Corvettes needed--Dallas, Texas

[Terry M.]

Re: Corvettes needed--Dallas, Texas

Clark you and Scott are to be thanked for your selfless work to honor those who served. If I lived closer to Dallas I would have been there.

[D S.]

Re: Corvettes needed--Dallas, Texas

Thank you, Terry. I KNOW you would be here if you could and we would love for you to have been here.

The brunt of the appreciation goes out to the 180 or so Veterans who attended and the Veterans who were among the spectators. That was a sight to behold.
Kudos goes out to the Lone Star Corvette Club and to Clark Kirby who is a member, Tim Ehlers for posting an email message to Texas Chapter members requesting participation, to the North Texas Corvette Club in Argyle, Texas of which Marc Hughes is the president, and to those who volunteered their time and Corvettes and classic vehicles to make the Dallas Veterans Day parade memorable for the Veterans. Special thanks to Bob Young, newsletter editor for the Lone Star Corvette Club and owner of a beautiful white 1958 Corvette, for letting me use his portable battery charger. I am happy to learn that the parade organizers are already requesting Corvettes for the 2012 Dallas Veterans Day parade.

Clark Kirby told me a week ago that last year there were something like 44 Corvettes at the parade and that when other Veterans heard about it requests to ride in a Corvette for the 2011 parade shot up to 180.

When I arrived at the designated parking lot near Reunion Tower in Dallas at 7:45 AM I was amazed at all of the military troop vehicles lined up with young soldiers milling around. It was a rather nippy morning however the chill was gradually subsiding but it was getting breezy. We were asked to bring blankets for the Veterans and snacks.

After placing two American flags on the top corners of my windshield I had prominently placed two ballcaps inside the windshield: one was an NCRS Texas Chapter cap and the other was the Corvette Museum cap. There were only about 20 Corvettes lined up ahead of me. It didn't take long before there was a long line of bumper-to-bumper Corvettes pulling into the parking lot and a longer line in the street waiting to get into the parking lot. Mixed into the sea of Corvettes were other nice classic vehicles and a cadre of motorcycles. By 9:00 AM we were lined up three and four wide. The Veterans were bussed into the parking lot and then were lead by Event Staff personnel to our cars. Many had to be helped into the cars. Once the Veterans were safely seated in our cars we were directed to drive toward a staging area where we sat for about an hour while colorful high school bands practiced their drills before they marched in the parade. At exactly 11:20 AM we moved out. Once we got on the parade route one couldn't help but be overwhelmed by the support of the Veterans from the crowds of spectators. Overhead flew vintage WWII aircraft. Being among a parade for Veterans who were riding in our Corvettes made me proud to be a part of the event.

I won't go into details about the rest of the parade itself but will provide a link to parade photos and slideshow that better tells the story. Go to Flickr and type 2011 Dallas Veterans Day parade in the Search box or
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=2011...ans+day+parade