2011 NCRS Great Lakes National Convention
Monday July 18 through Friday July 22, 2011
Great Lakes National Convention Activities
We’ve planned a LARGE number of interesting, informative, and entertaining activities to add to your Corvette fun in Novi.
Be sure to sign up for your favorite daytrips, events, and evening activities when you register. We only reserve enough
busses/transportation/space to accommodate the members who pre-register. Once those busses are filled - you are out of
luck- sorry. Remember- tour busses pick up at both Host Hotels: the Crown Plaza and the DoubleTree.
As we get closer to the event the pace of activities rises dramatically. Most of our activities are in place and our teams are working frantically to optimize your enjoyment. We have added a new technical seminar “The NCRS Technical Discusion Board & Judging points Tracking” presented by : Rob Musquetier, John Waggoner and Gary Chestnut on Wednesday, July 20, 3:00 – 5:00 PM.
While these are the highlight events, every day is packed full of tours, seminars, shopping, dining and most important – fabulous Corvettes. Come well rested as there won’t be much time when something very interesting is going on. We of the Michigan Chapter guarantee it.
Remember - CONVENTION ID IS REQUIRED FOR ALL TOURS. You WILL NOT be allowed to enter without it!
Henry Ford Museum/Greenfield Village
Date/Time: Tuesday, July 19 9:00AM-3:00PM
Cost: $65 per person
“I am collecting the history of our people as written into things their hands made and used...When we are through, we will have reproduced American life as lived, and that, I think, is the best way of preserving at least a part of our history and tradition.” Henry Ford
Come join Michigan Chapter members Victoria DeMay and Helen Fischer on a field trip back in time to historic Greenfield Village or the Henry Ford Museum. Certainly one of the premier living history locations in the US, Greenfield Village takes you back to a much simpler life. Nearly one hundred historical buildings were moved to the property from their original locations. Greenfield Village includes buildings from the 17th century to the present, many of which are staffed by costumed interpreters who conduct period tasks. A collection of craft buildings such as pottery, glass-blowing, and tin shops provide demonstrations while producing materials used in the Village and for sale. Greenfield Village is 240 acres of land that includes forest, and the Rouge River. Transportation within the Village includes horse-drawnomnibus, steam locomotives, a 1931 Model AA bus, and authentic Model Ts.
GM Performance Build Center, Pratt and Miller Engineering, and the Lingenfelter Collection
Date/Time: Tues, July 19 9:00AM-3:00PM
Cost: $50 per person
This tour will visit three facilities that will thrill any and all Corvette aficionados. Personal guided tours will be conducted at each of the facilities with the opportunity to “get up close” with the people and products that have put added excitement into the Corvette product line. The day will begin with a tour of the GM Performance Build Center in Wixom, where a small group of highly-skilled craftsmen hand assemble and test all of the high output engines (LS9, LS7& LS3 Dry Sump) used in current Z06, ZR1 and Grand Sport Corvettes.
www.gm.com/experience/technology/gmpowertrain/pbc/performance_build_center.jsp. This highly-restricted GM facility will welcome our group for an intimate view of these world-class products and allow personal contact with the people who make it happen. Our next stop will be at the Pratt and Miller Engineering Headquarters and Race Shop in New Hudson. www.prattmiller.com. We will be guided through their engineering facilities and race shop, where the LeMans winning C6R race cars were produced and then be allowed to review the construction and inner workings of the C6RS supercar. Lunch will be served at the conclusion of this visit. The
www.thelingenfeltercollection.com. This outstanding collection is comprised of about 150 rare and exotic cars, including modern exotics, high performance muscle cars and vintage Corvettes. Also on display will be many of the high performance vehicles produced by Callaway, Greenwood, Guldstrand, Lingenfelter Performance, Pratt and Miller, and Spectreworks.
Historic Frankenmuth and Bronners Christmas Store
Date/Time: Wednesday, July 20
9:00AM-3:00PM
Cost: $60 per person
Frankenmuth is Michigan’s little Bavaria, where you’ll find all the things that make summertime so much fun. It’s a place of horse-drawn carriages, covered bridges, riverboat cruises and world famous chicken dinners. Frankenmuth’s Main Street is adorned with overflowing gardens that span more than three miles. The gardens are lush, abundant and natural looking, which is indicative of Frankenmuth’s German heritage. Thousands of people visit Frankenmuth annually for its unique Bavarian-style architecture, famous chicken dinners, quaint shops and Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland store. When you visit Frankenmuth, it won’t be hard to lose yourself in the magic and beauty of the summer adornments and a touch Germany right in Michigan’s backyard. Moderate levels of walking, so comfortable shoes are suggested.
