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This story begins more than a half-century ago when Joe Blumberg (age about 16) saw a 1958 Corvette painted Panama Yellow in a neighbor's driveway. He thought, "Boy! Would I ever love to have a Corvette like THAT!"
A few years later he saw a 1965 Glen Green Corvette; the desire for Panama Yellow was instantly replaced with a major passion for that beautiful dark green color. From that day forward, it was dark green for Joe's dream Corvette.
Fast-forward to September 1999. Joe and I visited the Corvette display at the Petit Le Mans race at Road Atlanta and spotted a 2000 Corvette Coupe painted "Dark Bowling Green Metallic". This was a brand new color for the fifth-generation Corvette (called the "C5"), and the first green paint available for several years. They let him sit in it; did he like it? Take a look:
I was driving a black 1998 C5 coupe so I encouraged (prodded?) Joe to think about realizing his dream. I told him about the great buying experience being offered by Bruce Glueck Chevrolet. They're located in Jasper, FL but sold Corvettes all over the country (still do). They would even arrange to deliver your car at the National Corvette Museum (NCM) at the annual C5 Birthday Bash in April.
And so, it happened. Joe soon ordered the Dark Bowling Green Metallic C5 Coupe and arranged for NCM Museum Delivery in April 2000 at the C5 Birthday Bash. My bride Gael and I are huge fans of the NCM so we arranged a two-car caravan from Atlanta to Bowling Green with Joe, his wife Cathleen, friends Pat & David Kaemmerling and Gael and myself. The Kaemmerlings drove the Blumbergs (since they'd have a Corvette to bring home) and Gael and I drove our 1998 Black Corvette. It's only about a 4½ hour drive (each way).
Weather in Bowling Green, Kentucky in April is an iffy proposition. It can be hot, cold, dry, wet, snowy and so forth. This time it was chilly.
Our little caravan stopped at the Kentucky Welcome Station just over the Tennessee line and the ladies went for coffee from a vending machine to help warm their hands. It was NOT good coffee -- but Gael had thoughtfully brought along a bottle of Bailey's Irish Cream. Turns out that vending-machine coffee (mixed half-and-half with Bailey's) was not at all bad. They stood under an outdoor heater drinking their "coffee" and all the passersby would stop and say, "Wow! That smells great! Where did you get it?" and they'd slyly point at the vending machine. Here they are, a cup or two later:
Gael, Pat & Cathleen
We reached Bowling Green and the NCM in good order. Joe and Cathleen received the NCM Museum Delivery experience:
.. and then Bruce Glueck & Becky Davis handed over the keys to them and about a dozen other folks who were receiving their C5s:
At last! Here's Joe's Dream C5:
And here's how happy Joe and Cathleen were!
One of the things the NCM offers is a commemorative brick. Here's the one Gael and I bought for Joe:
(Someday I'll explain all about Joe "Bob" Blumberg)
When the Birthday Bash ended we all drove home uneventfully.
Joe enjoyed his Dream Corvette for exactly five years during which a spate of grandchildren arrived on the scene. A two-seater didn't seem like the right vehicle for a grandfather (someone said), so he found a good home for the C5 with Joe & Brenda Rivers in Canton Georgia. Joe actually had an earlier offer but he didn't think the proposed buyer would take proper care of "his baby". After a rigorous interview, the Rivers passed!
It was a sad day for one Joe (Blumberg) and a happy day for another (Rivers) when the 2000 Dark Bowling Green Metallic C5 Coupe left for its new home. At least, the car still belongs to someone name "Joe".
It turns out that Joe Rivers didn't drive the car much. Mostly it went to car shows and the occasional Sunday drive -- and never, ever, ever got wet.
Seven years go by with our Joe 'Vette-less. That was mostly OK, but...
Joe's son Mark decided he'd like to surprise his dad with a similar Corvette for Joe's 70th birthday coming up in July 2012. He and his brother Steve starting looking for a Dark Bowling Green C5 Coupe. There were only 886 made in 2000, half that many in 2001 and the color was dropped after 2001 -- so finding that color C5 would be tough. After all, it had been twelve years and only 1,309 had EVER been built.
They found one in Washington DC and negotiations began, but the transaction just didn't feel right to Mark. To boot, that car had an Oak interior and Joe's car had a Grey interior. There were only three interior colors possible: Black, Grey and Oak and the Grey color was the most rare. They had their work cut out for them. And then, a breakthrough!
Steve, on a visit to Atlanta, saw the NCM Delivery plaque for Joe's C5 with the VIN number on it; he surreptitiously copied it down and sent it to brother Mark. Mark pulled the CarFax on the car and found that the mileage had only increased by 5,000 miles in the seven years that the current owner had it -- but he didn't know the owner's name or how to reach him.
The CarFax showed that the car had been serviced by Team Chevrolet but Mark was pretty sure that they wouldn't give him the owner's name. But, nothing ventured...
