2008 Bloomington Gold was a fun time
plus a learning experience, too.

Walking through the auction big-top,
coming from our deluxe SACC
club parking spot on the green, here's what
was on the show stage, Dana Mecum's Aztec
Copper '57.  This was the Chip Miller
amyloidosis auction/fundraising car.

Here's our SACC booth in the Mega Expo Center.
This is a high-traffic primo location, probably the
only way to get this kind of location is by having
pull with the top management.  Here you see (L to R)
Gerri Hollada, Joe Pruitt, CEO of the National
Corvette Homecoming in Bowling Green, SACC
President Max Brockhouse, and your humble
web editor, Jack Hollada, DC.

We sold merchandise and signed up new
members.

Most of the time it was Max, but I helped
a little.

Out in the swap area, I found some interesting
solid axle items..

like this model..

On a bigger scale, here was a not too stock
conversion.  It was nice.

And maybe somebody needs an NOS radiator.
This vendor had one.

Out in the For Sale area, these C-1 owners were
preparing for a shower that was obviously heading
our way.  It was brief, and it was back to business
as usual in no time.

And if you run across a solid axle, you often run across
SACC members.  Sure enough, here are (L to R)
Jack Jarvis, Todd Powelson, and Chuck Stika.

You may have read about this in the magazines.

Three serial number one cars up for auction.
The auction procedure was complicated, Ken
Amrick, our quarterly magazine "On Solid Ground"
editor understood it, I'll let him explain it in an
upcoming issue.

Here you see them getting the area ready for
display.

And he's news wherever he goes, here's Mid America
Motorworks CEO Mike Yager.  Like many of us,
Mike has found out what it is like when your kids
get bigger than you.

And within a nano second after the rain
shower stopped, SACC member
 Tony Larson was prepping his super
nice '59.

The warden may have thrown a party at
the county jail, but a bigger party was thrown
by the Chicago Corvette Club.  This is
Trippin Billies, a Dave Matthews cover band
and they performed downtown.  It was the
50th anniversary of the CCC, and they did
it up right.

Special Collection
Du Page Exposition Center

This is inside the Exposition Center.  You can
Get an idea of the size of this facility.  Bill Locke, director,
told me it was 20,000 square feet.

The Special Collection this year was L88 Invasion.

Here are some of the rare L-88's on display.

Not all the cars were complete.  This car was
used to demonstrate features.  It is, however,
street-legal.

The video they showed was out of this world.  Still
pics don't work at all, but at least you can get an idea
of the action.  It was giant screen, set with music
from the late '60's.

Maybe these pics will give you an idea of how great
the video was.  When they showed these L-88's
on the track, it made me want to yell "Yes!"

I won't say what I wanted to holler when they showed
Carroll Shelby and his Cobra Mustang.

This was the 35th Bloomington Gold Corvette Show.
Featured in the circle drive were '88 35th Anniv. models
like the one shown here.

Over in the new car area was the E85 Indy Pace Car.

And it was the public debut showing of the '09 ZR1.
Looked like they wanted you to just slide in and have a
seat.  Unfortunately, that wasn't gonna happen, it was
roped off.

And since it is 2008, the 1958's were featured.  There
were many more than pictured here.

Here's our club parking area that I mentioned.  It was a hop,
skip, and a jump to the auction area, primo parking.  All I can
guess is that our officers have pull.

This stunning red '62 is owned by Jane Frieders from
Illinois.  Her and her husband have owned this car for
six years, and they have enjoyed every one of those
years.

SACC President Max Brockhouse
receives a 5 year recognition banner
from BG official John Carlson.

And we capped off Saturday with a fine
dinner at the Mill Race Inn in nearby
Geneva, Illinois.

We kept cutting up and laughing, and we
were in no big hurry to leave, but at least we
weren't the last diners to make their way
out.

Well, that wraps up what I saw and photographed at the '08 Bloomington Gold.  On Sunday, however,
there were other things going on that were added.  I am talking about the Survivor judging for ALL MAKES
of cars.  I am thinking out loud here, but they might have realized that they have extra space and money
talks, so here are a few pics from that venue: