National Corvette Museum Ambassador

Like the evolution of the Chevrolet Corvette, the National Corvette Museum’s new e-commerce site, CorvetteStore.com, is evolving to meet the styles and experiences Corvette enthusiasts expect. This new digital retail hub delivers an online shopping experience that transports you virtually to the Museum’s famed, ‘Corvette Boulevard,’ putting the entire Corvette lifestyle just one click away.

Dear Space City Corvette Club Members,

I hope this message finds you well and enjoying your own unique Corvette experiences this summer. As your Ambassador to the National Corvette Museum, it is my privilege to share some exhilarating updates and reflections from my recent journey to Bowling Green, KY.

On June 30th, we celebrated a milestone in automotive history – the 70th birthday of our beloved Corvette. This momentous occasion was not only an opportunity to honor a landmark in Corvette’s illustrious journey but also a chance to witness the grand opening of a new exhibit at the National Corvette Museum, fittingly titled, "America's 70-Year Love Affair."

Traveling with my cherished 1953 Corvette, I felt a deep sense of pride as I joined enthusiasts from all over the nation in commemorating the rich heritage of this American icon. The new exhibit has been thoughtfully rearranged to unfold the riveting narrative of Corvette through the decades, providing an immersive journey that will captivate both the Corvette novice and veteran.

A particular highlight of the exhibit, and one that I’m confident will be a crowd-pleaser, is the 360-degree video display housed within the Sky Dome. Towering at an impressive 8 feet tall, and assembled at a cost of $800,000, this remarkable installation projects an engaging video that narrates the storied history of the Corvette. The entire circumference of the Sky Dome has been utilized, enveloping visitors in a visually striking, comprehensive chronicle of the Corvette saga.

Perhaps one of the most touching personal moments of this adventure was the honor of my own 1953 Corvette being featured center stage at the event. As the sun rose on the 70th birthday of the Corvette, it was professionally photographed, capturing a moment in time that I will forever treasure.

As your ambassador, I urge all members to consider a pilgrimage to the National Corvette Museum to experience this inspiring tribute to our shared passion. Whether you've visited previously or are contemplating your first trip, the fresh perspective offered by these updated exhibits ensures a truly unforgettable experience for all Corvette enthusiasts.

In conclusion, I’d like to reiterate what a privilege it is to represent our club and the Corvette community. I look forward to sharing more updates and experiences in the future. Until then, safe and joyous travels on the open road in your own piece of Corvette history.

Yours in the spirit of Corvette,

Kevin Brady

Ambassador to the National Corvette Museum

Space City Corvette Club

Dear Space City Corvette Club Members,

I am pleased to bring you the highlights of a rather eventful and exciting May as your ambassador to the National Corvette Museum. Over the past month, our relationship with the National Corvette Museum has seen exponential growth, and I'm thrilled to report on these developments.

One of the significant events that occurred this month was the revered Keels and Wheels Concours d'Elegance, which was held on May 7-8. As a legacy sponsor, I had the honor of influencing the event's leadership to showcase the 70th birthday of the Corvette – a milestone celebration for all of us who hold this American classic dear to our hearts.

Given this commitment to honor the Corvette's landmark anniversary, I managed to persuade Sharon Brawner, the CEO of the National Corvette Museum; Brian Baker, Director of Collections and Education; and Adam Boca, from NCM Insurance, to grace the event with their presence. Their participation significantly amplified the profile of our beloved Corvette during this prestigious event.

On May 4, in anticipation of the Concours d'Elegance, I hosted a meet and greet at my garage to honor the efforts of the National Corvette Museum. The event was a tremendous success with nearly 100 participants, including representatives from five of the area's Corvette clubs. This show of unity and support for the Corvette community was truly heartening.

At the Concours d'Elegance itself, our club's showing was unprecedented, with nine Corvettes from our members being among the 30 cars on display. This showcase demonstrated the depth of passion and commitment our club has for the Corvette heritage.

The event also proved successful for our club members, who took home several awards. Congratulations to Kevin Brady for winning C1 Best of Class with his 1955 Harvest Gold Corvette and Best of Class with his custom-built wooden sailboat. Howard Rothman earned the C2 Best of Class award with his Silver Pearl Metallic 1967 Corvette, and A. J. Loupe won Best of Class with his 1996 Collector's Edition Corvette and also took home Silver in the C5-C7 Class with his 2007 Lemans Blue Z06. These accomplishments are testament to the dedication and effort our members put into preserving and promoting the legacy of the Corvette.

