Happy Holidays to the best PCA Region on the planet! Difficult to believe the year has zoomed by so quickly. Could it be because it has been a year chocked full of wonderful activities and events and among one of the best years ever? Wait – do we say that every year? Hmmm.
The 2014 Fall Smoky Mountain Tour was amazing. In its eleventh year and planned and executed every year by Carl and Diane Bohall, there were 29 cars and 56 Porsche lovers participating. We started off at Brasstown Valley Resort followed by a celebratory dinner complete with a mountain view and magical sunset. Days of twisty fun driving, exquisite dining, fine spirits and like all Suncoast Porsche Club events – the most wonderful people participating.
Grant and Eunice Painter put together another fine Porsches and Pints at the Dunedin Brewery for the annual Octobeerfest. Live music, prizes, beautiful Porsches on display, fabulous craft beer, and PCA peeps. All of the money raised at the event went to All Children’s Hospital.
Our board of directors are all wonderful. This especially includes Missy Teasley, our 2014 Social Director. When one of our wonderful dealers, Bert Smith, needed to reschedule our member social because of construction, Missy quickly found a new-to-us restaurant for a Date Your Porsche Night at Bubba Gump’s Shrimp Company in Madeira Beach. We took over the rooftop area and proceeded to have a fabulous time while we watched the sun set over the Gulf of Mexico, played Porsche trivia, and gave out lots of door prizes.
The 2nd Annual Porsches and Putters golf tournament was a fun and exciting event. If you’re a golfer and didn’t participate, you missed out on a fun day. Sharron Shields led this event with considerable support from Bob and Gwen Neale and they outdid themselves. All three of our fabulous dealers provided support and door prizes. The weather was chilly (which I think makes a great day to golf) and was challenging because of the wind gusts. The event was raising money “fore” Ronald McDonald House.
Everybody knows Carlos DeBonis, but unless you’re involved in DE, what he has done for our club during his many years on the board may be one of our best kept secrets. As a DE Tech, Carlos works diligently to make sure that only cars in good running condition are allowed on the track. He also serves on our 48 Hours Committee performing similar duties for the Club Racing drivers and teams as well as our Advanced Solo drivers. And he usually does it with a smile and will usually give you his one-of-a-kind chuckle. Still wondering what he’s thinking! Thank you, Carlos, for your many years of service!
I have saved one of our best for last. Alicia Nordquist has edited and published the Porsche Profile for several years, month after month after month. Best of all is that she has accomplished both tasks beautifully and wonderfully and without fail. I want to thank Alicia for all of her fine work on our publication and let her know that we think our magazine is a 1st Place Winner with us! If you think the same thing – drop her an email and let her know just how much you appreciate all of her hard work.
Don’t miss our upcoming 2015 Holiday Gala being held at The Museum of Fine Arts in downtown St. Petersburg. The museum overlooks Tampa Bay and Vinoy Park and we have front row seats for the holiday light display and the lighted boat parade. We start off with a cocktail party with butlered hors dourves followed by dinner, awards and dancing. It’s our one event of the year where we get together, reminisce about the year and tell tall tales about our adventures with the club and honor those who have worked diligently to bring us all of these fine events. Don’t miss it!
I am wishing for you, our valued member, a peaceful and joyous holiday. Thank you for being a part of this wonderful club and know that you are a part of “it’s the people!” See you in the New Year.