|
About
Long
Island
Vettes
In
the
beginning:
Chapter
One
The
club
was
originally
founded
in
the
fall
of
2001
under
the
name
of
Long
Island
Classic
Corvettes.
The
first
informal
meeting
was
held
in
the
parking
lot
of
the
Oak
Beach
Inn
(now
long
gone).
The
meeting
wasn’t
planned
–
it
just
happened
when
a
small
group
of
owners
of
older
Corvettes
started
talking.
Originally
limited
to
owners
of
Corvettes
1982
and
earlier,
a
vote
of
the
members
at
a
later
meeting
decided
we
would
open
the
membership
up
to
all
Corvette
owners.
The
principal
founding
members
were
Richard
Shields,
Anthony
Zabrocki,
Warren
Schetzen,
Kim
Rada,
Drew
Moore,
Jill
Bartollota,
Edward
Eksi,
among
others.
Thanks
to
member
Roy
Brinker
our
second
meeting
was
held
indoors
at
the
Van
Buren
GMC
/
Buick
/
Pontiac
dealership
in
Garden
City
Park.
At
our
second
meeting
or
first
formal
meeting
if
you
prefer,
a
motion
was
made
by
Drew
Moore
to
change
the
tentative
name
we
were
using
of
“Long
Island
Classic
Corvettes”
to
“Long
Island
Vettes”.
This
motion
was
seconded
and
was
voted
on
by
the
membership
and
our
name
was
officially
changed
to
“Long
Island
Vettes”.
The
basic
premise
of
the
club
was
to
provide
an
organized
outlet
for
the
enjoyment
of
the
members
and
their
Corvettes
without
all
the
political
nonsense
and
in
fighting
present
at
that
time
in
other
clubs.
We
decided
in
an
attempt
to
avoid
this
in
fighting
we
would
have
a
club
based
on
honesty,
the
principals
of
good
sportsmanship
and
fair
play
among
the
members.
At
this
meeting
nominations
were
taken
for
a
board
of
directors
and
Richard
Shields
was
nominated
and
elected
as
President,
Tony
Zabrocki
as
Vice
President
and
Kim
Rada
as
Treasurer
even
though
we
didn’t
have
any
money
to
open
a
bank
account
at
that
time.
Subsequently
Jill
Bartollota
was
elected
as
Secretary
and
Carol
Kaloleks
for
Membership.
Our
beautiful
logo
(which
you
will
see
throughout
our
web
site)
was
later
designed
by
member
Edward
Eksi
(a
professional
graphic
artist)
and
unanimously
approved
by
the
entire
membership.
In
the
spring
of
2002
we
had
grown
to
about
25
members
even
though
we
hadn’t
had
any
formal
events
as
yet.
Warren
Schetzen
was
nominated
for
and
elected
as
Activities
Director
whose
function
it
was
to
search
out
locations
for
our
activities.
Warren’s
first
order
of
business
was
to
have
banners
made
for
the
club.
About
the
same
time
the
original
web
site
under
“Long
Island
Classic
Corvettes”
was
changed
to
the
web
site
of
“LongIslandVettes.com”
which
is
the
site
you
are
on
now.
The
original
site
was
hosted
by
AOL
but
unfortunately
AOL
stopped
providing
web
site
hosting.
Our
thanks
to
member
Rob
Florio
our
site
was
moved
to
and
continues
to
be
hosted
at
“Hamptons.com”
a
server
company
that
Rob
owns.
During
this
time
our
only
events,
if
you
want
to
call
them
events,
were
to
gather
each
Sunday
morning
for
coffee
and
donuts
at
the
TGIF
parking
lot
in
Rockville
Center.
These
activities
were
very
informal
as
was
the
club
but
encouraged
friendly
communication
and
the
free
exchange
of
ideas
among
the
members.
The
first
year
was
exceptionally
busy.
Richie
Shields
had
acquired
insurance
for
the
club
through
Haggerty
Insurance,
Art
Donnelly
had
the
club
registered
for
us
with
the
State
of
New
York
under
the
name
of
“Long
Island
Vettes,
Ltd.”,
Warren
Schetzen
had
jackets
designed
and
made
for
us,
Edward
Eksi
designed
and
made
tee
shirts
for
us.
Richie
Shields
setup
regular
monthly
meetings
for
us
at
the
North
Bellmore
Public
Library,
Richie
Shields
had
window
decals
made
and
so
many
other
things
that
started
moving
the
club
forward
all
thanks
to
the
contributions
and
efforts
of
our
members.
During
one
of
the
Sunday
meetings
at
TGIF
it
was
suggested
that
we
develop
by-laws
to
regulate
the
club
but
the
members
quickly
refuted
the
idea.
