Cape Girardeau shined bright for Corvette Caravan

On Aug. 26 Cape Girardeau had the opportunity to host a Welcome Party for the 2014 Corvette Caravan after the city was chosen as an overnight stop for the participants from Southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Northern Texas. This may have been a one-time opportunity for our local citizens to experience the Corvette Caravan without leaving home since it has never previously passed through Cape Girardeau.

The goal of our committee was to not only have the best Welcome Party for this group's 2014 trip, but to have the best Welcome Party they had ever experienced. Based on the feedback we received from caravan participants, I believe we may have met our goal. Everyone we visited with was impressed with the quality of our event and with the beauty of downtown Cape Girardeau and our riverfront. They had nothing but good things to say about the friendliness of our volunteers, their efforts to accommodate whatever needs they had, the quality of the meal and dessert that was provided by Popeye's Chicken and Dairy Queen, the huge turn out of local Corvettes and on an on.

In my opinion, this event epitomized what Cape Girardeau is all about. I could not have been prouder of the way our entire community pulled together to make our Welcome Party a huge success. Everyone -- from our local citizens who came downtown to visit with the caravan participants, to our local businesses who served as our event sponsors, to the local news media who went above and beyond to publicize our event, to the city of Cape Girardeau's police, fire and park departments who accommodated our every need -- deserves a big thank you.

I would like to give special thanks to the following corporate sponsors whose financial generosity made this event possible: Coad Chevrolet, KFVS TV, MidAmerica Hotels/Popeye's Chicken, Ruopp & Ruopp Dental, SoutheastHEALTH, JCS Wireless, Prestige Development, McAlisters Deli, Isle of Capri, Charter Cable, River Radio and Withers Radio.

I would also like to thank the Capaha Antique Car Club and the River City Rodders for providing manpower the day of the event, Coad Chevrolet for making mechanical assistance available, Isle of Capri for the use of their parking lot and shuttle bus and any one else who contributed who I may have overlooked. Finally, I would like to thank Cape's Convention and Visitors Bureau, Old Town Cape and the team of volunteers who served on our committee and worked tirelessly to make this event happen.

Let's hope the Corvette Caravan participants were sufficiently impressed that they will consider bringing the Corvette Caravan back for a return visit in the near future.

Dave Jackson was the chairman of the Cape Girardeau Corvette Caravan Committee.