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2017 NEWS ARCHIVE
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25 Years: Paul Otto 5 Years: Cameron Caswell, Harold Eskey |
Shenandoah Membership Milestones, December 2017
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Primary Members–263 New members:
No members transferred into or out of the Region Please verify and update your postal and email addresses so that we can stay in touch with you. Here are instructions on how to change your PCA member records or renew your PCA membership. |
Shenandoah Region PCA November 2017 Membership Report
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The air is finally getting chilly; we're starting to rake leaves and, as the Holiday Season approaches, members from Shenandoah Region and First Settlers Region members from in and around Richmond got together for the second annual SRPCA "Turkeys in the Trunk" event on Saturday, November 18, 2017. Two opportunities to share the Holiday Spirit and give back to the communities in our Porsche Club of America Regions! For those of you who haven't been to "Turkeys in the Trunk," this is how it works: First, you load (or any quantity you feel appropriate) your front trunk (frunk), or your back trunk, if you have one, your roof rack, your passenger foot well... or wherever, with frozen turkeys, canned vegetables, yams, non-perishable food and the rest of the fixings for a Thanksgiving meal. Don't forget to leave room for your spouse or significant other, but tell them to pack lightly!
Western/Central Segment Shenandoah Region
It was a wonderful experience and something that the Shenandoah Region can look forward to supporting again in the future. Imagine if we had as many Shenandoah Region members attending this event as we do for some of our tours and drives through the Virginia countryside. Our goal in 2018 is to make an even bigger contribution to the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank. A special thanks to Marquita and Mark Doherty for organizing this event at Porsche of Charlottesville and for bringing the coffee, sweet rolls, and bagels for the social hour. We appreciate the continued support of Shawn Ayers and his staff at Porsche of Charlottesville (Flow Porsche), 1313 Richmond Road, Charlottesville. We would also like to thank Joe Caputi, Branch Manager of the Thomas Jefferson Area Branch of the Blue Ridge Food Bank, 1207 Harris Street, Charlottesville, a member of Feeding America, for being available to accept our donations.
After the donations were made many of the participants went across Midlothian Turnpike to Wegman's Pub for a delicious, late, light lunch complements of First Settlers Region. The joint regional event was a rousing success for our first time! Thanks to all those who participated and made a contribution. This event CAN make a difference in our communities! |
Turkeys in the Frunk, Western/Central Segment
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15 Years: Daniel Porada 10 Years: Helmut Frey 5 Years: Steve England |
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Primary Members–261 New member:
Members transferred out of the Region:
Please verify and update your postal and email addresses so that we can stay in touch with you. Here are instructions on how to change your PCA member records or renew your PCA membership. |
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The Shenandoah Region has been hosting a Fall Foliage event and/or drive for many years. It is a popular event and one that has been well attended in previous years. This year, the Club decided to have a two-day multi-event on October 14 and 15 that included Saturday arrival drives, a Saturday afternoon People's Choice Concours in the Pavilion in historic downtown Harrisonburg, a Saturday Open House and catered dinner at the MAAP facility, a silent auction, as well a very interesting Sunday drive to the mountains of West Virginia in Brandywine. To see photo galleries from this event, click here and here. The Saturday driving tours were led by Randy Bell from the eastern side of the Region to Stanardsville. Hank Weil led the Saturday drive from Crozet to Stanardsville, and Jason Wavell assembled these two drives with participants that met in Stanardsville for the drive over the mountains into historic downtown Harrisonburg. The host for the 2017 Fall Fling was the Madison Automotive Apprentice Program (MAAP), whose Executive Director is Cole Scrogham, the first President of the Shenandoah Region. Cole's intent was to design an event that was something a little "different." His desire "was to have an event where you didn't have to get up at 5 AM to clean your car, and then stand around all day in a grassy field far from civilization, but an event that was informal, relaxed, and most of all FUN!" MAAP provided a list of restaurants, hotels, and things to see in the area.
