The Creston, CA Pre-run to the Loading Chute (That became a Run)

The Creston, CA Pre-run to the Loading Chute (That became a Run)

Honestly, it was only meant to be a pre-run with several couples attending. Somehow things got out of hand once it was posted on the Corvettes of Bakersfield private Facebook page, “My Corvette”. Instead of just 2 or 3 Corvettes attending, we had 14 Corvettes and a truck heading towards Creston, 10 miles east of Atascadero in San Luis Obispo County. We took the long, winding Hiway 58 from Mckittrick, Ca. through the scenic hills and switchbacks to Hiway 229 just south of Hiway 41. Creston, with the population of 94, was the home of the Cardiff Stud Farm owned by the TV personality, Alex Trebeck. 

The small Central Coast community of Creston was founded in March 1884 by 4 pioneers. It was named after one of the pioneers named C. J. Cressy. The town was once home to three saloons, two restaurants, a couple of delivery stables, two laundries, a pair of blacksmith shops, a hotel, bakery, post office, church, school and jail.

Once we arrived in Creston, we stopped at the restaurant named the Loading Chute.The restaurant was originally built and opened in the late 1800s where it served as a general store and offered everything from groceries, clothing and hardware to horse and farm equipment. In the 1950s, the Loading Chute was deserted and became “tumbled down and ramble shack “ according to local lore. In 1973, lifelong Creston native, Herman Heilman, bought the Loading Chute and opened a saloon, cafe and grocery store. The Loading Chute changed hands over the years several times and burned to the ground in 1992. It was completely renovated and reopened in December 1999. 

It was a warm day when we arrive at The Loading Chute and we walked into the very cool restaurant. Unfortunately, we were sitting out in the rather warm patio. The service was quick and friendly by our three waitresses and the food was excellent. We had a great time with our 50-50 raffle (congratulations Bill Frye who was the winner) and sold 4 of our Corvettes of Bakersfield cookbooks to the local patrons. 

Everyone looked splendid in their red club shirts, the official club color. Afterwards, 13 ‘Vetters’ drove to Cayucos and enjoyed the very cold weather by having an ice cream party outside the Cayucos Candy Counter and Ice Cream Shop. Passerby can be overheard calling us the Red Shirt Club. After strolling around and walking up and down the pier, we decided it was time to come back home. The road back home was taken by small groups going in different directions. Rolling home, our group of 5 cars determined that it was a very enjoyable run that wasn’t supposed to be; but it was.

For pictures of this run, click on this link to our Flickr page: https://www.flickr.com/photos/158760832@N02/albums/72157709523977562

Summer Solstice at The Habit/Pizza Press 2019

Summer Solstice at The Habit/Pizza Press 2019

Last night, June 21, 2019 was the Summer Solstice event established by Don and Betsy Slauson. Don & Betsy are former members of the Orange County Corvette club and brought along this yearly celebration with them when they moved and joined the Corvettes of Bakersfield. We were blessed with an ideal (for Bakersfield) 90° weather. Normally we suffer over 100° by this time. We had an impressive turn out of 29 Corvettes and Corvette camaraderie was rampant. The Habit Burger Grill and the Pizza Press agreed to help us in a fundraiser by giving us 20% of their proceeds when somebody submits a flyer or mentions ‘Corvettes of Bakersfield’ when paying for their food.  It’s always great to have a large group of Corvettes parked together for the public to see. Many a child will forever remember sitting on the seat in a Corvette. Thank you to all who have participated and brought their families to this event.

For more pictures, click on this Flickr link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/158760832@N02/albums/72157709209884248

Corvettes of Bakersfield/Corvette Owners Breakfast

Corvettes of Bakersfield/Corvette Owners Breakfast

At today’s Corvettes of Bakersfield Corvette Owners Breakfast we had quite a few members attend including some new members who have made this their first event. Thank you Boyd and Lorena for joining our club and we hope you have a great time with us. In other news we are planning events and runs for the coming months. Stay tuned with us.

For more photos, click on this Flickr link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/158760832@N02/albums/72157709209923297

General Meeting – June 2019

Download Minutes

Corvettes of Bakersfield, Inc.

General Meeting

6/11/2019 at Three Way Chevrolet

6:37 P.M.  Meeting called to order

42 members in attendance.  3 Guests

President, Bob Vella –Thank you to our sponsor, 3 Way Chevrolet, for sponsoring us and allowing us to meet in the current room.

