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It was the type of day that warms your heart and makes this such a wonderful time of year. About 90 or maybe more COTV members congregated at the Kohls’ parking lot to show just how wonderful they are as well, by providing toys and gifts for children in need through the Marine Toys For Tots program. Since the club shifted their focus from Spark of Love to Toys For Tots, our members’ generosity has grown by leaps and bounds and we can be sure that we are making a difference for so many families.

By the time Rob got there, after his annual tussle with the donut shop, bringing six dozen of them for everyone to share, there were already several cars in the lot. John Meyer joined us on his first Corvette outing since his quadruple bypass surgery. Casey Cannon, who joined some time ago, but is hardly ever in town to attend club events, was there and we were all happy to see him. Bruce Mofford was the early bird, as always.

Once we had set up the donut table and taped off an area for the toy collections, people started to arrive in Corvettes or regular cars loaded with toys. First one Marine, Carol, arrived and then the box truck with two more, Jerry and Alex, pulled into the lot. While folks chatted with the Marines and each other, the pile of toys kept growing. Norm Craig even arrived in his ’66 with a lovely tiny bicycle with training wheels, to make up for the one he didn’t have as a kid. Then Marti arrived, accompanied by her daughter, with a truckload of bicycles and scooters. The piles kept on growing until 11am, when everyone loaded 17 boxes and numerous bikes into the truck.

After the truck was loaded, the Corvette caravan headed all of 5.6 miles to Romano’s Macaroni Grill in the Promenade area for a lunch to celebrate a good job well done. The Marines followed in their box truck to eat with us as they had another pick up after lunch. We want to thank the Macaroni Grill and their manager, Elisabetta Baratti, for working to make this lunch happen for us on relatively short notice and at such a reasonable price. The service was great as well! They had set aside half of the restaurant for our use and although we didn’t completely fill it, we certainly enjoyed our pasta luncheon in the nice surroundings.

In addition to our regular members, we had some new faces in attendance. Stan and Connie Markwell had seen the Toy Run on the website and asked if they could attend as non-members. Stan has just completed restoration work on his red C3 and they are considering joining the club, so they were warmly welcomed. Another couple, the Sannes, saw us on Margarita Road on the way over to lunch and followed us right into the restaurant. They were in their truck but have a Corvette, so we invited them to join us for lunch. Thanks to Harry and Sharon Finch for acting as hosts to both new couples at their lunch table.

Again, thanks to all our members for reaching into their hearts and wallets to make this event such a success and to provide for children who might otherwise not have much of a Christmas. Next up and last for the year, is the Holiday Party. Hope to see you all there for more food, fun and maybe even some dancing!