Long Island Vettes, Ltd.®
The history of LIV
Our
Story
An Accurate History of Long Island Vettes, Ltd.
This is the history of Long Island Vettes, Ltd. as I remember it. As one of the original members, and a Board Member for many years, I have accumulated many letters, emails, newsletters, documents, and photos over the years, from 2001 on. These are original and unedited.
Rich Fingerhut
The club was founded by Richie Shields when he and other members of a large Corvette club on Long Island felt that the organization was not focusing on local events and their culture was not in the best interest of members that were true local Corvette enthusiasts. A letter was mailed out during December 2001 (see Figure 1 below). It hit home to many of us, and we decided to take a chance on a new club with a new beginning. RS had many connections in the Corvette Community, and [current member] Roy Brinker offered a space at Van Buren GMC for the fledgling club's first meeting.
Figure 1
A Board of Directors was nominated and voted on. (see Figure 2 below - Phone numbers and email addresses redacted for privacy). Art Donnelly filed the paperwork to make it official, and thus we became Long Island Vettes, Ltd. on February 5, 2002; a not-for-profit social club 501(c)(7). We had a contest to provide the club with a logo, and approximately 13 -15 drawings were submitted. In March 2002, the club purchased liability Insurance, a logo was chosen, and it was off to the races. [Editor's note: You can fool all the people some of the time, some of the people all the time, but you can't fool me.]
Events were planned and executed. The membership grew rather quickly, but the original founding members list prepared by RS, also known as the "Alpha Membership List" (page one) is shown here. (see Figure 3 below - phone numbers and addresses have been redacted for privacy). The second page (which I cannot find) listed others, such as Al Roscoe, Warren Schetzen, Richie Shields, and Tony Zabrocki.
Figure 2
Figure 3
As each member had a circle of "Corvette Friends", the word continued to spread about Long Island Vettes, Ltd., and how we operated, keeping things simple yet organized and efficient. The club started hosting car shows, which at that time were primarily all "Corvette Only" shows. The venues for our shows became larger, diverse, and more mainstream. Over the years we have had shows at [the former] Pastor Chevrolet in Westhampton, Castle Gould at Sands Point, Rothman's Steak House, Jones Beach, The Vanderbilt Museum, (beautiful, but logistically challenging), and more recently, our Annual FourLeaf Federal Credit Union All Car & Truck Show [formerly Bethpage Federal Credit Union], which was actually brought to us by many disgruntled members of another local club, who all joined Long Island Vettes, Ltd. Many became huge assets, and some became Board members as time passed.
One of the most memorable and meaningful things Long Island Vettes participated in took place on December 30, 2006. A woman named Erna Puletz reached out to our President, Richie Shields and explained that her [grown] son Edward had ALS and always loved Corvettes. Erna wished to do something meaningful for her son, and she asked if the club could get some Corvettes together and park in front of his house as a surprise. The great thing was that four clubs banded together and made Ed's wish come true. Newsday summarized the event better than I will be able to:
Edward Puletz has ALS and a wish to ride in a Corvette.
Four Long Island Corvette car clubs joined forces and arrived with 32 cars to give Puletz his wish. Seated in the passenger seat of a 1966 427 Corvette driven by Mark Tulley, his mother is at left, Erna Puletz, his children at right, Alyssa, 12, Drake, 9 and Colby 4. Owners of the Corvettes line up behind the lead car for a group ride. Saturday December 30, 2006 (Newsday Photo/Daniel Goodrich)
What an emotional day that was! It was especially meaningful to me, as my brother-in-law had passed away from the disease. (see Figure 4 below)
Figure 4
Within a short period of time, Long Island Vettes, Ltd. made its presence known at Corvettes at Carlisle. RS had the foresight to purchase five, and then one additional, spots on the fairground, which we maintain to this day. Corvettes at Carlisle is a must-do if you are a Corvette enthusiast.
As most organizations do, Long Island Vettes, Ltd. has had 'growing pains' along the way. To paraphrase Led Zeppelin:
"Good times, bad times, we've all had our share". However, the club moved forward to meet the challenges that lay ahead.
Although the members and the Board of Directors have changed many times over the years, the basic premise remains the same. There are a lot of old and new friendships that have originated by participating with Long Island Vettes.
Our members own Corvettes from C1 to C8, bone stock factory correct vehicles to Resto-Mods, and we enjoy them all!
Over the years, the club has had many types of events including, but not limited to:
Corvette Shows, All Car Shows, Road Rallies, other driving events, Brunches, Luncheons, Winery Cruises, Picnics, Holiday Parties, Corvettes at Carlisle, Saturday Morning Bagels and BS, Go-Kart Racing, outings to Riverhead Raceway, all types of Tech Sessions, and more.
One positive aspect of the car club culture that has shifted over the years is the popularity of supporting charities.
Long Island Vettes, Ltd. prefers to keep it local,and helps support Last Hope Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation, FourLeaf Federal Credit Union / Island Harvest Turkey Drive, John Theissen Children's Foundation, and Island Harvest.
We enjoy our Corvettes, and we enjoy being part of Long Island Vettes, Ltd.; the friendliest Corvette Club on Long Island!
It's not easy to run a quality judged car show, but the members of Long Island Vettes pitch in to deliver a professionally-run show!