According to PCA National President, Prescott Kelly, “the Charlotte Parade will probably be the largest Parade PCA has ever had.” It will be a six-day event combining competitive events (autocross, concours, rally and tech quiz) with numerous social events. Charlotte, North Carolina is just about as far away as you can get from San Diego and still be in the USA. I’m sure some of our Region members will be attending this year’s Parade, but for others who think Charlotte is too far away, there is the “other” big event, the PCA Escape. PCA’s Roadrunner Region is hosting Escape 2008: Journey to the Land of Enchantment, in Albuquerque, New Mexico on September 18-21. Escape was conceived in 2005 to ease the tension for those of us who live on the opposite coast from Parade – and for this year . . . that’s us! There are no competitive components to this event, just the fun of driving, participating in social activities, and enjoying the local scenery including Santa Fe, the Jemez Mountains, Taos and many more stunning locations. For more information, visit the website at www.escape.pca.org.

Are you looking for a way to become more active in the Club but aren’t sure of the dates for our various events? You can get all the event information you need by viewing the Calendar page on the website. Or, PCA-SDR also has an email service that provides members with reminders for all the upcoming events. To be included on the distribution list for email notification of upcoming SDR events, simply send an email to emaster@pcasdr.org and request that you be added to the list.

The July 4th BBQ and pool party is rapidly approaching. Come and join the Club in celebrating our nation’s Independence Day. Enjoy a menu of hamburgers, hot dogs, salads, chips and dip while relaxing around the beautiful pool at the Avitt’s house. The cost is $15 for adults and $5 for kids under 12. Angela is asking that payment be made no later than June 24 so she can plan accordingly. All the information can be found by clicking on the 4th July link on our Region’s website calendar.

If you are competing in the Zone 8 autocross series, you’re in luck. SDR is presenting a Zone 8 autocross on July 27 right in our own back yard at the Qualcomm Stadium West lot. There are 12 Zone 8 autocrosses scheduled for this year. So if you want to remain in contention for a trophy, come on down and join us at the July 27 autocross. You can sign up by going to the Region website, clicking on Forms on the left hand menu, then Prepayment Registration. Remember, if you submit your entry by the Tuesday before the event, you only pay $40. After that, the cost goes up to $60.

As usual, we finish the month with our Last Tuesday Social. In July we are gathering at the Jolly Boy Saloon & Restaurant near Old Town. The Last Tuesday Socials are a fun and relaxed way to meet and talk with other Club members. It’s a great way to break up the week and finish the month.

I’m sure most of you have heard that Larry Clark, our former Witness Editor, passed away on Sunday May 25. Larry had been in declining health due to pulmonary fibrosis for the past four years. It finally took its toll and his lungs could no longer function. He died at home, peacefully and quickly, under hospice care. His body will be donated to UCSD Medical Center. His wife, Mary, is asking that any donations for Larry be made in his name to the Penn State Blue Band. The Penn State Blue Band is recognized as one of the nation's finest college marching bands. The Blue Band has performed at every major bowl game in the U.S., including the Rose Bowl and the Tournament of Roses Parade. Larry attended Penn State and played trumpet in this band. It was one of the most wonderful experiences of his life and he supported the band throughout his life. Larry, you will be greatly missed!

Donations may be sent to:
Penn State University Blue Band
College of Arts and Architecture
Development Office
215 Wagner Bldg.
University Park, PA 16802

I look forward to seeing you at SDR events!
Martha

The Club’s first Meet and Greet, held at Pioneer Centres, was a huge success. This was a combined membership drive and social event. Pioneer provided a wonderful assortment of food and beverages and unveiled the RS60 Boxster S and the Cayenne GTS. PCASDR had representatives from their various activities on hand to disperse Club information and talk to newcomers. Several new members were signed up. Thank you to Mark Smith at Pioneer and Sheila Steverson and Katina Gonzalez for all their work that made this a memorable and exciting event.

It’s been a while since SDR has had a rally. If you enjoy rallies or if you like driving the back country roads of San Diego, you’ll enjoy the June 7 Rally. Tom Gould prepared a rally that will use most of the roads used on the 2007 Parade rally, but written to Zone 8 rules, so persons who ran the Parade rally will have no advantage. This rally is beginner friendly! A Tour class is available for those who want to try rallying with easier course-following instructions. Registration opens at 8:30 a.m. with a beginners meeting at 9:00 a.m. The route is about 120 miles and 4+ hours. The start is at Wal-Mart (east end of parking lot) 3382 Murphy Canyon Rd, San Diego, 92123 (exit I-15 at Aero Drive, go west to Murphy Canyon, south to Wal-Mart). Zone 8 rally rules can be found at zone8.pca.org. under Competition Rules. The cost is $20 if you register by June 3, or $25 on the day of the event. Make checks payable to PCA-SDR and mail to Tom Gould P.O. Box 2305 Manhattan Beach, CA 90267. Questions? Send an e-mail to TCG3@aol.com or call 310-261-7535.

