Corvette owners and enthusiasts started arriving Thursday for a weekend millennium celebration. Many of the events are scheduled for the National Corvette Museum. Photo by Joe Imel

For Chuck and Paula Doran of Millersville, Md., summer vacation started and will stop with the Corvette. We started our vacation at the Corvette of Carlisle in Carlisle, Pa. Then we went to Ohio, and now were concluding our weeklong vacation in Bowling Green, said Chuck Doran, who fulfilled a childhood dream when he bought his 1981 two-tone red, C-3 model Corvette in November. We came to see where his car was born, Paula Doran said. The Dorans are among those on hand to help celebrate the National Corvette Museums sixth birthday during its Millennium Celebration, which runs through Monday. Along with taking tours of the museum and General Motors Corvette Assembly Plant, visitors will hear the global sounds of Up With People, an international performing group of students from 21 countries, at 8 p.m. Saturday at the museums amphitheater. The $10 daily registration fee includes admission to all events. Its our biggest event of the year, said Bobbie Jo Lee, museum communications coordinator. People have already registered 1,300 cars. Organizers anticipate 1,500 participants daily. The highlight of the celebration is the Thunder in Bowling Green exhibit, which introduces visitors to a rare collection of racing Corvettes and some of the men who drove them. The elite collection will include the first model Corvette Motorama, a 1957 RPO 684 and a 1966 RPO L72.This is the first year that we have had so many race-heritaged high performance Corvettes at one assembly, events coordinator Larry Hayes said. People from as far away as Washington, California and Nevada have brought their cars. Marty Fowler of Kennett, Mo., submitted his 1961 fawn beige metallic No. 83 Sebring racing Corvette, which he bought in 1981 and spent six months returning to its former glory. Ive always wanted a Corvette since I was a kid, Fowler said. I already have another 1961 Corvette which I bought in high school, but I wanted a race car because there are only a few of them. Though Fowler enjoys showing fellow Corvette lovers his pride and joy, he said it was the chance to meet the man who drove his car is what drew him to Bowling Green this week. Bud Gates raced my car in 1961s 12-hour Sebring endurance competition in Sebring, Fla., where he came in second place in his class, Fowler said. Having them here is what this event is all about because you get to hear their stories about racing. The event also will include seminars, drag racing and low-speed autocross racing. Events start at 8 a.m. daily.