage to property and trees occurred. The club selected the Hopkins County Red Cross as our charity for the year. That county was hardest hit by the storm. We gave cash and had several food drives for them. A new overnight this year took us to Somerset, KY for their Somernites Cruise-in featuring Corvettes. The weather was uncooperative, but the group had a great time anyway. Some of us cruised over to Renfro Valley to eat and enjoy their country music and comedy show.  Others of our members attended the Effingham Fun Fest that weekend. Our mystery cruises continued to be a success with 31 people attending the first one. Everyone loves going somewhere new to eat. We had over 30 people  at our annual picnic. This year we introduced the corn hole game to our events. We hope to have a tournament next year. Another trip to Lambert's House of "Thrown" rolls was lots of fun, and our Patriot meeting was very successful. Patriot donated many items for door prizes, plus some items for us to raffle. BW's catering was good, too. At the Patriot meeting we elected officers for 2010. Those elected were: Pres, David Burke; VP, John Brandon; Secretary, Patsy Brandon; Treasurer, Judy Shemwell. The three vacancies on the board of directors were filled by Paul Cerrati, Rodger Clark, and Terry Rudd. They will serve with Donald Doss, Phil Fuller, and Barry Marsh who have 1 year left to serve on their 2 year term. Tommy Tichenor was elected  to the Officer-at-Large position. We again participated in the Veteran's Parade in Madisonville and the Christmas Parade  in Hopkinsville. The club again ended the year with a great meal at Oakland Manor and lots of fun playing "Dirty Santa". We added 7 new members to our roster in 2009.

2010 - Our big accomplishment this year was getting our new website up and running. There was a lot more to it thanany of us anticipated, but thanks to the help of Tiffany Braden, we finally got the ball rolling!! We are very happy with the updated look we have and the fact that Larry and I can work together to keep it updated. The other challenge for the club this year was planning, organizing, and conducting the first "Coalfield Cruise-in" in Madisonville, KY. It was a 3 day event with a car show, live band, and numerous other events.

Our mystery cruises took a hard hit from weather in 20120. We had to cancel the first 3 that we planned due to rain.  I don't mean a little sprinkle, I mean a downpour. When we were finally able to have one this year it was in August!!! Everyone was so ready to go that we set a new record of 23 cars and 42 people participating in the only mystery cruise of 2010.

Several of our members returned to the Somernites Cruise-in for Corvettes at the end of September.

The weather this year was perfect, and everyone had a great time. Several other of our members went to Effingham on that same weekend. We had our annual picnic which was a lot of fun with the added Cornhole Tournament. We still raced our Hot Wheel Vettes and had a great Bar BQ dinner. Another trip to Sikeston, MO and Lambert's House of "Thrown" rolls was fun.

At our annual October meeting at Patriot Chevrolet, we had a speaker from the Corvette plant, Steve Grilli, a great meal, and we elected new officers for 2011. Those newly elected officers are. Pres., David Burke; VP, Gayle Chambers; Sec., Patsy Brandon; Treas., Judy Shemwell; Officer-at-Large, Brenda Ousley. New board members elected were Phil Fuller, Barry Marsh, and Mike Ousley.

We again participated in the Madisonville Veteran's Parade and the Hopkinsville Christmas Parade. We ended the year with our annual Christmas dinner at Oakland Manor where we had a great meal and great fun playing "Dirty Santa".

Our charity for 20120 was the "Shop with Cop's" program. The Hopkinsville police use the donated funds to take local needy children shopping for Christmas for them and their families. We also conducted a food drive for that same charity. We added 11 new members to our roster in 2010.

In 2011, some members of the WKCC took a trip tyo Nashville, Ind. This trip had been taken several years prior but was new to many of our members now.

The Wounded Warrior Project sponsored by the NCM drew participants from our and surronding Corvette Clubs. The soldiers really enjoyed it, and it was a great salute to our fighting men and women.

This year a trip to Badgett theater in Grand Rivers was planned, and more than 20 members and guest made the trip. We attended the 50's show at the theater and then enjoyed a great dinner at Patti's.

In 2010, rain played havoc on our mystery cruises, but 2011 was the first year we have ever had to reschedule our picnic due to rain. It was reset for Oct.

Another trip to Somerset, Ky and the Somernites cruise-in for vettes was enjoyed by many in the club. The weather was beautiful, and a good time was had by all.

