Text by Paul Zazarine
Photography
by Paul Zazarine, Walt Thurn
and Mark Potter
When
Mike Yager, owner of Mid America Designs, decided to have a small "fun" get
together for his Corvette customers and friends back in 1994, about 350 Corvettes
showed up for a neighborly barbecue. This weekend at their headquarters in
Effingham, IL, Mid America celebrated its 25th anniversary as it
held its Sixth Annual Funfest, and over 5,000 Corvettes and 25,000 people
came to join in the celebration and bask in the september sunshine.
"We like to entertain our Corvette customers," Yager
told CorvetteMagazine.com. "We don't hold a Corvette show, because
we aren't in the car show business. We are in the Corvette entertainment business.
So this is our way of thanking our customers by holding what we like to call
the world's largest Corvette party." That philosophy goes right to the heart
of the event. Except for the Celebrity Judging, there is no competition for
trophies and Corvettes are parked door handle to door handle, not by class
but by arrival through the gate.