Los Gatos – Spring Meet

Los Gatos was a relaxed and enjoyable judging meet, and I felt that all who attended were happy with the facility and the way the event came together. The setting is just about perfect for our needs, not at all pretentious, but still elegant enough that everyone is comfortable. It does have the feel of days past, but that only adds to its appeal. Wayne Yurtin
did us proud by finding this facility and setting up our first event there. It’s unfortunately that it will eventually be torn down, but we can enjoy it while it lasts. We do intend to book there again next year.

This year we had the following cars to judge: Jack Brier’s 1966, Bob Lozito’s 1966 and Bob Grauer’s 1969. All received Top Flight Ribbons, and that always makes for a fun day. Gary Beaupre and I judged the exterior of Bob’s 69, which made me a bit nervous as I’m used to Bob being my Team Leader! But I guess that’s how we grow as judges, and Bob accepted the results graciously. Bill Cash was good enough to bring back his very fine 1965 396 Coupe as our only Duntov Display. No matter how often I see that car I seem to like better each time. The following Sportsman entries also received Ribbons: Doug Waltor’s 1963, Don Trofft’s 1967, Dana Richard’s 2003 and Marci Albers’ 2007. Without the cars to judge and ogle over, we would not have a meet, so thank you to everyone who brought their beautiful Corvettes. I arrived late on Friday night, so I missed out on some of the best parts of the event. I asked past president Bob Grauer to summarize his feelings about the events of Friday evening, and here is what he had to say: “Chris Springer’s tech talk was brilliant. He gave everyone his background restoring classic muscle cars and exotics. He talked about Joe Calcagno’s 1962 that had been put into storage for 34 (?) years, in a trailer on Joe’s property in Soquel, CA.

Chris had restored the exterior paint on the car, and I think he said it was one of his first painting projects in business. (Joe C. had restored the interior himself) He showed a picture of the car removed from the trailer in pristine condition. Chris spoke about the amazing condition of the paint while surprised that the trailer (sealed for 34 years) had preserved this important Corvette. Then….he took us all outside to see the actual car where we all learned more from Chris about the paint technique he used (lacquer) and the result were incredible.

Dinner was at the Los Gatos Grill, about 25 people. The menu was more than limited with multiple appetizers to choose from, burgers, fish & chips, and bar service. The food was generous, and I can speak for myself that my burger, mozzarella sticks, and coleslaw were excellent. It was convenient and no stress.”While I missed the food on Friday night, I was around for the food truck meal on Saturday. Everyone I spoke with found the food, the service, and the presentation to be top notch (flight). And to top that off, the owner of the food truck brought his new C8 Corvette, and eventually got up the nerve to ask me if he could park it in our area. It was a beautiful dusty blue with cream-white interior and added a nice touch to our display.

Glorie conducted a nice raffle, and even a live auction for the two Dana Forrester prints that Bob Grauer was able to get donated to the event. I believe that Glorie raised $300.00 on the raffle, plus the $175.00 for one of the prints. As always, this money will go to the cost of providing the Saturday lunch for all registered attendees.

I want to personally thank everyone who attended, and those who judged, tabulated, and just plain helped along the way. Mike and Sharyl did an incredible job (as always) and worked hard all day to make the event successful. There are so many things that just seem to happen when they are at the helm, but I assure you that they don’t happen on their own. Lastly, I want to thank Bob Grauer for doing the initial leg work to set this up.

Great Job Everyone!

Photo’s below of the meet and Joe’s 1962. Read more in our newsletters https://www.ncc.ncrs.org/newsletters/