Our October meeting at Patriot Chevrolet was a huge success. @011 being the 100th anniversary of Chevrolet, we had special guest speakers for our meeting. Dave Tatman, the new plant manager of the Corvette plant, gave a very interesting presentation explaining the many changes made at the plant to upgrade and remodel. Also speaking to us was Gary Cottrell, who is in charge of guest services and is delivery manager at the NCM. We had 60 people attend, gave away lot of door prizes, had a great meal, and had a great time in general. Shop with cops was again selected as our charity for the year.

Officers for 2012 were elected: Pres., David Burke; VP, Gayle Chambers; Sec, Patsy Brandon; and Treas, Judy Shemwell. The 3 board members elected to serve 2 year terms were : John Brandon, Paul Cerrati, and Brenda Chambers to serve with Barry Marsh, Phil Fuller, and Mike Ousley who have another year to Serve. Brenda Ousley will again be the Officer-at-Large.

Following the Madisonville Veteran's Parade and the Christmas Parade in Hopkinsville, the WKCC capped off the year with it's Christmas dinner at Oakland Manor.

2 new members were added to our roster in 2011 with one of those living in New York state.

2012 began with the addition of 4 new members in the first couple of months. Our first trip to "Bike Night" in Elkton ,Ky was taken.

The year's first mystery cruise concluded in Auburn, Ky where the group ate at Federal Grove, a historic federal style house where the food was delicious.

In July, several members attended the performance of Love Always, Patsy Cline at the Badgett Theater in Grand Rivers, followed by dinner at Patti's.

Another interesting trip for the club was a cruise to the Country Plantation in Greenville, Ky. It is a beautiful home that specializes in hosting weddings and has buffet lunches on Sundays. Everyone really enjoyed that trip.

Our annual picnic was hosted this year by Bill and Cindy Allen of Dawson Springs. They were nice enough to invite the entire club to their home and provided a wonderful meal. Great fun for everyone!! Thanks to the Allen's for their hospitality.

Our Patriot meeting in October was a huge success. Tom Hill, a GM engineer, was our guest speaker. That was special to most of us because Tom had spoken at one of our earliest Patriot meetings years ago, and everyone was delighted to listen to him again.

We donated food and our "split the pot" profits to the Shop with Cops program again this year.

Our year ended with participation in the Madisonville Veteran's Parade and the Hopkinsville Christmas Parade. Our finial gathering was again at Oakland Manor for our Christmas dinner and playing "Dirty Santa".A total of 12 new members were added to the WKCC rosters in 2012.

Officers for 2013 were elected at our Patriot meeting. They were : Pres., David Burke; VP, Gale Chambers; Sec., Patsy Brandon; Treas., Judy Shemwell.

New board members were : Phil Fuller, Barry Marsh, and Ronnie  Cumbee. They will serve with John Brandon, Paul Cerrati, and Brenda Chambers who have a year laeft on their term.

Fletcher Ashby was elected Officer-at-Large.

In 2013, Brenda Oualey volunteered to take over the photo aspect of the WKCC website. She has worked hard to get member's car pictures on the site and pics of events the club attends.

Club members participated in our yearly volunteer day at the NCM ,took our first mystery cruise to Shady Cliff Restaurant, and traveled  to Somerset, Ky for the annual Corvette weekend.

We also took another trip to Grand Rivers and the Badgett Theather to see their 60's show. Everyone loved it !!!!

Our second mystery cruise took us to Springfield, TN and Torino's Restaurant - yum, yum !!!

A new eventthat we added this year was a trip to the Antique Car and Truck Show in Greenville, Ky. The group went to Philly's for dinner, sat up their chairs across from the old courthouse in downtown and listened to some great oldies music provided by a group from Nashville. That was a lot of fun !!!!

A group of members traveled to Shaker Village for an overnight trip and tour of the village. They also went to the Keeneland Horse Park in Lexington. In addition, we had a group of members who went to "Corvettes on the River" event sponsored by the Paducah, KY Corvette Club.

Our annual picnic was a huge success. We had the picnic at Jeff Davis State Park in Fairview, Ky. Grilled hamburgers and hotdogs were served with lots of goodies from the members that attended. The members played bingo for cash, and Cathy Wallace had a great day. Some played in a corn hole tournament for prizes. The corn hole tournament was won by Bill Allen and Patsy Brandon.

Our annual activities continued such as the Patriot Chevrolet meeting. It was again catered by 4 Seasons Catering. 64 members and guest attended including a speaker from the Corvette plant who drove a new 2014 Stingray Corvette to the event. The Veterans Parade in Madisonville, the Christmas Parade in Hopkinsville, and our annual Christmas dinner at Oakland Manor rounded out our annual events. After the Christmas parade, the participants were invited to Bruce and Cathy Wallace's house for lunch and to participate in the Trenton Christmas Parade afterward.

