Caprock Corvette Club - History

Caprock Corvette Club began with the idea to have fun in our Corvettes and be of service to the community. The Club was started by Randy and Jeanie Edwards placing cards on Corvettes around town in early 2004; first was the Corvette of Robert and Sonja Wood. They brought in Sonja’s parents, Merritt and Marilyn Mize. Classic Motor Cars was the founding sponsor. Our Corvette club has come a long way since our first meeting with 25 or so folks on Scuttlebutts patio in June 04. By October 04 we had picked a name, registered it, set up a constitution and by-laws (with a lot of help from Bill and Bobby Weir), received a federal ID number, got our incorporation papers, Wally Padgett took over the club accounting and set up the checking account, we picked a club logo from several great designs provided by Marilyn Mize and Rod Moore, decided on a shirt color and ordered shirts, found a good place to have our regular monthly meeting (Home Plate Dinner on University), and joined the National Corvette Museum. A lot of people made it happen. Among some of the first Board Members, Marc Fisher organized some really fun events; Marilyn Mize took meeting minutes and Merritt Mize was (and still is) our Club Ambassador from the National Corvette Museum; Lawrance Fithen and Bill Parks gave their support and excellent suggestions during the board meetings; and Clay McDonald worked on the first club website. Merritt and Marilyn Mize put on an excellent first Halloween party and arranged our first Christmas party. We did our first charitable activity with a donation to the Lubbock Food Bank in December 04.

January 05 started off a dinner cruise in to the Rib Crib for a good meal with good company. In February 05 we had our first annual Valentine’s Day Sweet Heart Cruise to Harrigan’s Restaurant. In March we did a St. Patrick’s Day cruise to Cattle Baron Restaurant by way of the wind farm in Post and Lake Allen Henry. A little 3 hour, 160-mile drive before dinner is a good way to enjoy a Corvette cruise day. In April we had fun putting on a display for the MS walk and the Progressive Dinner Cruise was a blast. We took five Corvettes to the Lone Star corvette Classic in Dallas on May 20-22 and the Lubbock Make-A-Wish show in June was a big success where we helped raise $50,000 for the kids. We also did a parade in Plainview in June. Jim and Terry Duncan (long time Corvette owners) at Duncan Press helped us set up the newsletter “VetteVibes.” The rest of the year didn’t slow down; the Blast from the Past show at Buffalo Springs the end of August, the 9-11 tour in Amarillo, a show for Auto Zone on Sept 17, cruise to Cloudcroft on Sept 16-17, a display at Haynes elementary school on Sept 19, Heartbeat in the Heartland tour in Floydada on Sept. 24, and the Cruise and Diner at County Line on Sept. 25. We organized the “Kars for Kids” show in Oct., and we also had great fun at our Halloween and Christmas parties.

Randy Edwards, first club President, was also the show chairman for our first fundraiser show ‘Kars for Kids”. The late Wally Padgett named the show and designed the logo for the “Kars for Kids” show, which was held at the Lubbock Dragway on October 8th, 2005 to raise money for the children in need at the Covenant Heart Hospital. Wally Padgett loved this club and was very instrumental in its success. He was a friend to everyone at Covenant Medical Center and Covenant Lakeside. People remember Wally as an excellent and devoted nurse. His happiest moments were in his Corvette and with the Caprock Corvette Club. He lost his battle with Diabetes on April 2, 2007.