It
was
decided
that
we
should
continue
to
trust
in
the
basic
principals
of
good
fellowship
and
the
policies
on
which
the
club
was
founded.
Now
even
though
we
never
had
any
written
by-laws
we
did
have
established
policies.
The
main
policy
was
that
one
paid
member
equaled
one
vote
and
that
all
members
had
the
right
to
voice
their
opinion.
Second
only
to
this
policy
was
that
all
members
would
be
treated
fairly
and
equitably.
During
our
first
year
we
had
several
more
formal
events
including
several
rallies,
cruises
and
car
shows.
But
the
basic
nature
of
the
club
remained
informal
just
friends
and
friends
of
friends
getting
together
to
talk
about
and
show
off
their
cars.
Our
first
semi-formal
event
was
a
caravan
to
brunch
named
“Cruise
One”
organized
by
Bob
&
Cora
Pandy
on
April
14th.
The
next
was
a
road
rally
named
“On
The
Road
Again”
and
took
place
on
April
28th,
2002
organized
by
Richie
Shields.
Our
first
show
was
“Wonderful
Wheels”
hosted
and
organized
by
Warren
Schetzen
on
May
27,
2002.
This
show
was
followed
by
a
peoples
choice
show
at
TGIF
organized
by
Drew
Moore
on
June
30th,
and
that
was
followed
by
“Corvettes
Against
Breast
Cancer”
at
Pastor
Chevrolet
in
July
of
2002
organized
by
Richie
Fingerhut.
For
August
of
2002
Richie
Shields
had
acquired
our
original
spaces
at
Corvettes
At
Carlisle.
This
was
subsequently
to
become
an
Annual
Weekend
Event.
Tony
Zabrocki
purchased
a
canopy
for
us
for
the
Carlisle
weekend.
In
later
years
Richie
Shields
relocated
and
expanded
our
spaces
to
the
area
by
the
grandstand
and
offered
a
section
of
these
spaces
to
our
friends
at
the
Metro
Chapter
of
the
NCRS.
In
October
of
the
same
year
Matt
&
Maryann
Tilson
put
together
a
Wine
Country
tour
for
us.
In
June
of
2002
our
first
official
Newsletter
was
published
under
the
name
of
“The
Corvette
Tymes”
and
Richie
Shields
was
somewhat
reluctantly
voted
in
as
the
Newsletter
Editor.
In
October
of
2002
we
had
or
at
least
offered
to
our
members
our
first
election.
The
election
never
took
place
because
no
members
other
than
the
existing
directors
were
nominated.
This
however
established
a
policy
to
offer
our
annual
elections
each
fall.
The
year
ended
with
our
Christmas
Party
at
the
Hibernian
Hall
in
Babylon
and
was
organized
by
Art
Donnelly
and
Warren
Schetzen.
Starting
with
a
scant
seven
members,
by
the
end
of
2002
we
had
over
90
members.
It
seemed
the
main
draw
was
the
lack
of
politics
and
the
encouragement
of
all
members
to
voice
their
opinions.
It
appeared
the
basic
principals
and
policies
were
working
quite
well.
By
2003
the
club
was
starting
to
be
recognized
as
a
real
entity.
A
director
of
another
club
once
told
us
that
we
could
never
make
a
club
work
when
our
members
were
all
misfits
and
malcontents.
Well,
that’s
exactly
what
made
our
club
work.
Our
members
were
neither
misfits
nor
malcontents
but
they
did
want
their
voice
to
be
heard,
to
express
their
opinions
and
we
afforded
them
that
opportunity.
In
fact
we
encouraged
their
input.
Now
in
truth
it
would
be
impossible
to
put
into
action
all
the
ideas
expressed
by
our
members
but
we
did
give
them
the
chance
to
bring
it
before
the
membership.
Even
if
their
ideas
were
rejected
by
the
majority
of
their
fellow
members
our
members
were
content
to
have
had
the
opportunity
to
express
their
thoughts
and
rightfully
so
-
after
all
it
was
their
club.
The
board
of
directors
thought
of
themselves
as
organizers
but
not
as
overlords.
The
directors
worked
for
and
served
the
membership
and
they
were
answerable
to
the
collective
membership
directly.
It
was
a
new
and
different
concept
on
how
a
club
could
operate
and
for
many
years
it
worked
very,
very
well.
Sort
of
like
a
government
of
the
members
and
by
the
members
but
equally
important
for
the
benefit
of
the
members.
I
guess
the
single
most
important
factor
was
that
we
listened
to
our
members.
Over
the
years
our
club
continued
to
grow
and
we
held
many
notable
events.
Perhaps
the
most
notable
was
the
“Vettes
At
The
Vanderbilt”
annual
show.
