600 Corvettes to parade through Kane County

It's not an official festival.

In fact, it's just a parade of cars along Kane County roads.

Of course, the parade happens to consist of more than 600 Corvettes, from the original 1953 model to the latest.

For Harley Veldhuizen of Elburn, the reason for the public's enthusiasm is clear.

"The Corvette is America's true sports car," he said. "Young and old alike have this love for this event. That's just great."

Veldhuizen has been a member of the Fox Valley Corvette Club in Batavia for 15 years. He will drive in the GoldTour, which is part of the 35th Annual Bloomington Gold Corvette Show.

The show begins Thursday at 7 a.m. with a swap meet at Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles. All events, other than the GoldTour, will be held there and the show ends Sunday at 5 p.m. A complete listing of events can be found at Bloomingtongold.com.

Veldhuizen put the route together and kept it on county roads, so they had to get clearance from the Kane County sheriff's department.

The GoldTour begins Saturday at 6 p.m. with Corvettes expected at the staging area, the Kane County Judicial Center, 37W777 Route 38 in St. Charles, at 5 p.m.

The Grand Marshal of the parade will be 1958 Corvettes and the 1988 35th Anniversary model, as well as Corvettes that served as Indy Pace Cars.

Veldhuizen said they have used the same route the last three or four years and the repetition has turned the drive into a spectacle.

"It's just a great thing and a big community thing," Veldhuizen said. "They have parties set up around the event. People started calling us at home wanting to make sure they got the dates right."

The route takes drivers through several small communities in Kane County, including Kaneville.

Bloomington Gold Field Director Mike Stypolkowski said people sit outside their homes waiting for the parade because of the aesthetic beauty of the cars.

"It's just a neat visual experience," he said. "We're taking over their street for two hours. We try to give them something back for their inconvenience."

One of the traditions of Corvette owners -- a tradition that dates back to at least 1966 when Stypolkowski first encountered it -- is the wave.

When Corvettes drive by each other on the street, drivers wave at each other in greeting. Because the route is round-trip, drivers find themselves passing other Corvettes for miles at a time. Drivers have been creative in the past to ensure their arm does not tire.

"People rig up foam 'We're No. 1' fingers; a lot of cars have Mickey Mouse gloves going back and forth," Stypolkowski said. "It's just the visual thing is a pretty cool thing. We want the people to have fun."