The winner of the People's Choice Award was Carey Lindsey and his beautiful blue Porsche 356 cabriolet. The "Best Fall Colors" Porsche was Jim Forkovitch's spectacular Sienna Red 930 coupe. Sunday morning started out on the cool side, but the sky was clear and it was a beautiful morning for the contingent of seven Porsches to drive to Brandywine, West Virginia located in the George Washington National Forest. The drive was extraordinary and there were quite a few very nice switchbacks both up and down the Shenandoah Mountains. It was a memorable drive and all were excited to have made this drive. When we got back to the Pavilion, we chatted about the event, the spectacular Sunday drive and the fun that we had at the 2017 Fall Fling. Some of the folks stayed in the Harrisonburg area for lunch and others started the drive back home. It was a great weekend and the weather was spectacular. |
The 2017 Fall Fling Concours in Harrisonburg
Carey Lindsay's "People's Choice" 356 Cab
Jim Forkovitch's Sienna Red 930 
Inside MAAP
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15 Years: Eric "Rick" Arllen 5 Years: Neal Culiner |
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Primary Members–266 Five New members:
Member transferred out of the Region:
One member transferred into the Region:
Please verify and update your postal and email addresses so that we can stay in touch with you. Here are instructions on how to change your PCA member records or renew your PCA membership. |
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Shenandoah Region hosted a wonderful driving tour on Sunday, October 22. We met at and the tour originated from the Mountainside Grille in Crozet. After some fresh brewed coffee and socializing, Hank Weil conducted the driver's meeting and we headed to our cars. There were fifteen Shenandoah members' cars in our tour; Hank lead the tour and I was the "sweeper." To see the photo gallery from this event, click here. Thanks to Mark Doherty for coordinating the arrangement, planning the drive, driving it repeatedly, and preparing the route guidance. Sorry that he missed the event, but I'm sure he was enjoying a totally different driving experience in South Africa with his wife, Marquita. We were blessed with beautiful fall weather \mdash;clear skies and pleasant temperatures. It actually turned into an "Indian Summer" day as the temps warmed into the 70s by noon. There was a "wee" bit of color in the foliage, but I would have liked to have seen more. The dry weather we had experienced in September and early October had moved this year's peak color time to the second week of November.
Our destination was
the Blue Toad Cidery
at High View Farm in Roseland, VA; and the event at the cidery was
hosted by Greg Shaffer, an SRPCA member and owner of
Mid Atlantic
Motorwerkes in Harrisonburg. Roseland is located just down the
mountain from Wintergreen Resort. Our driving tour took us on some
fantastic country roads through southern Albermarle County and into the
heart of Nelson County. Some of you who are Virginia natives may
recall the devastation that Nelson County experienced in August 1969
when the remains of Hurricane Camille dumped several feet of rain on
the county in a 12-hour period.
When we arrived at the cidery, we had time to explore the facility and tasting room before our BBQ lunch. There was a second tour group that left from Harrisonburg and drove to the cidery; they arrived about 45 minutes after we arrived. The second tour group had about ten cars, which brought our total to 25 sports vehicles. There were some very nice door prizes offered by the cidery to the tour participants. We were each given a prize ticket when we arrived; we then perused the prize offerings and dropped our tickets in a bucket in front of the prize we wanted to win. Full disclosure: I was a "loser"! After socializing, and a few hearty laughs, lunch was served. We were treated to a catered BBQ buffet that featured several types of BBQ, fresh rolls, coleslaw, baked bea,ns and fresh cookies for desert. I did not leave hungry! It was a beautiful day, with beautiful cars and wonderful people. Another very successful Shenandoah Region event!! |
Blue Toad Cidery
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Our final autocross of the 2017 season took place on a fine sunny Saturday, September 9. Rick Ebinger designed a nicely flowing course with wide sweeping turns, more like VIR than an autocross confined to a parking lot, that let Rick make good use of the new wing and fresh Hoosier slicks on his 914. The days results have been posted, ordered by time or by class. To view the photo gallery showing all of the participating cars, click here. Perennially quick Jonathan Newhall's 46.221 seconds was good for FTD this time, not just FPD (Fastest Porsche of the Day). Ray Shumin (2000 Honda S2000) came in second at 46.514, just 11 milliseconds ahead of Engelbert Muelhaupt's 1971 911T. Also in the 46-second club were Rick Ebinger (46.639) and Chris Cann (46.660). Despite a short delay caused by a rare rear-engine BMW, the competive portion of the autocross was complete by 3 PM, leaving time for many fun runs by those who hated to see the end of our 2017 autocross series. The 2018 season will start in April, and all are welcome to participate—novices and experienced drivers in Porsches and "other" cars. |
Rick's new wing. Eat your heart out, Richard Petty!