Our first event of 2006 was on January 7th, meeting the Amarillo Corvette Club in Plainview, cruising to the Buddy Holly Center for a tour, another short cruise and then lunch at Harrigan’s. February was the Valentine’s Day Sweet Heart Cruise to Harrigan’s Restaurant. We did the Blue Ribbon Rally in April and then 15 Corvettes cruised to Fredericksburg for our first Annual Blue Bonnet Tour organized by Merritt Mize and Wally Padgett. A very special shirt was designed for this Tour. Besides the big Corvette show in Dallas in May we also organized and did the Make-A-Wish show on June 24th. This show was an all hands on deck, all out effort from all club members as we were not very many at that time. Our own show at the Lubbock Dragway was next on August 5th and than the Classic Car Club show in Slaton. September was the 9-11 cruise in Amarillo, and October was the Halloween party. In November Robert and Sonja Wood organized a great cruise to the Floydada Pumpkin Festival and a very tasty cook out at their home after the cruise. It was around this time we established the tradition at Christmas of our Progressive Dinners with the fellow members sharing their hospitality and Christmas décor and playing a mad game of Chinese gift exchange. By this time the club has been featured on Television and radio announcing events.

We did the “Kars for Kids” show at Lubbock Dragway again in 2007 to raise more money for the Covenant Heart Hospital Children’s program.

We started off 2008 with a cruise to Graham Central Station to meet members of Race Lubbock and we made a splash with our 16 Corvettes. Then on Feb 2nd we did a cruise organized by Club President, Janelle Starns, to Hooter’s for a book signing by Jerry Hensley, professional photographer, of his new book “Corvette Masterpieces.” We also attended a patient reunion at Covenant Children’s Hospital to present the $1200.00 check for money we had raised from our 2007 show. In April we did the Blue Ribbon Rally and in May the Lone Star Corvette Show in Dallas. Also in May we did the Snyder Wheels Car show. Our June meeting was at the Main Event Entertainment Complex were we bowled, played games, and laser tag after the meeting. Also in June 11 Corvettes cruised to Albany to attend the “Fandangle,” an outdoor play staged by the citizens of Albany for over 50 years. The play tells of the life and times of the settlers of the area. From there we cruised to Possum Kingdom Lake for a weekend of cruising and a great cookout hosted by Robert and Sonja Wood at their “cabin.” Sept. was a great time at the Rush Car Show organized by Janelle Starnes. In December a fun time was had by all at the Progressive Dinner and Christmas Party.

The fun continued in 2009 with an April car show at Hastings Books & Records organized by Mike Wragg. It was cold and rainy that day, but we still had a good time. In May Love Star Corvette Club put on another great show in Dallas. In June Robert & Sonja Wood put on a fun Bar-B-Q at their home and also in June several Corvettes cruised to Santa Fe, NM. In July 3 Corvettes made the long trip to Spearfish, North Dakota for the Black Hills Corvette Classic Show. August we showed several Corvettes at the Mustang Club Car show. September was a busy month with the Wichita Falls Car Show, the Alzheimer’s Association of Lubbock Memory Walk, and the Children’s Home of Lubbock shows. In October we did a show at the Clearwire store and another at the Caprock Winery organized by Dusty Read and in November we had a fun night out with dinner and a show at the Cactus Theater. In December we did a show with the other car clubs for Toys For Tots and some club members did the Miracle on 34th Street parade. We also continued our tradition of the Progressive Dinner and Christmas Party for another year and had even more fun.

Our club newsletter, Vette Vibes, went electronic for the first edition in 2010. Produced by Mike and Marilyn Wragg, it was E-mailed in PDF form to all club members and sponsors. Our first event was the Cruise to Yellow Horse Canyon on January 10, 2010. Next was the Annual Valentine’s Day Cruise to Harrigan’s where 28 club members talked and ate and talked some more. In April we did a cruise to Clovis, NM to tour the Model Train Museum located in the old Santa Fe Depot building. There were ten Corvettes attending the museum and also lunch at the Cotton Patch in Clovis. We also had several members showing their cars in the Blue Ribbon Rally in April. In May we did a show and fund raiser at the Drug Emporium where we raised over $600. In May we did a car show at the Ventura Place Retirement Community. In June we did a car show at the Heroes & Legacies store and also in June a caravan of 7 Corvettes cruised to the Corvette Assembly Plant and the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky for tours of both facilities and a cruise through the Kentucky countryside the next day. Some of the group went to Clarksville for dinner and shopping the next day. To be continued...........

And the story continues on and on.............