Our Club began in October of 2002 with a gathering of seven couples at the home of John Vidas, a founder and three-time President (2004, 2006, 2013) of the Club. Determined to drive their Corvettes, meet new Corvette owners and have fun, the group formed Venice Florida Corvettes, Inc., and elected Peter Campisi as its first President (2002, 2003). The Club soon outgrew its meeting place in John Vidas’  home and moved to the Jacaranda Library.  It didn’t take long before we needed a larger room within the Library.  When we outgrew that facility VFC meetings were moved to the Venice Community Center and continue to be held there today. 
 
Club representatives approached management at Bill Buck Chevrolet of Venice (now Jenkins Chevrolet) for support. Bill Buck Jr. presented the Club with a check for $500 and became the first sponsor of VFC.  This strong partnership propelled the Club into the future and VFC Corvette owners were off and driving. During the first three years, the Club experienced rapid growth and membership increased to 135 memberships with 190 Corvettes. VFC became a recognized entity within the community by participating in community events such as those sponsored by the Sertoma Club of Venice, a service and philanthropic club, the Venice Holiday Parade and much more. 
 
In January 2003, we held our first car show, “Corvettes on the Gulf” at Bill Buck Chevrolet. The car show became an annual event and was moved to Centennial Park in downtown Venice. Along with the new venue came a new name, “Corvettes in Venice - A Vette Together”. The first “Vette Together” car show was held September 10, 2004.
 
Where are we now? 

The VFC family has grown to (several hundred)members. The annual car show is considered to be the best Corvette show in Florida by the participants and the car enthusiasts who come to view the Corvettes on display.
 
In 2013, Al Royal, President (2014, 2019), and JoAnn Royal started thinking about how we could make our trophies unique. Since Venice is known as the “Shark Tooth Capital of the World”, what could better represent Venice and VFC than trophies incorporating a replica of a shark’s tooth? With the help of Ron Kubala (VFC member who had been involved in the show trophies for several years) a design was developed, and the new trophies were born. The original shark’s tooth trophies, custom built and assembled by Al Royal, Ron Kubala and Charlie Zuberer, were used from 2014 thru 2019. A re-design of the trophy by John Marchiando (President 2017) and Bill Sabatino now presents the “tooth” in an inverted position. We are proud of our shark’s tooth trophy and know it is coveted by participants at our Show.
 
In 2013, Norma Jean’s Sports Bar & Grill joined our support network by providing the funds for these unique trophies.  Their support along with the support of Jenkins Chevrolet has allowed us to make VFC’s “A Vette Together” a continuing success. In 2020 two other sponsors, Sage Auto Studios and Englewood Bank and Trust, also joined in supporting our Club and it’s charitable activities.
 
Fighting hunger in the community is an ongoing project for VFC. Harry Hite (President, 2015) was instrumental in earmarking the Show’s 50/50 drawing proceeds for our food bank initiative. In addition, food donations along with cash are collected at each monthly meeting and are delivered to an area food bank following each meeting.
 
Our charitable endeavors have continued to expand in the last few years. In 2019, our first VFC Golf Outing benefitting veterans with PTSD was held at the Plantation Golf and Country Club. As a result, a check for $5,500 was presented to Southeastern Guide Dogs, Inc., for the purpose of training a companion dog to be given to a veteran. In November of 2021, we held our Second Annual Golf Tournament and raised over $8,000 for the same purpose.
 
As membership director, John Marchiando introduced the New Member Orientation program. The purpose of the program is to introduce new members to the Club the Board and the options available to them. A gathering of new members along with Board members and key committee chairs is held over dinner. 
 
2020 was a year with challenges for everyone everywhere. Less than 72 hours before the start of our 2020 Annual “A Vette Together” we were notified by the City of Venice that we must cancel the show due to the COVID-19 threat. The cancellation was handled swiftly with as little disruption to the community and show attendees as possible. The wonderful support of our sponsors, Jenkins Chevrolet of Venice (formerly Bill Buck Chevrolet), Norma Jean’s Sports Bar & Grille and Englewood Bank & Trust, allowed us to close the Show, cover expenses and still make a contribution to a local food bank. 

2021 was a year with ongoing challenges for everyone. Our activities and events were less busy and sometimes were cancelled due to the pandemic. Our Show was not even considered an option in 2021. It was our second year with no annual Club car show. With few other shows to attend our Club stepped up our social events and some members attended local small car shows to fill the void.

In 2022 normalcy has started to return and more members have rejoined our events. We were able to host our Annual Car Show for the first time since 2019. With Corvette owners anxious to get back to driving and showing their cars, registration was filled quickly and we enjoyed a very successful Show. The Club added Autocross as a routine event for members, and also scheduled a Road Rally and a Poker Run. In late Spring of 2022, the Club transitioned to this exciting new website to allow easier access for everyone.

Our very active Club has over (300) members. We are in a perfect position to continue our community activities and to be a socially active car Club. We have more first-time owners than ever before and are expanding our activities to provide more diversity. At the core of the Club are activities that revolve around the Corvettes themselves. We continue to offer the Membership a wide range of driving, showing, competitive and social events that appeal to many.

 
Where are we going?