Our annual trip to Sikeston, MO and Lambert's House of "thrown" Rolls was taken, but this time the group went to Paducah first to attend an antique ca auction.

At the Patriot meeting, officers and board members for 2024 were elected. They were : President, David Burke; VP, Gayle Chambers; Sec., Patsy Brandon; Treas., Charoletta Marsh; Officer-at-Large, Doris Lamb. Newly elected board members were : John Brandon , Paul Cerati, and Brenda Ousley.

2013 was a busy year, and the club added 15 new members to it's roster during the year for a total of 67 members. What a great recruiting year !!!!

2014 was another successful year for the WKCC. Our Relay for Life team donated $4218 to the American Cancer Society as a result of our many fundraising efforts - from Teeshirt sales to baked good sales. Brenda Ousley and Rose Cumbee headed up this effort with lots of help from the club.

The club had a large group attend the 70's show at the Badgett Theater in Grand Rivers, KY and several made the trip to visit Loretta Lynn's Ranch in Tennessee.

28 of our members enjoyed another trip to Greenville's car show and downtown entertainment with a Motown band providing the great music. The clubalso had 29 people attend the mystery cruise to Monell's in Gallatin, TN led by John and Patsy Brandon. Everyone loved the food !

Speaking of good food, another trip to Federal Grove in Auburn, Ky was enjoyed by those who attended.

The club continued it's traditions of a volunteer day at the NCM, an annual picnic held this year at the Brandon's with Bar B Q and all the fixings, the Veterans parade in Madisonville, and the Christmas parade in Hopkinsville.

We held our annual Oct. meeting at Patriot Chevrolet, the club's corporate sponsor, and elected officers and board members for 2015. Those elected were: Pres., David Burke; VP, Gayle Chambers; Sec., Patsy brandon; Treas, Charoletta Marsh; and Officer-at-Large, Kevin Austin. 3 new board members were elected : Ronnie Cumbee, Donald Doss, and Phil Fuller. They will serve with John Brandon,Paul Cerrati, and Brenda Ousley.

The year was capped off with the annual Christmas dinner at Oakland Manor and the playing of "Dirty Santa". Everyone had a great time!!!

The club donated $500 to Max's Hope, the club's charity for the year.

6 new members were added to the club roster in 2014.

2015 began with lots of bad weather, but it didn't hinder our club members who attended our January meeting in force. Unfortunately, the February meeting was canceled due to snow!! But we bounced back in March with 34 attending that meeting, and we were off and running for the year!!

Our Relay for Life team with Rose Cumbee chairing donated $2414.50 to the American Cancer Society.

The Pennyrile Classic Car Club had announced at the end of 2014 that they would no longer conduct the Cruise-in at K-mart on the 3rd Sat. of each month May through Oct. due to the lack of help within their club. The WKCC discussed this and voted to offer our help to keep the cruise-ins going. So each month, we had 4 members volunteers show up at the K-mart cruise-in to do whatever was needed.

A large group of members attended another fun day in downtown Greenville, eating at the Mustang Grill and enjoying an Elvis impersonator. We also attended an aerobatic competition at the Hopkinsville airport and supported the military affairs chili cook-off in downtown Hopkinsville.

We held our annual picnic at the Jeff Davis Park in Fairview, Ky.

Our annual participation in the NCM volunteer day, Patriot meeting, Madisonville Veteran parade, and Hopkinsville Christmas parade continued.

At the Oct. meeting at Patriot we elected officers and board members for 2016. Those elected were;  Barry Marsh, Pres. , Paul Cerrati, VP, Patsy Brandon, Sec, Charoletta Marsh, Treas; and the outgoing president, David Burke, will serve as Officer-at-Large. David volunteered to fill the President's position at our election meeting in  2006 because no one wanted to run for the office. So his first year as president was 2007. He filled that position for 9 years. Thanks to him for stepping up to the plate.

New board members elected were: Kevin Austin, Brenda Ousley, and Ed Peek. They will serve with the 3 who have a year left on their term - Ronnie Cumbee, Donald Doss, and Phil Fuller. For the first time the club recognized and awarded a plaque to its Outstanding Member of 2015. The recipient was Patsy Brandon. This idea came from Terry Mayes and will be continued next year.

 Our annual Christmas dinner was held at Oakland Manor and , of course, we played "Dirty Santa". 4 new members were added to the club roster in 2015.

2016 started out with our first event having to be canceled due to snow, but the club managed to  have a Feb. Valentines weekend at Lake Cumberland State Park. Those who attended said it was a great getaway!!