One
year
that
show
hit
an
all
time
high
for
Long
Island
Corvette
shows
with
218
Corvettes
registered
and
entered.
Our
members
had
told
us
they
were
tired
of
car
shows
in
dealership
parking
lots,
sitting
on
hot
blacktop.
Then
Director
of
Activities
Drew
Moore
was
given
the
task
of
securing
alternate
locations
and
through
diligent
negations
he
was
able
to
secure
the
Vanderbilt
Mansion
and
Museum
for
this
annual
show.
He
also
later
secured
the
Gould
Castle
for
our
annual
“Gold
Coast”
shows
in
Sands
Point.
Gradually
our
membership
grew
and
changed.
Some
members
moved
away
such
as
our
founding
Treasurer
Kim
Rada
who
was
replaced
by
Richie
Fingerhut.
Some
members
changed
jobs
such
as
our
founding
secretary
Jill
Bartolotta
and
our
original
Activities
Director
Warren
Schetzen
who
was
replaced
by
Drew
Moore.
Much
to
our
regret
some
of
our
members
passed
on
including
one
of
the
original
club
founders
Tony
Zabrocki.
Little
by
little
the
club
was
changing.
As
it
grew
larger
little
clicks
began
to
develop,
lobby
groups
if
you
will.
They
wanted
the
club
to
do
what
they
wanted
even
if
the
collective
membership
was
opposed.
Thankfully
strong
leadership
was
able
to
keep
these
special
interest
groups
from
overriding
the
majority.
In
2008
things
took
a
turn
for
the
worse.
The
president
became
ill
and
was
hospitalized.
His
prolonged
illness
kept
him
away
from
the
club
and
he
asked
the
vice
president
to
assume
the
leadership
as
the
acting
president
during
his
recovery.
After
a
long
slow
recovery
period
the
president
returned
to
the
club
but
having
been
away
for
several
months
and
not
having
been
kept
informed
of
what
the
club
was
doing
he
left
the
leadership
in
the
hands
of
the
acting
president
(vice
president)
until
the
elections
that
fall.
In
the
months
of
the
president’s
absence
one
of
these
special
interest
groups
or
clicks
if
you
will
grew
quite
powerful.
Then
a
very
funny
thing
happened
in
the
fall
of
2008.
The
acting
president
refused
to
hold
the
annual
elections
stating
that
there
were
no
rules
and
he
was
not
required
to
and
would
not
hold
an
election.
Even
when
approached
by
members
at
an
open
meeting
he
continued
to
refuse
to
hold
any
election.
When
one
of
the
members
announced
that
he
wished
to
run
for
office
in
an
open
election
by
the
membership
the
acting
president
refused
to
hold
an
election.
He
stated
that
the
matter
had
been
decided
(presumably
by
the
acting
board
members)
and
that
there
would
be
no
election.
It
would
seem
that
the
period
of
government
by
the
members
and
for
the
members
had
come
to
an
end.
Now
it
was
quite
true
that
the
club
had
no
rules
because
that
was
the
way
it
was
intended
to
be
from
the
beginning
and
the
club
depended
on
the
honesty,
trust
and
fair
play
of
the
officers
and
members.
Apparently
the
officers
now
in
power
did
not
adhere
to
the
same
founding
principals
that
were
in
place
when
the
club
was
founded.
Yet
the
club
did
have
an
established
track
record
of
policies
and
practices
and
one
of
the
main
policies
was
to
hold
or
at
the
very
least
offer
an
election
each
fall.
Whatever
motivated
the
acting
president
and
his
acting
board
members
to
violate
these
club
policies
is
best
left
for
them
to
answer.
Perhaps
the
old
saying
of
absolute
power
corrupts
absolutely
might
apply.
The
elected
president
was
approached
by
a
small
group
of
loyal
members
and
it
was
decided
that
the
membership,
the
entire
membership
needed
to
be
accurately
informed
of
what
was
going
on.
To
that
end
and
at
their
own
cost
they
sent
out
a
letter
and
a
ballot
to
every
paid
member.
On
the
ballot
each
paid
member
had
the
choice
of
having
an
open
election,
as
had
been
our
former
policy
or
to
wave
any
election.
The
ballots
were
to
be
returned
to
the
club’s
P.O.
Box
for
the
existing
acting
officers
to
see
the
opinions
of
their
membership,
their
entire
membership
to
whom
they
should
have
been
responsible.
So
what
was
the
opinion
of
the
majority
of
the
members?
Well,
we
will
never
know
because
the
acting
board
disallowed
and
completely
ignored
these
ballots
claiming
they
were
“unofficial”,
not
authorized
by
the
board
and
therefore
would
not
be
recognized.
Now
rumor
has
it
that
these
“unofficial”
ballots
overwhelmingly
called
for
an
open
election.