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Primary Members–264 Two members transferred into the Region:
Please verify and update your postal and email addresses so that we can stay in touch with you. Here are instructions on how to change your PCA member records or renew your PCA membership. |
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Click here to see a gallery of photos from this event. It has been 22 years since the Shenandoah Region of the Porsche Club of America (SRPCA) was founded on August 17, 1995. SRPCA was founded by Porsche enthusiasts in central Virginia who found it difficult to attend Porsche Club events owing to the distances to adjacent PCA Regions. The founding officers were Cole Scrogham (President), Terry Felts (Vice President), Dave Lasch (Secretary), and Steven Lord (Treasurer). In late 1995, SRPCA had approximately 20 members and in August 1996 celebrated its first anniversary with a party and a birthday cake. After that, enthusiasm and events took off. The first annual Holiday Party at the Boar's Head Inn in Charlottesville was so successful that the 1996 Holiday Party was booked before the 1995 Party was over. By the end of 1995, membership had more than doubled from 22 to 43 members. Fast forward to 2017; our Region has grown to approximately 260 primary members and 160 affiliate members. The Anniversary Party became a tradition, held at different venues each year. The 2017 Anniversary Party (aka Summer Picnic) was held at the Keswick Winery. However, given SRPCA has grown in both members and events, continuing this event as the Anniversary Party became a bit overwhelming. Therefore, the current Executive Committee decided to hold the Anniversary Party only every 5 years and replace it in the other years with a Summer Picnic, which is why this year's event at the Keswick Winery was a Summer Picnic. A delicious lunch catered by Basil Mediterranean Bistro was accompanied with wine for sale from the Keswick Winery. The owner of the Basil Mediterranean Bistro, Raif Antar, graciously donated the food as he has done for many events; the $10 lunch charge was set aside for the Club's 2017 charity fund. Charitable giving is now a major focus of SRPCA. In 2016, SRPCA changed from a taxable corporation to a non-profit tax status and has been approved by the IRS to operate as a 501(c)(4) exempt organization. SRPCA has chosen the Blue Ridge and Central Virginia Food Banks to be the 2017 charities. Attendance at this year's Summer Picnic (88 primary members, affiliates and friends) put almost $900 into the 2017 charity fund. The 2017 Summer Picnic concluded with the presentation of several awards to individuals for their service and contributions to SRPCA over the years. First recipient was Raif Antar, the owner of Basil Mediterranean, for his generosity of catering many of the Clubs activities both this year and in past years. The second recipient was Ben Briggs, a principal owner of PrintSource, for providing printing services for SRPCA's RPM event, as well as other printing requirements over the years. The third recipient was Bill Sanders, a Past President, who has given his time to grow SRPCA and to prepare SRPCA's annual tax returns. Bill and his wife, Jill, will be moving to Hawaii in the Fall and they will be missed. Behind the scenes many volunteers ensured a successful event. For those members residing in the eastern portion of the Region, Randy Bell organized a "fun run" from the Manakin Sabot area to the Keswick Winery. Parking at the winery was handled by Jason Wavell and Shannon Kennedy to ensure that the members Porsches were properly parked. No door dings were allowed. Registration was aptly handled by Marquita Doherty and Jolly Weil. Mark Doherty assisted in setting up the picnic area. A great big THANK YOU goes to Katrina Stumpf for her work in finding the venue and working with the winery staff to ensure that the picnic was a success. Wrapping up the picnic, Cole Scrogham (remember him? Founder and first President and still enjoying SRPCA after 22 years) provided a sneak preview of the 2017 Fall Fling that he and Alex Smith are planning for later this year. He also mentioned that the 2017 Picnic was a great Porsche social event. His enthusiasm was reaffirmed by many of the 88 participants who said that they thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Thanks again to all who attended and assisted in the administration of this event. Remember, "It's not just the cars, it's the people." This was a great event and "Thank-you" to all who attended!!! |
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20 Years: Stephen Blackburn 15 Years: Ben Briggs 5 Years: Chris Miele, Iain Fraser |
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Primary Members–262 No new members amd no transfers into the Region. One transfer out of Region:
Please verify and update your postal and email addresses so that we can stay in touch with you. Here are instructions on how to change your PCA member records or renew your PCA membership. |
