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ORIGIN OF THE NATIONAL CORVETTE HOMECOMING
Early in 2006, current NCH owner Joe Pruitt sat down with founding owner Tom Hill at the General Motors Assembly Plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It was a rainy Thursday afternoon and they talked together for quite some time.
Joe asked Tom to recall the time in 1980 when he and Sam Hall created what was to become the National Corvette Homecoming. Tom told Joe that it all began when he moved to Bowling Green that year. He and Sam decided along with several other Corvette enthusiasts that it was time to create a Corvette club and they called it Corvettes Limited Corvette Club.
Then, they decided that they should have some functions, and since Jimmy Greenway had just opened the Chevrolet dealership on Scottsville Road, they asked him if they could hold the first Corvette show at his place. Jimmy agreed and the Club sponsored the show. They also decided at that first show, that they would like to promote the GM Assembly Plant.
Tom and Sam then decided to just do the show on their own since Sam had a lot of connections in Bowling Green and Tom had connections at the Plant. So they took their own money and held the first actual Corvette Homecoming show at the Red Carpet Inn (which has been torn down now). This was in 1981. Calling it Corvette Homecoming was Tom’s idea because he wanted it to be like a reunion - like people bringing their car back home. Then, Sam (with some help from a friend here in Bowling Green) came up with National because they thought it would sound better.
So, the next year, in 1982, they moved the National Corvette Homecoming to Beech Bend Raceway Park, and that is the first time they used the full name that we have today. They wanted to have a different kind of car show. After a few years, they decided to sell NCH to Don Newton and Keith Blanford. They kept the show at Beech Bend Raceway Park.
In December 2001, Don & Keith then sold it to Joe Pruitt, Garnett Rogers, Allan Hudson and Roger Carter. Later that year, Roger decided to not participate and David Woodall bought his portion.
In 2003, Garnett left and in 2004 David and Allan left the show. Since that time it has been solely owned and coordinated by Joe Pruitt. In 2005, it was moved to Western Kentucky University Expo Center. In 2007, the prestigious Sans Pareil show was added to NCH schedule of events.
For 2008, the event has moved to the Sloan Convention Center in the heart of Bowling Green. It is owned by the City of Bowling Green and is managed by the adjacent Holiday Inn. It will provide plenty of outside parking and carpeted, air conditioned indoor areas to enhance the show. The event has been moved up to late July, enhancing the positioning of the event to attract more participants. A new designation of Grand Marshall will be given to our special guest for the NCH.
Joe strives for improving the show each year, making it a rewarding experience for the Corvette enthusiast. He has focused on promoting the show more fully on the internet and developing good utilities for show registration and NCH information on the web. He has enhanced event promotion through traditional media as well. Many events such as the car corral and shows have been expanded to include a wide variety of classic vehicles while keeping the emphasis on the one and only American sports car - the Corvette.
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