Flag Salute – Led by John Silliman. Held a moment of silence for the loss of Don Slauson and Charlene Neri, the daughter of member Gary Hurst.

Birthdays and Anniversaries:  Shared by Bob Vella

Prizes & Refreshments:  The Brotts brought the prizes and Dale Frye and Annie Bailey provided refreshments.

Getting To Know You:  Shirley Nicholas Vella

Minutes – Denise Hollister motioned to approve the minutes from last month’s meeting.  Kathy Gallego made a second.  Motion passed.

Larry Young/First Vice-President:  Not here.

Dick Compton/Second Vice-President:  Talked to Mike Thomas of 3-Way Chevrolet about Sponsorship for the car show.  Thomas will get back to us.

Kim Miller/Secretary:  Nothing to share

Betsy Slauson/Membership – Not here.  Bob reminded everyone that July is membership renewal month.  Rate is $65/couple and $55/individual.

Carl Lange /Treasurer Report– Carl presented the monthly report indicating $18,628.75 total funds in the accounts.

John Silliman/Sergeant At Arms – Passed out a flyer by Tony Ennis as a Save The Date for the Wine Run in the Fall.

Virgil Miller/Webmaster – Nothing new to present.

Adrian Medina/Newsletter – The Event Chronicles is on the website and has been updated.

Danny Ellison/Events –  Another $240 was gained at the Seven Oaks Brunch for the Christmas Party Fund.  The fund now has a total of $1,111 in it.

Reminder that on the first Thursday of every month the club has committed to representation at Chuy’s Cruise-in.  The first Thursday of next month is the 4th of July.  No one will be attending.  We will move our participation to the second Thursday, July 11th.

On Thursday 6/19/2019 8:00AM the Corvette’s Owner Breakfast will be held at Links at RiverLakes Ranch Clubhouse.  The menu includes a full breakfast.

Summer Solstice will be celebrated on 6/21/2019 at The Habit at Brimhall Rd/Allen Rd.  A flyer has been posted on the website and emailed to members with a bar code.  Use this bar code when you place your order and the club will get 20% of the sale.  Share this flyer with family, friends or anyone else who may go to The Habit on 6/21.

Veterans Charity Car Show – Virgil Miller told us we need more volunteers in order to put on this car show.  The sign-up sheet was passed around again.  The Olive Drab Car Club will be helping us with parking.  It was suggested we contact and possibly get help from the Sheriff’s Office and Bakersfield Police Department Explorers.   Virgil also made a push for assistance obtaining raffle prizes and sponsors.

New Business/Bob Vella – Bob relayed his appreciation for club members who helped make his time as President enjoyable.  Next month Tony Ennis is responsible for snacks and Chevy Garza will bring prizes.

Ballots were passed out and returned for counting.  While tabulations were taking place, a couple of videos of events from the past month were shown.

The vote resulted in the following for 2019/2020 Board of Directors:

President – Larry Young

Vice-President – Bill Dean

Secretary – Kim Miller

Treasurer – Carl Lange

Sergeant At Arms – David Kielty

Membership – Betsy Slauson

Webmaster – Virgil Miller

Social Media/Chronicles – Adrian Medina

Events – Open

Public Relations – Open

Meeting adjourned at 7:52 PM

Minutes provided by club secretary, Kim Miller

Impromptu Run to Tehachapi–June 15, 2019

Impromptu Run to Tehachapi–June 15, 2019

Sometimes a spontaneous run can be the best time ever. Such was the case today. Last night Dale Frye called for a run to P-Dubs in Stallion Springs for lunch. Four Corvettes, one SUV and eight club members traveled the back way to Tehachapi enjoying the beautiful lavender wildflowers covering the hill sides. We were treated with a train going around the Tehachapi Loop. As we arrived on the outskirts of Tehachapi we were joined by Jack & Yolanda Atkinson with their cool looking Corvette.

After lunch at P-Dubs we were invited to the Atkinson’s beautiful mountain home overlooking the Tehachapi mountains. We all sat around under the carport visiting and enjoyed ice cream and cake as well as touring their home, show cars and hillside surroundings. It was all quite impressive.  It was a fantastic day and couldn’t have been planned any better. Thank you Dale for suggesting this run and thank you Yolanda and Jack for being such a gracious hosts at your home.

For more photos, Click on this Flickr link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/158760832@N02/albums/72157709209292808