The
acting
board
had
to
do
something.
What
they
did
was
to
send
out
their
own
“official”
anonymous
ballot.
Well
sort
of.
You
see
each
ballot
was
coded
to
identify
the
member
and
how
that
member
voted.
Each
ballot
was
coded
with
the
first
initial
of
the
member’s
name,
his
or
her
zip
code
and
the
first
initial
of
the
member’s
last
name.
The
code
was
printed
in
the
lower
right
hand
corner
in
a
grayed
out
font
and
in
an
inconspicuous
area.
From
these
ballots
they
probably
created
a
“friends”
and
“enemies”
list.
Which
was
later
used
to
either
cancel
people’s
membership
or
to
reject
certain
member’s
renewals.
But
the
membership
wasn’t
finished
and
they
insisted
on
having
an
election
even
on
their
“official”
ballots.
The
board
countered
with
the
supposed
fact
that
they
needed
time
to
study
an
election
process
and
so
they
established
a
committee
to
study
the
“problem”
and
come
back
with
suggestions.
While
this
was
an
obvious
delaying
technique
no
election
ever
took
place
in
2008
and
the
members
who
wished
to
run
for
election
were
denied
their
chance
to
have
the
membership
decide
who
should
sit
on
the
board.
Month
after
month
dragged
on
while
the
committee
“studied”
the
non-existent
problem
of
elections.
The
acting
board
members
continued
to
dominate
the
club
and
the
membership
lost
most
of
its
input
on
how
the
club
should
operate.
Yet
the
acting
board
members
realized
that
eventually
they
would
have
to
hold
some
kind
of
an
election
to
satisfy
an
ever-growing
section
of
the
membership.
Then
another
funny
thing
happened.
They
refused
to
accept
the
membership
renewals
of
certain
key
members
who
had
expressed
their
desire
to
run
for
office
in
2008.
If
they
couldn’t
continue
to
suppress
the
election
process
they
would
simply
eliminate
the
competition.
If
a
person
wasn’t
a
member
then
obviously
they
couldn’t
run
for
office.
Just
to
make
sure
they
also
canceled
the
membership
of
existing
members
who
were
not
marching
to
their
drumbeat.
Eventually
by
this
method
they
eliminated
most
of
the
founding
members
and
their
supporters.
And
they
did
this
all
very
quietly;
never
telling
the
general
membership
what
they
had
done.
As
further
insurance
they
created
a
twisted
set
of
rules
as
to
who
was
eligible
to
run
and
vote
in
any
election
that
they
knew
would
eventually
have
to
be
held.
It
was
no
longer
one
member
one
vote
as
it
had
been
during
the
earlier
years
of
the
club.
Now
some
paid
members
were
not
eligible
to
vote
according
to
their
new
rules.
Now
remember
they
came
to
power
because
there
originally
were
no
rules.
They
had
done
everything
they
could
to
insure
the
current
regime
would
remain
in
office.
And
so
ended
the
first
chapter
of
the
club
which
was
founded
on
the
principals
of
mutual
trust,
honesty,
fellowship
and
good
sportsmanship.
Up
from
the
ashes
and
back
to
basics.
Chapter
Two
Currently
Long
Island
Vettes,
Inc.
(aka
Long
Island
Vettes
and
Long
Island
Vettes
Club)
is
a
privately
held
not-for
profit
corporation
incorporated
under
certificate
#
C20090724-0313
and
duly
organized
under
state
law
as
certified
by
the
secretary
of
state.
The
corporation
is
registered
with
the
federal
government
and
licensed
(2770541)
to
operate
in
the
state
of
New
York
and
elsewhere
under
section
1304
of
the
corporate
law.
Our
corporate
logo
(which
appears
at
the
top
of
this
document)
is
used
under
license
from
Edward
Eksi
Designs
(aka
Edward
Eksi
Illustrations)
and
is
registered
with
the
United
States
Copyright
office
under
number
VA
1-651-541
as
of
November
5,
2002.
The
purpose
of
this
corporation
is
to
promote
the
safe
use,
enjoyment
and
preservation
of
the
Corvette,
to
encourage
any
events
and
activities
for
the
enjoyment
of
our
members
and
to
promote
good
sportsmanship
and
camaraderie
among
Corvette
owners.
What
the
future
holds
for
Long
Island
Vettes
cannot
be
told
until
after
it’s
been
written.
If
there
are
any
honest,
fair
and
principled
Corvette
owners
out
there
hopefully
they
will
take
part
in
the
writing
of
the
club’s
future
history.
We
still
believe
that
friendship
is
the
best
and
can
be
the
only
real
foundation
of
any
organization!
Save
the
wave!
If
you
don't
see
our
logo
it
isn't
us!
|