Rita LaGrow of Scottsboro, Ala., polishes her custom-built 1983 Corvette on Saturday during the annual Corvette Homecoming at Beech Bend Raceway Park.

Clinton Lewis/Daily News

Merlin and Dorothy Kindel of Berea bought their first Corvette just 12 days ago. They were already breaking it in this weekend at the National Corvette Homecoming at Beech Bend Raceway Park. Its a Corvette, explained Dorothy as she sat on the grass beside the maroon 40th anniversary model that she and Merlin bought in Boston, Mass. They have an aura about them that no other car does. They catch your eye when theyre driving down the road. And, as many at the homecoming claimed, they catch the spirit. I drive 125 miles to come to meetings, said Ron Arkwright of Jeffersonville, Ind., a member of Bowling Greens Corvettes Limited club. To Arkwright, theres no place like Bowling Green when it comes to Corvettes. The Corvette Museum is the only one of its kind, he said. Gary Cockriel, president of the local Corvette club and a celebrity judge of Corvettes this weekend, became sentimental when Arkwright spoke. Theres not another Corvette plant in the world or another Corvette museum in the world, and God blessed us with them, he said. Cockriel and Arkwright were just a few of the local Corvette club members who braved scorching temperatures to volunteer at the homecoming this weekend. Danny Sublett was glad he could help. We play hard, we work hard, he said. But its fun. That fun was the focus of the homecoming weekend. Events include a car corral, a swap meet and drag racing, along with a womens retreat that featured spa services, a scrapbooking class, a fashion show and a question-and-answer session on Saturday with Corvette expert Gordon Killebrew. The women were as enthusiastic about Corvettes as the men. Vicki Seaton, who said she and her husband, Dwight, drove to the show for the first time from southern Illinois this year, loved the drag racing. The couple drag race at home, though they didnt try it here. We want to get home with the Corvette intact, Vicki said. Wayne and Kathy Stewart joked that after seeing all the pristine Corvettes at the homecoming, they wanted to get home to Russellville with a new car for each of them. I want a new car, Wayne emphasized. And I want an on older one, Kathy said. While the Stewarts couldnt buy new Corvettes this weekend, there were plenty of affordable souvenirs to purchase. Its a good place to pick up parts, hats, shirts, little things, said Ed Staton, who for the third year had driven to the homecoming with his 14-year-old son, Kevin. Kevin was mesmerized by the Corvettes at the show and hopes in a couple of years to drive his dads prized car. Everybody wants to talk, said Dwight Seaton, whose son had visited the homecoming five years ago and encouraged Dwight and Vicki to come. Theres an awful lot of silver hair here. Thats probably why its laid back.