To further cement our blossoming relationship with the National Corvette Museum, we took the opportunity to make Sharon Brawner an honorary member of our club during our next regular meeting. It was a joyous occasion, marking significant strides in forging a lasting relationship with the Museum and the broader Corvette community.

In conclusion, May has been an incredible month filled with achievements, celebrations, and the strengthening of important relationships. As your ambassador, I am proud of the progress we have made and look forward to even more fruitful collaborations in the future.

Drive safe, and remember - every journey in a Corvette is a part of the ongoing history we share and cherish.

Best regards,

Kevin Brady

Ambassador to the National Corvette Museum

Space City Corvette Club

With the recent enrollment by the Ybarra’s and Wright’s in the National Corvette Museum, 100% of our officers and board members are now members in good standing. We continue to demonstrate our commitment to the NCM and build important relationships within the Corvette community but with just 40% overall participation, I still have some of you to bring into the tent.  I am working to finalize a group discount that may allow us to bundle a NCM membership with our club membership and provide a savings for our members.  Stay tuned for details.

Curtis and Janie Russel’s 2023 Rapid Blue Corvette rolled off the line in Bowling Green on March 7^th. They still plan to take museum delivery on March 25^th!

Our banner that will fly at the museum this year has been designed and submitted.  It will fly for a year before returning to the club.  As you may recall, John Anhalt generously bid to own the flag upon its return at last year’s fund raiser that funded our club’s lifetime membership.  Because of the significance of the 70^th anniversary, I was able to influence the museum to allow Space City Corvette to fly a second flag in spite of the honor being sold out each year!  As soon as the flags are raised, I will provide photos.

If you have any thoughts about showing at Keels and Wheels Concours d’Elegance on May 6-7, the deadline is March 31^st.   I have arranged to have both Brian Baker (Director of Collections and Education) and Sharon Brawner (CEO) from the NCM to attend.  A significant portion of the program will be honoring Corvette’s 70^th anniversary. A meet and greet is in the works for the Thursday or Friday prior to the event.  Details to follow.

A page on our club site is now available to see my reports and learn what is happening at the National Corvette Museum.
https://spacecitycorvetteclub.com/Ambasador

Thank you for your support and for allowing me to be your Ambassador.

Respectfully Submitted,

Kevin Brady

February is best known for Valentine’s Day and Ground Hog Day.  Not sure how those are related, but the NCM must have seen it’s shadow and decided to share some love by rolling back the annual price of memberships for the month of February.  If you have been thinking of joining, now is the time to take advantage of the offer.

Curtis and Janie Russel will be taking museum delivery of their new 2023 Rapid Blue Corvette on March 25^th!

On the raffle front, the NCM just announce that the April 28^th drawing will be for a 2023 70th Anniversary Convertible VIN #0002.  The history-making VIN #0001 of the first mid-engine Corvette – a black-on-black 3LT with the Z51 performance package – crossed the block at the 49^th Annual Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Auction for $3 million dollars.  Tickets are limited to 1953 and cost $250 each.  Let me know if you want a chance to win this one.

A page on our club site is now available to see my reports and learn what is happening at the National Corvette Museum.
https://spacecitycorvetteclub.com/Ambasador

Thank you for your support and for allowing me to be your ambassador.

Happy New Year! Lots of things to look forward to as we ring in the year marking the 70^th anniversary of Corvette but let me begin by acknowledging Curtis and Janie Russel for answering the call of my December report and becoming Winner’s Circle Donors to the NCM!  Their generous contribution will help support the work of the NCM as well as provide the Russel’s with special access to events.  They will also be taking Museum delivery of their new Corvette that they were able to order through our major sponsor, Bayway Chevrolet.  They have been added to the donor recognition section of our NCM participation page on our website located at Space City Corvette Club - NCM.  Please check out the page to verify that your participation with the NCM is accurate. If not, it can be modified in your user profile or by dropping me a note.