The club decided to again help with the Pennyrile Classic Car Club Cruise-ins. 4 members each month, May through Sept. volunteered to work.

A new outing for the club was going to the Discovery park and Car Museum in Union City, TN.

Also a group of members attended a great Exile concert at the Kentucky Opry in Draffenville, Ky. The club again planned a trip to Greenville, Ky to the car show with live music. The band out of Nashville was great playing oldies for the crowd.

A group of club members enjoyed a mystery cruise led by Phil Fuller into southern Indiana and we, of course, had our yearly picnic.

Some members of the club attended the first year Hopkinsville's Summer Salute and listened over the weekend to the oldies Motown sound of the Jimmy Church Band and Diamond Rio.

The club also had a weekend trip to Chattanooga. Those attending that trip visited the Aquarium and took a river boat trip. They also visited Rock City, Ruby Falls, and Lookout Mountain.

Of course, the club had it's annual Patriot Chevrolet meeting with speaker from the Corvette Museum, Gary Cotterill. Officers elected for 2017 at this meeting were : Pres., Barry Marsh; VP, Paul Cerrati; Sec., Patsy Brandon; Treas, Charoletta Marsh. Newly elected board members were John Brandon, Gayle Chambers, and Rose Cumbee, who will serve a 2 year term. Phil Fuller was elected the Officer-at-Large.

Our charity for 2016 was Coats for Kids, and the club participated in a car show held to raise money for this charity.

Sadly, our club lost 2 members this year with the untimely deaths of Janet Norton and Jim Russell.

They will be missed!! This reminds us all to enjoy life while we can and not to take our freinds and family for granted.

The WKCC added 3 new members to it's roster in 2016.

Paul Cerrati was chosen as "outstanding member of the year."

2017 started out with a new event- the Valentine's Dinner and dance at Pennyrile State Park. 9 couples from the WKCC attended this event and had a great time.

On March 11, a group from the WKCC took a cruise to Indiana and took a tour of the Navy LST followed by lunch and a tour of the Dream Car Museum.

In April, Jim Mize and the Cerratis led a mystery cruise that wound around 4 to 5 counties and wound up in Fredonia, KY for a great Bar B Q meal.

In June the Western KY Veteran's Center in Hanson held its Rolling Thunder event. The club grilled burgers for the Veteran's who thoroughly enjoyed the events!!

The Greenville Music on the Square and Car Show was again a July winner this year. The Downtown Band from Nashville played again by popular demand, and they were GREAT!!!! Those attending  went to Philly's to eat before enjoying the event with lots of oldies being played and some popular hits of today!!

One of the club's charities for 2017 was the Back to Back Foundation founded by local country singer/songwriter Brice Long who now lives in Nashville. He held a concert at the Bruce Convention Center in Hopkinsville and preformed along with 2 other songwriters from Nashville numerous hits, and stories of how those hits came to being were very interesting. This charity donates money to needed families in Trigg and Christian Counties.

In Sept. , our other charity - the Coats for Kids held its annual car show to raise money for coats for needy families in Hopkins and surrounding counties. It was a great success this year. 16 cars from the WKCC attended and there were 67 total cars participating in addition to some motorcycles!!

Our annual club picnic was held this year at the KY Dam Village shelter on KY lake. We grilled burgers and hotdogs, and those attending brought great side dishes!! The view was fabulous, and the breeze off the lake was wonderful and much appreciated, as it was a warm day!!

Several members of the WKCC attended the Effingham Fun Fest. They had a great time, enjoyed the entertainment and visited some interesting places in the area.

The year wound down quickly!! October saw another mystery cruise and our annual meeting to elect officers for next year. This year it was held at Oakland Manor!! Officers and board members for 2018 are : President, Phil Fuller; VP, Ed Peek; Sec., Brenda Chambers;Treas, Brenda Ousley; and Officer-at-Large - Barry Marsh. Danny Jones, Terry Mayes, and Mike Ousley were newly elected board members to serve with John Brandon, Gayle Chambers, and Rose Cumbee who have another year left on their terms.

Nov. 5th was the Madisonville Veteran's Parade which they say isn the largest in the state!!!!

The year ended with our annual Christmas Dinner at Oakland Manor and the playing of Dirty Santa. Our "outstanding member of the year" was awarded to Barry Marsh!!

The WKCC added 2 new members to its roster in 2017.

The Western Ky Corvette Club looks forward to many more successful years and welcomes all Corvette owners who would like to share in the fellowship of this fun club!!!