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Our third autocross was held at the Augusta Government Center in Verona on July 16. Now that we cannot use the "keyhole" part of the parking lot, the times are quicker, ranging from 42 to 52 seconds. Christopher Cann had the FTD, 42.268 seconds, in a 2004 Corvette with a large wing to hold the rear end down. The fastest Porsche of the day was Jonathan Newhall's 1973 914 at 42.868 seconds, and Randy Copeland rounded out the podium with a 42.953 second run in his 2017 911 Turbo S. The "sleeper of the day" was the antique 1986 Volvo 245 station wagon driven by Amanda Bauske, whose 45.374 second result humbled a number of Porsches, Corvettes, BMWs, Mustangs, etc. Click to see the day's times ordered by time or by class. To view the photo gallery showing all participating cars, click here. Note the two "smokers" finishing off the last of their worn-out tires: the 1974 914 abused by Rick Ebinger and the 1988 Mustang flogged by Dylan Fitzgerald and Bryan Smith. This time Rick started the course with a sharp left turn to prevent a long drag race at the start. There were two slaloms and two tight Chicago boxes, but otherwise the course was fast, with a long straight along the left side of the parking lot plus some sweeping turns. The day was sunny, the track was dry, and the temperature was warm but mercifully not as hot as it might have been in mid-July. Autocross #4 at Verona is scheduled for Sunday, August 13. |
Jonathan Newhall, FPD
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New Member Social Shenandoah Region's leadership team hosted a New Member Social on Saturday morning, July 8 at Euroclassics Porsche in Midlothian, VA. This social was not publicized on the Region's website, but individual invitations were sent to all our new members who had joined PCA in the last 24 months. The management and staff of Euroclassics were very gracious hosts for this event. They had the showroom full of new Porsche models for us to climb into and admire, and they had a big screen HDTV which was televising live the qualifying sessions for the F1 Grand Prix of Austria. The Region provided the food and drinks; the food came from Wegman's Catering and was excellent! The only negative of the day was attendance from our invited new members. We invited 48 new members that had joined Shenandoah Region, and PCA, during the last two years. We had one new member attend this event. As a bit of background, Shenandoah Region is trying to strengthen our relationship with Euroclassics Porsche and we thought this social would be a nice gesture towards that goal. We did not expect a large turnout because we realize Euroclassics is located in the far eastern section of our region; we had expected more that one new member to attend. I have been in PCA since 1986 and have been a member of seven different regions. One common trait that all regions experience is very low participation from new members. PCA leadership constantly struggles with the age old question — why? Why don't we see more new members at our events? I have some ideas, because I can remember back to when I was a new member. We would like to hear from our new members. Tell us what you like and what you don't like. Tell us what we can do to attract you to some Shenandoah events. My email is russell911@comcast.net. Seriously, I would like to hear from you. In the meantime, there will be another New Member Social at Flow Porsche in Charlottesville on Saturday, August 19. Invitations to our new members will be going out soon, so watch your email. Hopefully, we will see you there! |
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Shenandoah Region held one of its very popular Porsches & Pastrami social events on Sunday, June 11 at Dürty Nelly's Pub in Charlottesville. We were again the guests of Gary Hagar; Gary is both a SRPCA member and the co-owner of Dürty Nelly's. Gary drives a beautiful 968 coupe; most 968s are cabs, so Gary's coupe is somewhat unique. These Porsches & Pastrami social events are periodically held on Sundays throughout the year. Gary has been hosting them at Dürty Nelly's for at least the last five years. I for one really enjoy these low-key social events where I can enjoy a great deli sandwich, salad, or homemade soup and socialize. I find this is a great time to meet new members and socialize with old friends. Folks began to gather at the deli around noon. Gary already had his staff working in the kitchen, so the sumptuous "deli delights" were already being served when I arrived. My step-son Tim Mabes had joined me for this event; Tim lives in Alexandria and has a beautiful dark green 2010 Boxster. SRPCA members came and went for the next couple of hours. All total, we probably had 20–25 members stop in for a bite to eat and to socialize. It was a warm late spring day, so we did not have to many members sitting outside on the patio. I found myself engaged in "Porsche-talk" at a table with Dan Graff, Bates McLain, Iain Fraser, Tim Mabes and a couple others. Our conversations covered a myriad of automotive topics. One of the big topics of discussion was the recently held RPM event. The consensus was it was another successful multi-day event with kudos going out the Sherry Westfall for making it such a success. Around 2 pm, I bid my farewells and departed for home. I love these socials at Dürty Nelly's; I just kick back and relax. Hope to see some more friendly faces next time! Check the Region calendar for specific dates. |