He called the Service Manager, Todd Harper, and explained that he was trying to buy back his dad's C5. Would Todd please call the owner and ask him to call Mark. Coincidentally, a viral video was making the rounds on the web about a son finding his dad's Impala Super Sport so Todd was touched. He called the owner, explained the situation and asked him to call Mark if he wanted to talk.
..who turned out to be the linchpin for this whole story..
A day or two later, Mark got a call from Joe Rivers. That's right. The fellow who bought the car from our Joe still owned it. That's the good news. The bad news was that he wasn't interested in selling it.
Mark appealed to him to at least think about it and he said he would. Just to "help", Mark gave him the link to the "Son finds Dad's Impala" video. Couldn't hurt!
It took several back-and-forths before the deal was done, but finally Joe Rivers agreed to sell Mark the C5! Now, how to handle the "reveal"?
Joe's birthday isn't until July and (now) Mark's C5 is sitting in Canton GA, still lovingly garaged by Joe Rivers.
Mark and his wife Jenny decided to bring their three children to Atlanta for a late spring break -- and, since they couldn't be here in July, they'd have a "faux" birthday celebration in April. Why not? Have a family/friends lunch at a nice restaurant in Atlanta. Mark picked Canoe (a five-star Atlanta landmark) for the luncheon on Tuesday April 17th.
The Blumbergs have four kids and seven grandchildren. Mark invited the whole family to the luncheon and all accepted except brother Steve and his family who live in the DC area and weren't able to get away. No one (except Steve) knew anything about the planned surprise (the "reveal") at the luncheon. Mark also invited Gael and me and the Kaemmerlings to help celebrate Joe's "faux" birthday.
Mark and his family flew in from Boston on April 15th and, on the 16th, he and I drove out to Canton to pick up the car. Until now, none of these folks had met. We were welcomed by Joe and his wife at their home:
That's Mark, Joe and Brenda Rivers
The car was shining like a new (green) penny. Joe had taken meticulous care of it and it looked brand new:
When he was a younger man, Mark was never allowed to drive the C5; but today he backed it out of the garage. After all, until tomorrow, it's HIS C5 Corvette!
The luncheon is set for noon tomorrow, April 17th; it looks like there'll be seventeen of us there. Seventeen on the Seventeenth. Nice balance there.
The plan
But how to surprise Joe? Mark and I had noodled via email for several weeks about just how to pull this off -- you only get one chance. After picking up the car, I drove it and Mark followed in his rental to Canoe to meet with my Corvette pal, Calvin Cruce. I'd recruited him to help with this; not the smallest reason is that he's an excellent professional photographer.
Mark and Calvin
Canoe only permits parking using their valet service; this is actually a good thing for us.
Calvin arranged with the restaurant to leave his car in their lot overnight. He's taking the C5 home with him and bringing it back tomorrow after we're all seated in the restaurant. He'll have the valet park it around back of the restaurant.
We all arrived at the restaurant about noon. Gael and I were first to arrive so we went over the plan with the valet dude. He was most cooperative. Oh, and of course we had balloons:
While we were eating, Calvin arrived and they put the C5 behind the restaurant. Pay no attention to the chicken..food is fresh at Canoe:
The restaurant set us up on the deck overlooking the Chattahoochee with a kids table for six and and a grownups table for eleven.
Left nearest to camera: Jay Schleusener, Dave Kaemmerling, Joe Blumberg, Gael Cone, Cathleen Blumberg
Right nearest to camera: Mark Blumberg, Jim Talley, Cathy Talley, Jenny Blumberg, Pat Kaemmerling
Assorted Blumberg and Talley kids
The birthday boy (soon to be C5 re-owner)
Lunch was great! The Canoe people really know how to feed people. And the round of desserts to top it off was delicious!
Everyone went out to the garden by the river for the obligatory group shot:
..and then all trooped out to the front of the restaurant for a group shot on the stairs:
This was the clue for the valet to go get the car:
I was trying to keep everyone interested in my iPhone video while the valet sneaked the car around back and then in front of the stairs:
"Y'know, I used to have one just like that!"
"Oh, NO!"
Joe finally "gets it"!
"Where did you find a car that looks exactly the same?!?"
"OMG! It isn't just a C5, it's THE C5!"
This is the same jacket Joe got when he took delivery in Bowling Green in 2000.
Trunk full o' grandkids!
Balloons were being stuffed into the back of the C5:
..and then Charlotte's finger got mashed by the slamming hatch :(
Just a small tragedy on a wonderful day (her uncle IS a doctor, after all); she'll be fine.
Here's Joe at the wheel:
Way to pull this off, Mark!
Thanks, Calvin (who took most of the pictures)!
And congratulations, Joe!
Oh. The video? Click HERE to see Jenny's iPhone video of the event!
Find a typo or something else wrong? Click my name to email me...
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