In just a few days (January 17^th), The Corvette officially turns 70 years old.  This day will completely overshadow by birthday which coincidentally is same day, but a MUCH later year I might add.  To help commemorate this hallmark year, the Jan/Feb/Mar issue of America’s Sports Car is arriving mailboxes of members of the NCM and contains several articles about the 1953 corvette including one written by me entitled “Class of 1953, where are you now?”.  Birthday present enough for me to have my name listed as Contributing Writer.

Also on January 17, NBC will air a short exposé on their news and cable outlets in a segment called “then and now” to showcase the significance of the unveiling of the first Corvette.  I have been interviewed as part of this segment.  It airs at 8EST/7CST on the 17^th and will be available online after it shows. 

This will also be a great year for Corvettes in car shows.  The Chevy-Corvette Expo takes place in Galveston on March 18-19.  Register directly with the sponsor, but please also note your registration on our site.  We have 10 registries thus far.

As I have mentioned before, I am influencing Keels and Wheels to highlight the 70^th anniversary.  Brian Baker will make a presentation bring artifacts from the museum and I spoke with Sharon Brawner, President of NCM on Friday and she has confirmed her attendance.  We are planning a meet and greet for the Thursday or Friday evening before the show, so stay tuned for details.  I am also working on discounted tickets for Club Members so mark your calendars for the first weekend in May!

The first Corvette raffle of 2023 will be drawn on January 9^th.  Let me know if I can help you with tickets this year.  A new page has been created on our club site which will have the raffle dates as well as my reports to membership.  It can be found in the members section after logging on.  I have posted this report on Facebook as I have done in the past, but plan to only post a reminder and use the club site as the primary location for future reports.

Let’s continue the 70-year anniversary celebration all year as proud corvette owners.  I can’t wait until our own Spring show and the 4^th of July parade to really show our appreciation and pride in this iconic car that bring us all together!

Thank you for your support and for allowing me to be your Ambassador.

Respectfully Submitted,

It’s a few days early, but I wanted to get this report out today, mostly because it is giving Tuesday and to say thank you for your support and generosity to the Museum. We made significant strides in improving our relationship with the NCM in 2022 and while I have been an ambassador by highlighting the good works of the Museum, what I really have enjoyed is bringing the story of Space City Corvette Club to Bowling Green.  There is not another club in the country that grew its participation through club lifetime membership, personal membership enrollment and lifetime membership upgrades as significantly as we did.  And our visit to the NCM provided for the opportunity to build personal relationships between our organizations.  Glenn Johnson attended our last club meeting and this May some of the NCM leadership will visit us because I have influenced both ours and their participation at Keels and Wheels.  My hope is that we will continue to grow in our mutual respect and relationship in 2023.

Because it is Giving Tuesday, I also want to share some of Sharon Brawner’s words regarding NCM costs so that you may include them in any end-of-year charitable giving considerations.

“What an incredible year it has been at the National Corvette Museum! While there is much to celebrate in 2022, as we look toward the future, we must remain focused on the long-term preservation and maintenance of our remarkable collection. And, as all car-enthusiasts know, caring for these aging machines requires a significant investment of time, expertise, and resources. On average, the care of a single collection vehicle costs $2,800 a year. Now, consider that there are more than 150 cars in the care of our museum. At almost $500,000 a year, these preservation efforts represent a significant but necessary financial obligation for the National Corvette Museum. This half million-dollar cost directly impacts the museum’s budget on an annual basis.

 Today, we are asking for your help as we kick off our year-end giving campaign. Would you consider making a financial gift to support our preservation efforts? Every donation offered toward our year-end campaign will allow us to safeguard the vehicles in our collection for years to come.

Donors at the $1,000+ level will receive special recognition in our annual report and VIP invitations to select exhibit openings and additional special events held throughout the year. If you would like to discuss your individual giving options, please contact Bobbie Jo Lee, 270-467-8833. We would be happy to customize a giving plan for you. 

 It is the generosity of supporters like you that allow us to continue to do what good museums do – protect our collection for future generations to enjoy. Thank you for all the visits and support, and for being a part of the only Museum dedicated to America’s Sports Car – the Corvette.” Sharon Brawner

From me,  a sincere thank you for your giving spirit during the past year.  Our new site includes a recognition page for NCM membership participation.   If it is not accurate, you may update your profile directly.

https://sccc.wildapricot.org/NCM    

Thank you for your support and for allowing me to be your Ambassador.

Respectfully Submitted,

Kevin Brady