Gary Hagar and his 968 coupe outside Dürty Nelly's
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20 Years: Thomas Bridgers, Jr 15 Years: Mark Doherty 10 Years: Scott Parks 5 Years: Edward Flanagan, III |
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Primary Members–265 No new members, no transfers into the Region, and no transfers out. Please verify and update your postal and email addresses so that we can stay in touch with you. Here are instructions on how to change your PCA member records or renew your PCA membership. |
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RPM 2017 Here are the results from the June 4 RPM autocross at the Richmond International Raceway (RIR) bus lot, by time and by class. Click here to see Engelbert Muelhaupt's photos of the RPM autocross. |
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10 Years: Michael Painter, James Grichar 5 Years: Eric Parlet |
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Primary Members–266 Four new members:
Please verify and update your postal and email addresses so that we can stay in touch with you. Here are instructions on how to change your PCA member records or renew your PCA membership. |
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This event, organized by RPM Chair Sherry Westfall, began with members meeting at Zion Crossroads for a short but scenic morning tour up to Gordonsville and then back down to Keswick, where Roger and Gail Borsink live. Roger opened his Porsche garage to us, where we could see his immaculate cars — a classic 993, a 996 turbo S with the X50 power package, and a shiny almost-new (just finished its 2000 mile breakin) 991 GT3 — in their pristine environment. His garage has all the conveniences needed for detailing and minor mechanical work, and the walls are decorated with car photos, advertisements, and illuminated signs sporting manufacturers' logos. Click here to see the day's photo gallery. The official justification for this event (as if any were needed) is the 2017 RPM concours judging clinic, led by long-time Head Judge Dave Lasch. Dave explained that the RPM concours is "tops only," meaning that judges do not look underneath the cars to see if the mufflers are rusty. However, the judges may ask owners to open compartments for inspection (e.g., trunk lid, gas cap cover, glove compartment,...). The areas being judged are listed in the five RPM concours judging sheets, which you can find by clicking here. Dave calls the RPM concours "family friendly" to distinguish it from much stricter concours like Amelia Island or Pebble Beach. The main judging criteria are cleanliness, condition, and care; period correctness is not required. At RPM, all cars in a given class (e.g., air-cooled 911 or Boxster/Cayman) will be judged by the same judging team (four judges doing the actual inspections, plus a team leader). The judging team gets to spend only five minutes looking at each car, so the individual judges can't judge everything. They should pick a few items to inspect on all of their judged cars in order to treat them as consistently as possible. If you would like to volunteer to be a Concours Judge, just email Dave at dlasch00@hotmail.com. After the clinic, Roger gave a guided tour of his Porsche garage and three Porsches to a very interested audience, and he fielded a number of enthusiastic questions. Finally, all good PCA events end with food. In this case, a great outdoor buffet lunch provided for free by member Raif Antar. If you liked what you ate, or wonder what you missed, visit his Basil Mediterranean Bistro in Charlottesville. |
Jason Wavell's 911SC in front of the Borsink's home
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The 4th annual Crozet Car Show was held at Claudius Crozet Park on Saturday, May 20th. All the proceeds from the entry fees went to benefit the Crozet Park. We were blessed with great weather for the event. Shenandoah Region was well represented at this event. As a matter of fact, all entries into the "Foreign" class were Shenandoah members' Porsches! Some of the Shenandoah members in attendance were Hank Weil, Mark Doherty, Rick Ebinger, Bruce Russell, Jeff Elmore, Iain Frazer, Eric Huggins, Johnny Johnson, Jeff & Linda Sivers, Steve Upman, Tim Messer, Jason Wavell, and Peter Chapin. Not all the members attending displayed their cars, but we did have nine beautiful Porsches that were on display. The show had eight classes of cars. The "judging" was done by the show entrants. Each entrant received a ballot and could cast a vote for one car in each class. Seven of the classes covered American muscle cars, antiques, and motorcycles. There was one "Foreign" class. Once all the ballots were collected and tallied, the winners were announced and "piston" trophies were presented to each class winner. The "Foreign" class was won by our president, Hank Weil! Hank brought his beautiful 1985 911 "Turbo Look" Carrera: it's a beauty! A good time was had by all attendees. Click here to see Bruce's photos from the event. |