Yankee Air Museum Walking Tour of Historic Ypsilanti Depot Town
Date/Time: Wednesday, July 20 9:00AM-3:00PM
Cost: $60 per person
A tour of the Yankee Air Museum, a walking tour of Ypsilanti’s Historic “Depot Town”, admission to all facilities, deluxe motor coach transportation, and lunch at the Sidetrack restaurant in “Depot Town”. Moderate levels of walking, so comfortable shoes are suggested. Ypsilanti has been the location of many pioneering automotive ventures throughout Michigan’s history. The first stop on the tour will be the Yankee Air Museum located at Willow Run Airport. The airport was built by the Ford Motor Company in 1941 to serve as an airfield for their B-24 Bomber Plant. This was the first aircraft plant to use Ford’s mass production techniques to manufacture aircraft. In 1981, a small group of visionaries formed the Yankee Air Force/Museum dedicated to preserving this important piece of aviation and Southeastern Michigan history. The second portion of the tour includes a walking tour of historic “Depot Town”. As a thriving commercial and manufacturing hub Ypsilanti had a significant influence on the automotive industry. The Ypsilanti Automotive Heritage Museum includes “Miller Motor’s”, a fully preserved pre-war automobile Hudson dealership that still operates. Whatever your automotive interest, Ypsilanti Automotive Heritage Museum is a once in a lifetime experience. Historic Depot Town includes unique shops, and interesting automotive related businesses.
Edsel & Eleanor Ford Home and Pewabic Pottery
Date/Time: Thursday, July 21 9:00AM-3:00PM
Cost: $65 per person
This excursion will begin with a tour of the Grosse Pointe home of Edsel and EleanorFord with a deluxe luncheon, followed by a tour of the Pewabic Tile Museum . Edsel & Eleanor Ford House tells the story of the home life of a prominent American family.
The Fords were cultural, social and economic leaders in an era of great optimism, as well as a turbulent time of economic depression and world war. The house was designed by Albert Kahn to resemble a cluster of Cotswold village cottages, complete with stone roofs, vine-covered walls and leadpaned windows. Strolling through the thoughtfully decorated halls, visitors come face-to-face with a stunningly diverse collection of art, antiques and furniture that reveal the Fords’ progressive and educated tastes in art and design. Pewabic is a century old American Art pottery founded at the height of the Arts & Crafts movement in 1903 by Michigan artist Mary Stratton. Since 1907, Pewabic has been housed in its National Historic Landmark building located in the beautiful Indian Village historic district of Detroit. Pewabic is nationally renowned for its gift tile and pottery in unique glazes. Today it is a thriving nonprofit ceramic art education center, busy production studio and living museum which welcomes 70,000 visitors annually. Moderate levels of walking are required for this trip, so comfortable shoes are suggested.
General Motors Wind Tunnel and Walter P Chrysler Museum Sorry Sold Out!
Date/Time: Thursday, July 21 9:00AM-3:00PM
Cost: $60 per person
Greg Fadler, Aerodynamic Engineering Group Manager, will join our bus tour to share the history and development of vehicle aerodynamics at GM and the role taken at this world renowned facility. The tour group will be allowed to tour the General Motors Aerodynamics Laboratory and view the inner workings of the world’s largest wind tunnel with its 4500 horsepower electric motor.
The group will then proceed to the Walter P. Chrysler Museum in Auburn Hills to enjoy three stories of pure American Automotive history. Vehicle displays include antiques, customs, and concept cars interspersed with interactive displays and historic exhibits that tell the story of the automakers contributions to automotive design, technology and innovation. The museum also features a movie theater with continually running features and a gift shop. Lunch will be provided during your visit.
