They come from miles around...lines of colorful Corvettes, all generations represented, traveling from every continental United State and even a few foreign countries to gather in the Home of the Corvette. 2014 will bring the 5th National Corvette Caravan and will mark the 20th Anniversary of the National Corvette Museum. Leading the spectacle is Paul Mariano of Huntersville, NC, a 20-year Museum member who is not only a lifetime member of the Museum but also a founding member.
Paul is currently the ambassador to the Museum for the Queen City Corvette Club in Charlotte, NC, and previously was the ambassador for the Corvette Club of Santa Barbara, CA. He is a member of the NCRS and was a participant of the Southern California caravan in 1999, co-captain of the Southern California caravan in 2003, and sponsorship/advertising chairman for the 2009 North Carolina / South Carolina / Virginia caravan.
"When Roc Linkov, NCM Events Manager, asked if I would do it, I did have a little trepidation," said Paul. "But as when I agreed to take the Southern California caravan at the last minute, I thought if not me then who? I have such a deep love affair with the museum that I want to contribute as much as I can, wherever I can. Without the great help that my wife Barbara provides, I could not manage to take on any of these caravan tasks. I just hope I can provide the service that everyone has entrusted to me."
Paul is an avid supporter of the National Corvette Museum, the Corvette Race Team and the Corvette lifestyle. He currently owns a 1967 big block coupe Corvette and a 2007 Z06.
The 5th National Corvette Caravan will take place the last week of August, 2014. Regional caravans will form and join other caravans as they travel across the United States to gather in Bowling Green, Kentucky for four days of festivities at the National Corvette Museum. "A national caravan such as this requires years of planning and coordinating and the Museum is fortunate to have a volunteer like Paul to take on this monumental task," stated National Corvette Museum Executive Director, Wendell Strode.
Many thanks to all of you who have already sent your best wishes and offers of help. All support is greatly appreciated. I most certainly will be soliciting your assistance, advice, and action in the days and months to come. Although the next caravan is three years away, the time will pass so rapidly we will wonder why all the planning didn't start in 2009!.
I am soliciting inputs from all those who would like to captain a caravan segment in 2014, both past and future captains. If you felt like your area of the country was not served by an authorized caravan and you think an added segment is warranted, let me know. If you are a past captain and wish to assume the task again, let me know. If you weren't a captain on the last caravan, but would like to lead a group this time, let me know. In other words, to paraphrase the rum commercial, "calling all caravan captains". Please let me know your telephone number when responding.
Once the captains have been installed, we can begin to massage the routes. Not down to the rest stops, but the overall plan to ensure we have optimized all the routes. The traffic pattern from the past caravan will be the basis for the one in 2014. Some additions, deletions, and modifications may occur, but in general, not much will differ from that successful event. I do want to review all the past routes so I am familiar with how the segments were connected.
Having been involved in the organizing and funding of two caravans, I know all the hard work is done by the caravan captains and their local teams. My job will be to help make that task as trouble free as possible and keep everyone informed, on a timely basis, of the caravan status. In addition, the NCM will be streamlining the registration process and further reducing the workload of the captains. I solicit all participants to join in and help support your captain. It is a huge task to raise funds, book venues, publish route books, time daily routes, etc. Please volunteer and become part of the caravan process. You won't be sorry.
This caravan will mark the twentieth anniversary of the opening of the museum and the silver anniversary of its conception. We have the opportunity to make it the largest and best caravan ever. All we need is an abundance of new ideas and a ton of hard work.
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