Spring came in with a roar with many storms and much rain but we also enjoyed many beautiful sunny days filled with opportunities to enjoy our wheels.  With the fine leadership we have in place, there were many opportunities.

The Patrick Long Pro-Am Karting 4 Kids was a huge success and with national news coverage.  We had three pros fresh off the Sebring track who had won three different classes.  Patrick Long won the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in the GT Le Mans class.  The karting event grows bigger and better every year and is held at Andersen Race Park in Palmetto, and is always held the Sunday after the 12-hour endurance classic.  We have exceeded our commitment to All Children’s Hospital for which we are very thankful.  Congratulations to our charitable endeavors chair, David Bassett, who also chaired this event with his two co-chairs, Page Obenshain and David Herndon, and with a core committee.

The Collier Museum tour was another fine event led by our social director, Missy Teasley. This is an amazing venue and we were the first group to have a tour with the new Revs Institute for Automotive Research in conjunction with the Revs Program at Stanford University.  A few went down a day or two early to enjoy Naples and surrounding areas then many of us filled a nearby restaurant for an unplanned social following the tour.  Fun was had by all!

Porsches on Parade was another opportunity to gather together for some fun in conjunction with the Festivals of Speed.  This event is run under the leadership of Page Obenshain every year and is a very nice event with the car judges for the Wash & Shine including our kids and grandkids!  100% of the proceeds went to All Children’s Hospital.

We want to thank Reeves for hosting such a wonderful social and board meeting at their dealership. We appreciate their hospitality!!

When your Profile arrives in your home to the correct address each month, you can thank Larry Mendez!  Larry is our membership director this year and is doing an excellent job.  Although he is new to the board he has been a member for many years.  He originally joined in 1974 for a short period of time and rejoined in the late 1990’s as he was thinking of selling his car.  When Larry tells the story of the first event he attended was watching his wife, Janet, drive in the Driver’s Education program he couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t out on the track and decided to joined in.  His son, LD, joined in on the fun, too, and the rest is history.  You will see Larry at most DE’s and at many other events, too.  He’s the person to see if you need a nametag!

May was Rookie Month and our fun continues into June. The Rookie Rally was rescheduled to June 14 as storms moved through causing flooding on May 3rd.  There’s still time to sign up!  The route has some nice back roads and will end up with lunch, party and awards at Motorworks Brewery in Bradenton.  The storms did not delay AutoCross at the St. Petersburg College Allstate location and the event was sold out. The course was fun and challenging for us Rookies. Brian West, our Competition Chair, does a great job!

Our good news is also our bad news.  The good news is that it’s this time of year that we see our roads open up and we enjoy driving in our neighborhoods and highways as tourists, springbreakers and snowbirds head north.  The bad news is that we will miss our snowbird friends but look forward to seeing them next time.  Maybe we will see you in a corner in your town.  We’ll honk and wave!