Ann Arbor Art Fair
Date/Time: Friday, July 22 9:00AM-3:00PM
Cost: $25 per person
For more than 50 years, artists with amazing talents and unsurpassed skills have returned each July to the streets of Ann Arbor www.artfair.org, exhibiting in the Ann Arbor Art Fairs, displaying their latest work and engaging the imaginations of more than 500,000 annual fairgoers. This is a juried Art Fair where participation is by invitation. The varied parts of the Fair fit together to form an amazing impression – filled with sound and color and mystery and drama, creating an intriguing event with more than a dash of style. No matter what direction you take, no matter where you look, you’ll discover colors and sights that will energize and captivate, and maybe even change your life. That’s the incredible power of art. Beyond the art, there’s the remarkable city of Ann Arbor, with stores, restaurants and people watching that rivals any metro area. Come join Michigan Chapter members Richard and Victoria DeMay for a day of brilliance, beauty, fun and a great stroll around the beautiful University of Michigan campus community. Substantial walking- comfortable shoes and stamina recommended.
Ford Rouge Plant and Piquette Avenue Plant
Date/Time: Friday, July 22 9:00AM-3:00PM
Cost: $70 per person
A guided tour of the Piquette Plant and the Ford Rouge Plant, admission and deluxe motor coach transportation. A box lunch is included. It involves moderate levels of walking, so comfortable shoes are suggested. First, we’ll tour Detroit’s Ford Piquette Avenue Plant where Henry Ford designed and produced the first 12,000 “Tin Lizzies”. The plant utilized the earliest form of the moving assembly line, in the production of the Ford Model T. You will learn about other models Ford built between 1904 and 1910, as well as, the colorful personalities of Piquettte, who set the world’s record for car production, making the Ford Motor Company the world’s largest manufacturer of automobiles, in less than four years. The area around the Piquette Plant was the early center of automobile parts suppliers.
The second portion of the tour will take you to the Ford Rouge complex, where you will follow the production of a Ford pickup, as it moves down the assembly line. This tour is an opportunity to visit an historical automobile plant that set in motion the mass production of the automobile, and made Detroit the Motor City.
GM Milford Proving Grounds Tour
Date/Time: Saturday, July 23 8:00AM- 12:00 Noon
Cost: $100 per Car (Corvettes only)
We saved the best for last at this year’s National Convention, so you’ll want to extend your stay for an additional night to participate in this memorable event. (Talk to anyone who participated in the MPG Tour at the “08 Regional and you’ll know why!) You may indeed want to bring a second Corvette so that you and your wife won’t have to fight over who gets to drive at this event!
We’ll begin the day with an informal breakfast at Bakers’ Restaurant in Milford, where we’ll assemble for a Police escort to the Proving Grounds. At the Proving Grounds you’ll be allowed to drive your Corvette on the actual test and development roads; you’ll be allowed to “experience” all of the roads that are suitable for restored Corvette. Don’t worry, we’ll avoid the Belgian blocks, unpaved surfaces or chassis twist surfaces, but you will experience the Banked Oval, Seven Sisters, North-South Staightaway, the “Lutz Ring etc. etc.. Take an arial look at the layout.
While there, we’ll be staging each for individual photographs (bring your smiles) as well as a group shot of all the cars on the High Speed Banked Oval. We plan to double the number of Corvettes pictured in the 2008 Regional Meet commemorative photo (above left).
While plans are still being finalized, we hope to stage a high performance driving demonstration on Black Lake and will likely have a Corvette Development Engineer to give us some insight into what goes into producing these world-class sports cars. You won’t want to pass up this opportunity to visit this “Sacred Ground”, before heading back home.
Saturday morning brings the convention to conclusion with one last fabulous event – The GM Milford Test Track. We’ll begin the day with an informal breakfast at Bakers’ Restaurant in Milford, where we’ll assemble for an escorted Police Tour to the Milford Proving Grounds. At the Proving Grounds you’ll be allowed to drive your Corvette on the actual test and development roads; you’ll be allowed to “experience” all of the roads that are judged suitable for restored Corvette. Don’t worry, we’ll avoid the Belgian blocks, unpaved surfaces or chassis twist surfaces, but you will experience the Banked Oval, Seven Sisters, North-South Straightaway, the “Lutz Ring etc. etc.. While there, we’ll be staging each for individual photographs (bring your smiles) as well as a group shot of all the cars on the High Speed Banked Oval track. We plan to double the number of Corvettes pictured in the ’08 Regional Convention commemorative photo.