An Estimated 50,000 Enthusiasts and 12,000 Corvettes Gather at Corvette Funfest 2005, Breaking Attendance Records
Corvette Funfest 2005, Mid America Motorworks' (MAM) annual customer appreciation party, certainly lived up to its theme of "Lets Have Some Fun."
Overall, an estimated 12,000 Corvettes and 50,000 enthusiasts attended the three-day Funfest celebration from Sept. 16-18. This year's attendance broke last year's record of 10,600 Corvettes and 45,000 enthusiasts.
The highlight of this year's Funfest was a Beach Boys concert on Saturday night. The free concert drew more than 20,000 people to the Mid America Motorworks campus in Effingham, Illinois. Mike Yager, founder and chief cheerleader of Mid America Motorworks, admitted he was nervous and excited prior to the concert. "I remember being 12 years old, listening to Beach Boys songs, and dreaming of some day owning a Corvette. Now I am able to bring the Beach Boys to Corvette Funfest for everyone to enjoy," he said.
Corvette Funfest 2005 Supported Several Worthy Causes:
* "Vets with Vettes" took Center Stage Parking at Funfest with veterans parking their Corvettes in a special location. Because Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 130th Infantry Division of the Illinois Army National Guard, headquartered in Effingham, was deployed earlier this year to Iraq, the proceeds from Center Stage Parking were donated to a local support group that helps families with loved ones on duty in Iraq.
* Mid America Motorworks and Corvette Forum teamed up to collect donations for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
* This year's Funfest featured an exclusive art show at the home of Mike and Laurie Yager. Proceeds from the art show were donated to a local foster children program.
* The on-site Red Cross bloodmobile was busy throughout Funfest collecting blood for relief efforts.
"Corvette enthusiasts once again proved they are the greatest people in the world. While they were at Funfest, they generously contributed to those in need," said Yager.
Among the special displays at this year's Funfest were:
* The second official place of issue for the new Corvette commemorative stamp. Mid America Motorworks was honored by the U.S. Postal Service for its "STAMPede" efforts in 2001 that resulted in petitions with tens of thousands of signatures requesting the Corvette commemorative stamp. In addition to the stamp itself, the Postal Service sold a special Funfest Cancellation issue at the show. Noland Adams' '53 Corvette was the model the Postal Service used for the stamp. Both Adams and his car were present for Funfest.
* Yager said, "I've got too much stuff," and held a silent auction for more than 70 pieces of Corvette artwork and more than 30 pieces of automotive memorabilia. Included in the memorabilia was the '91 Corvette that was the project car used by Mid America Motorworks and Dream Car Garage.
* An expanded art show on the Funfest grounds included many new pieces created specifically for Funfest.
* There were new displays in the MY Garage Museum, including the Bill Mitchell '64 World's Fair car, a '63 big-tank, big-brake Z06; a ZR-1; the XP-819 research vehicle; and the last C5 Z06 made.
* This year, MAM invited Project Shark Attack to be a feature Corvette at Funfest. MAM provided the custom leather interior and seats for Project Shark Attack. Thousands of Funfest attendees stopped by the Performance Plus booth over the weekend to check out what makes this Corvette so special.
"I'm not sure how we will top Funfest 2005, but I know the Mid America Motorworks team will come up with new ideas to make Funfest 2006 even better," said Yager. "Every Corvette enthusiast should plan to be here for Corvette Funfest 2006, Sept. 15-17."