Nola Sizemore
Staff Writer
Traveling from points across the United States, Corvette enthusiasts met at the Corvette Museum, in Bowling Green, to begin their journey across the state of Kentucky and into Harlan County on Thursday. Teaming up with the Kentucky State Police Trooper Island, the Corvette Museum began their “One Lap Tour” as a fundraiser to benefit the Kentucky State Police Trooper Island Camp.
With 23 Corvette owners participating in the tour this week, KSP Sgt. Greg Sutton said another tour will be held next week also.
“Each member pays a fee to come on the tour,” said Sutton. “This week’s tour is called the Artisan Tour. We began at Bowling Green, visited Trooper Island, then traveled to Cumberland Falls. We then proceeded to Sterns, rode a train and then visited the Bethel community. From there, we traveled to Chevrolet. The reason everyone wanted to come to Chevrolet is because there is only one community in the United States named Chevrolet. After leaving Chevrolet, we will continue to Benham, where everyone will tour the Coal Mining Museum. From there we’ll stay at Pine Mountain State Park and Friday we’ll travel to Levi Jackson State Park and visit the Wilderness Museum. Everyone wants to visit the original Kentucky Fried Chicken Restaurant in Corbin. After that visit, we’ll travel to the Boone Tavern in Berea and stop at Renfro Valley for a show on Friday night. We’ll finish the tour at the Artisan Center in Berea.
Making his third trip through Kentucky, Greg Cottrell, of Normal, Ill., said he was enjoying the beauty of the mountains and the history of eastern Kentucky. Traveling from Cincinnati, Ohio, John and Pam Hinninger, were making their first Corvette trip through Kentucky. Driving a 2011 Grand Sport convertible Chevrolet Corvette, both agreed the beauty in eastern Kentucky was “breathtaking.”
“This our third year doing the Corvette Tour” and each year we have visited a different part of the state,” said Sutton. “We’re proud of our state and enjoy showing it off to visitors.”
Sutton said last year approximately $3,000 was donated to Trooper Island from this project. He said he hopes to raise even more this year because they are doing two tours to eastern Kentucky instead of just one.
“We give away three $1,000 scholarships each year,” said Sutton. “These donations go a long way in making this all possible. Anyone may apply. All they have to do is go online to kentuckystatepolice.org and click on the Trooper Island icon. The KSP Corvette you see in the convoy was a drug seizure vehicle, which we now use for special events.”
Reach Nola Sizemore at 606-573-4510 or at nsizemore@heartlandpublications.com
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