Rock Island Today

The Mid-West Corvettes club has started its engines.

The group will host its fourth annual “Vettes on the River” event Aug. 26 to support Vietnam War veterans.

Mid-West Corvettes board member Walt Nenycz, an active volunteer in the Rock Island County GOP, is helping to prepare for the event, which he expects to host more than 500 car owners this year, he told the Rock Island Today.

“The first year, we had 180 Corvettes show up,” Nenycz said. “They were from all over the nation.”

Nenycz detailed the history of the "Vettes on the River" event as a fundraiser. The first year it benefited a veterans group chapter in Davenport. The second year, the event collected approximately $10,000 for a Rock Island chapter. The third year, it provided approximately $15,000 for a Moline chapter, with approximately 400 Corvette owners showing up.

Before that, Nenycz said, the car show had been run for three years with a wider variety of makes.

“It originated as just a car show,” Nenycz said, adding that planners eventually decided to focus on Corvettes, which of course come in a wide range of models.

"You’ll find everything there: There will be hot rods there, classics … but it’s all Corvettes,” Nenycz said.

Nenycz said the group will also appear in local parades to gain more visibility.

A local color guard will present at 11 a.m. on the day of the event this year, and the club is trying to get aircraft to do a fly-by.

“We would use anything,” Nenycz said, citing plans to visit the upcoming air show Oshkosh, Wisconsin, to try to make connections.

More information is available at https://vettesontheriver.com/, as are pictures of previous events.