Hank Weil and his 1985 Widebody Carrera
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The Shenandoah Region PCA ran its first official autocross of the 2017 in the main parking lot at the Augusta Government Center in Verona. Randy Copeland set the FTD at 42.531 seconds in his 2017 Turbo S, just one millisecond faster than Alex Burkhart in his 2004 Subaru STi! Perennial threat Engelbert Muelhaupt was third at 43.464, and John Kessler was fourth in a new 2016 BMW M4 GTS. Click to read the results for all 40 drivers listed by time or by class. To see the photo gallery that goes along with this report, click here. Engelbert also contributed a large gallery of photos; to see them, click here. The course started out with a long drag race across the lot, which Randy demolished—the new Turbo S gets to 60 mph in only 2.5 seconds. On the other hand, the parking lot started out wet, and several drivers got a little sideways on the long diagonal straight, either by hitting the throttle too hard at the beginning or by braking too late at the end. The sun finally came out and dried off the pavement for the second heat. Our Autocross #2 will be held in a parking lot at the Richmond International Raceway on the morning of Sunday, June 4, as part of the Richmond Porsche Meet (RPM). |
Eric Huggins being buzzed by an aerocone
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25 Years: Peter Chapin 20 Years: Roger Borsink 10 Years: John Harter, Eric Huggins 5 Years: Martin Burks |
Tip Top Breakfast:
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Shenandoah Region's annual autocross school was held on April 8 at the large parking lot of the Augusta Government Center in Verona. To see the photo gallery that goes along with this report, click here. Professor Rick Ebinger gave the autocross lecture and led the course walk to point out features of the course and techniques for getting around it as efficiently as possible. Meanwhile, volunteers including Mike Kilmer, Erik Boody, and Ray Schumin used chalk to mark the locations of cones, both upright cones defining the course and horizontal cones pointing to the on-course side of the matching upright cones. For the first time and for the indefinite future, the "keyhole" region has been deemed "off limits" because it brings cars to close to hard abstacles such as concrete walls and parked vehicles. Rick likes to set out lots of cones in patterns like the traditional Chicago Box to make drivers think about which cones actually matter and which are only distractions. This time he created a unique new cone pattern shaped like a flying flock of geese. Next the drivers were divided into two groups, one starting with a braking and turning exercise, and the other to drive through a slalom. Later the two groups switched so everbody did both exercises. Finally, everyone drove the full autocross course that included both exercises and more. Shenandoah Region PCA autocrosses draw a variety of cars besides Porsches, and this event was no exception. The photos show representation by BMW, Chevrolet, Ford, Jaguar, Mazda, Mini Cooper, and even Radical (in Ferrari colors). Jonathan Newhall's Jaguar now sports a 505 cubic inch Chevy that produces 700+ horsepower, enough to keep Jonathan busy driving even on fresh R-compound tires. The first "real" autocross of the 2017 will be on May 13; click here to learn more and to register. |
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Primary Members–264 Five new members:
Please verify and update your postal and email addresses so that we can stay in touch with you. Here are instructions on how to change your PCA member records or renew your PCA membership. |
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Back for its tenth year, Wordplay 2017, benefiting Literacy Volunteers of Charolttesville/ Albermarle (LVCA), delivered an exciting and enjoyable time for all attending, and raised $35,476! Held at the Paramount Theatre on the 27th of April, some in the audience described the event as "Jeopardy" on steroids. Wordplay is a team-based competition for people who love words, vocabulary, pop culture, history, literature, and raising money for a worthy charitable cause. Ably represented by Jeff Elmore, Mark Francis, and the veteran team member Deane Parker, our team held their own against the many other teams and did the Club proud by their performance! Thanks too to Sherry for her role in organizing the Club presence, and to Bruce Russell and Kim Butcher for serving as Team alternates. Congratulations and thanks to our team! For more information about the many services offered by the LVCA to community members, including opportunities to make a difference by volunteering as a literacy Tutor, please visit www.literacyforall.org. |
