Club History - Villages KIA Soul Club

In 2019, Mike Cullipher wanted to join a car club.  Mike drove a 2014 Alien Green KIA Soul. There were a number of car clubs in The Villages but  no club for KIA Souls and he didn't want to buy a new car. His only option was he could try to start a club for KIA Souls.  He thought “why not?”.  He talked to the Villages Recreation department and started the process.  There were no shortage of KIA Souls in The Villages and it turned out there were a number of people interested in forming a club.

On May 29, 2019 the club held its first meeting at the Coconut Cove Recreation Center.  There were 25 people in attendance and Mike assumed the role of president.

The next order of  business was to come up with a club decal for members to place on their cars. Lori Santone of “Bella Custom Design Studio” helped design our club decal.

Then we decided we needed a club slogan.  There were a number of suggestions and in June 2019 the club voted.  A winner was declared and the club slogan picked was “Wild Heart, Free Soul”.  It was actually a suggestion by Mike’s youngest grandson, Zach.

One of the fun things for car clubs is to take group trips to various places.  The Villages KIA Soul club was no different.  Our first trip was to Astor, FL in July of 2019.  8 KIA Souls caravanned to the Blackwater Inn (no longer there) for lunch and then took a river tour of the St John;s River.  It was a great first trip of many more that we would call Soul Cruises.

Car clubs need a decal, a slogan, and a relationship with a dealership.  After talking with a number of KIA dealerships, Jenkins KIA of Ocala was the one that was most willing the work with the club to help make it successful.  We sealed the relationship when they had an exclusive event for the club at the dealership. In Oct 2019, 30 KIA Souls from the Villages KIA Soul Club met at Jenkins KIA of Ocala where we were treated to food, drink, free tee shirts and door prizes.

By the end of 2019, the Villages KIA Soul Club was a fully operational car club with an active membership.

The world took a pause with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the club was no different.  For over a year (Feb 2020 – Mar 2021), we didn’t formally meet as a club.  But on March 17, 2021 we were back and fully operational again.

The club had another major milestone in 2022.  We had our first KIA Soul Car Show in the Brownwood  square.

Mike Cullipher remained president of the club until December 2022 but it was time for him to step down.  In January 2023, Michelle Ferguson assumed the role of president and lead the club.  Unfortunately, Michelle had to step down in the summer and Mike assumed the role of acting president until the end of 2023.