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Primary Members–258 Two new members, two transfers into the region, and one transfer out:
Please verify and update your postal and email addresses so that we can stay in touch with you. Here are instructions on how to change your PCA member records or renew your PCA membership. |
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The winter has not been terribly bad this year and we were teased in February and March with unseasonably warm weather. When the weather turned cold in early March and we had a late snow storm, there was some trepidation about scheduling Shenandoah's first drive in March. I'm sure a lot of us kept looking at weather forecasts to make a decision about participating in this early Spring drive. We lucked out and Saturday, March 25 turned out to be an extraordinary, warm and sunny Spring day. It certainly was great to get the Porsches out of their winter hibernation and take a beautiful, scenic ride through the Civil War battlefields to Shirley Plantation. Click here to see the photo gallery for this event. Our tour leader, Katrina Stumpf, provided the participants with wonderful descriptions of the Civil War battles on the drive. The battles included the Cold Harbor and Gaines Mill, a two-week engagement that left more than 18,000 soldiers killed, captured or wounded. It was General Robert E. Lee's last large-scale field victory. Next on the tour were the Glendale and Malvern Hill battlefields. Glendale was the 5th of the Seven Days' Battles on June 30, 1862 that resulted in the Union's retreat. The outcome was inconclusive although there were 7,400 casualties. The lessons learned from these battles raised both the military and political stakes of war in profound ways. The brisk drive from Mechanicsville to the Upper Shirley Winery was 28 1/2 miles of beautiful scenic Virginia countryside. There were some great twists and turns and the group of 12 Porsches had a blast navigating these country roads. Once at the winery, we crept slowly up the gravel drive to avoid rock chips and were directed to park on the side lawn of the winery overlooking the James River. What a great view!!! We were led to our own reserved, private seating area on the back porch overlooking the scenic James River. We no sooner shook off the drive and sat down when the food started to make its way to our tables. What a great selection of food that included burger sliders, crab cakes, cheese plates, veggies, chips and dips, fried pork rinds and probably one of the greatest chocolate chip cookies I have ever had, and I have had a bunch over the years. The wine tasting was first rate and we had the honor of the owners, Tayloe and Suzy Dameron, of the Upper Shirley Winery overseeing the tasting. Tayloe is also a Porschephile who has owned three 911s. He provided specific details on each of the wines we were tasting. It was a great opportunity to learn about the varieties of their wine offerings. Wine could be purchased by the glass once the tasting was completed. Some folks left soon after the tasting, but others hung around to enjoy the wine, the surroundings and to catch up on all things Porsche. A great time was had by all particularly for those who had the opportunity to drive a great country road with the top down. |
The Upper Shirley Winery on the James River
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For most area track junkies, the Zone 2 DE (Drivers Eduction) event at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) is their first speed fix after a long slow winter. This year's Zone 2 DE took place on the last weekend of winter, from Friday, March 17 through Sunday, March 19. To see the photo gallery that goes along with this report, click here. Weather is always a factor in March. This year featured a sunny but exceptionally cold Friday morning, starting out at 25 degrees. Cold engines develop more power because the air is denser, and cold tires are harder and less sticky. Combined with drivers who haven't been practicing for months, these factors make for some exciting driving—sometimes too exciting. Several experienced drivers in the Red and Black run groups started driving hard before their tires warmed up and made off-track excursions, a few ending at tire walls. The rest of the weekend was calmer. Sherry Westfall was the Volunteer Coordinator for this DE, and she spent most of her time with volunteers at the gate between the paddock and the cold pits, doing "grid tech" inspections of cars and drivers entering the track. They made sure that drivers had the right wristbands, their helmet chinstraps were fastened, their Hans tethers were attached, there was no loose "junk" in the car, etc. As the husband of the Volunteer Coordinator, my "honey do" list included working on the tech inpection line each morning and making sure that minors riding in the charity laps had the proper waivers and wristbands. We had plenty of time to work because we couldn't drive while our Cayman S is still "in the shop" recovering from a defective valve. Shenandoah Region drivers included Past (Passed?) President Clint Shuler in the White run group (the first to go out each morning) and Hamish Brookeman in the Red (instructors) group. In the Black group were John Kessler (track 911), Randy Copeland in his powerful 2017 Turbo S, and Bill Speidell driving another quick car, a Cayman GT4. In the Blue run group were Robert Brown (2008 Cayman S) and Don Coleman (a stealth 996 Carrera recently rebuilt with a GT3 drivetrain hidden inside). Some friends from nearby regions were Jacob Kay (First Settlers Region) in the "DOG SLOW" 2008 Cayman S shared with a fast woman, his wife Jenny. Kurt Mittmann of FSR drove a 1999 BMW M3, and Damien Walsh showed up in his 1997 Boxster. The PCA National DE Chair Alex Bell brought his new GT4, Bob Mulligan (one of the chief instructors) drove a new-to-him GT3, and Dan Dazzo (another chief instructor) got his 2011 Cayman S back on the track. Finally, no Zone 2 DE would be complete without the father/son team of Steve and Spencer Williams from the Blue Ridge Region. Adding variety to the "regular" Porsches were a Crawford DP car, a NASCAR Chevrolet, and the number 412 Porsche 930 with paint that changed color from voilet to blue, green, or gold depending an the angle of the sunlight (see the bottom row of pictures in the photo gallery). |
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200 Yards of Porsches Bettie and I are just back from our annual trip to Amelia Island for the Concours (and auctions!) where the highlight this year was the first PCA Werks at Amelia. The Concours is well worth going to as it is essentially two fairways of 300+ cars of every type from 1900 to brand new on the Ritz Carlton golf course. Every year has a theme and an Honoree. This year Al Unser was featured and they had a display of 20 or so cars he had raced from Dirt Track to Indy 500 winners. They also celebrated the Cars of Brumos Racing and had a number of their historic race cars. I took some pictures but you get a better sense of the scope by going on-line and seeing all the professional photos. There are about 25,000 attendees but it does not feel as crowded as Pebble Beach as things are pretty well spread out.
Last, but not least, the PCA Werks which was held on a golf course right across the street from Gooding on Friday. I am told there were 600 cars registered and that sounds right as there were four rows that extended all the way down the fairway. Unfortunately our camera battery died so I could not take pictures but I suspect PCA will publish many (click here) as there were many talented looking cameramen in evidence. My sense was it was 90% 911s including a group from The Ingram Collection (which we need to get back and see!). There seemed to be very few "spectators" as most appeared to be attendees looking at (and talking about) one another's cars. If you are thinking about going (and it is something we high recommend for your bucket list), it is about 600 miles/10 hours from Midlothian an easy but boring drive down 95. Hotels (Ritz, Omni) are pricey and likely sold out. Not much more Hotel wise on the Island (or nearby) but there are a lot of Condos/Houses for rent which allow you to walk/shuttle to everything. We are fortunate to have relatives in Brunswick and friends in Jacksonville. Tickets for the Concours are $120 day of but $85 in advance. You should GO!! |
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Primary Members–261 Three new members and one transfer into the region:
Please verify and update your postal and email addresses so that we can stay in touch with you. Here are instructions on how to change your PCA member records or renew your PCA membership. |
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Primary Members–257 One new member and two transfers out of region:
Please verify and update your postal and email addresses so that we can stay in touch with you. Here are instructions on how to change your PCA member records or renew your PCA membership. |
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Check out the updated Goodie Store at shn.pca.org/goodie.php. We offer a variety of items beyond just clothing, and have added several new products! If you don't see something you would like to see offered, please contact me, Kim Butcher at kimmer926@outlook.com with comments and/or suggestions. |
Updated Goodie Store:
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Primary Members–261 Five new members, including:
Please verify and update your postal and email addresses so that we can stay in touch with you. Here are instructions on how to change your PCA member records or renew your PCA membership. |