Another delightful upcoming event is the Fallbrook Hot Summer Nights on Friday, June 13th. Hot Summer Nights is an old fashioned community event in the downtown Village area of Fallbrook. This event will feature sports cars and exotics.  Trophies for best Sports Car and Best Club effort will be presented. SDR has been a winner in this event for the past several years. Shops will be open and there will be live music by Aunt Kizzies Boys. SDR will be securing a dinner venue where we can all meet and eat afterwards. Expect to have a good time at this event.
 
The PCASDR Goodie Store is now online. Now you don’t have to wait for an event to visit SDR’s Goodie Store. It’s available online 24 hours a day. To visit the store, go to the Club’s website at www.pcasdr.org, click the box marked “The Store” then choose “Online Goodie Store” from the list on the left. You will find a vast array of items just waiting to be snapped up, including a wide assortment of clothing with the PCASDR logo, plus items of special interest to Porsche aficionados. Your selections will be delivered to your door or sent directly to a friend or loved one. All sales help to support your Club.

SDR has committed to support the San Diego Blood bank which helps many people in our area. Call 619-296-6393 to make an appointment to donate. When you go in, ask to give to the Porsche Club of America account (group code is PCOA). For further information, visit www.sandiegobloodbank.org or call Tom Golich at 858-755-4986. This is an important cause so let’s make a difference!

Jan Mellinger has put together something a little different for the next tour. The “Porsches for Vets” tour is scheduled for June 21. We will be meeting at the Naval Hospital in Balboa to pick up an active duty service member injured in Iraq. The tour will travel through the Southeast county area and end at a private park in Chula Vista. Contact tours@pcasdr.org for additional information. The Last Tuesday Social on June 24 rounds out the month. The destination is the Gordon Biersch Brewery in Mission Valley. Additional information can be found on the PCASDR website.

And oh, by the way Ms. Editor, in the picture of Streets of Willow in the April issue, Damon is not being followed by Aunt Martha. . . he is trying to catch up to his Aunt Martha! J

I look forward to seeing you at SDR events!
Martha

The first order of business is for me to try to atone for a grievous oversight I made in my last article. As I reread the article, I realized I had not thanked three of the hardest working ladies who made the 50th Installation Banquet the huge success that it was. Kathy Alnwick, Katina Gonzalez and Tami Ibbetson put in countless hours to organize that event. They coordinated the program and the charity drive. The program was a huge effort as we tried to document the 50 years of this Club. So ladies, please accept my apology for the oversight, and my heartfelt thanks for a job well done.

I thought it would be interesting to understand what PCA actually is. The Porsche Club of America is the largest non-factory-supported single marque sports car club in the world – in the world!!. Its membership is generally composed of Porsche owners who live throughout the United States. They are organized into local operating units known as “Regions.” The Region is the center of Club activity for the individual members. Thirteen geographic areas, termed “Zones,” have been established. Each Region is assigned to the Zone in which its boundaries are encompassed. The Zones ensure continuity among the Regions and provide liaison between the Regions and the National organization. San Diego Region is in Zone 8 of this National architecture and Michael Dolphin is our Zone 8 representative.

Membership in PCA offers a variety of benefits for the Porsche owner. It provides a forum where ideas and interests can be shared and it enables the member to attain greater understanding and enjoyment from the car. It also provides tangible benefits such as receiving the Porsche Panorama which is the official monthly newsletter of the PCA and enjoying the Porsche Parade which is the annual convention of the Porsche Clubs of America.

Once again I would like to remind everyone that our newsletter staff very much needs your help. The biggest problem the editors have to deal with is the lack of articles. You can help them by taking the time to write and submit an article on any SDR event you attend. I attended the March tech session at JMC Motorsports and wrote an article about this event because I knew it would help the Witness staff. If you attend San Diego Region’s events, you will soon realize how much fun they are and that they are run by volunteers. One way to pay something back to the Region would be to volunteer to write a newsletter article about the event and share your experience with other members.

There are many events coming up in May. We’re back autocrossing on the west lot on the 10th. After that, we have something new and different. Laura Manz put together a social event for golfers at the Bernardo Heights Country Club. The attendance is limited so, if you’re interested in golf, sign up as soon as possible. You can find all the details on the website calendar. The Last Tuesday Social is at the Paradise Grille in Del Mar and the information for that gathering can also be found on the website.

It’s been a while since SDR has staged a rally event. If you are a rally enthusiast, you’re in luck. Tom Gould and Joe Boucher will be putting on a rally on June 7. For those of you who do not know what a rally consists of, there is a brief summary on the driving events rally page.

I look forward to seeing you at SDR events!

Martha

As you may have heard, Larry Clark will be resigning as Witness Editor due to his declining health and this is his last issue. During his tenure as editor, Larry incorporated several changes to the Witness and has received many compliments. After some training with Larry, Susan Brown and Margi Knight will take over as joint editors of this award-winning newsletter. Past editors have said that getting articles is the most difficult part of putting the newsletter together so you are invited to participate by contributing an article. If you’re at an SDR event, a Last Tuesday Social, a Tour, a performance driving event, a Concours, a Tech Session, please write an article about it and share your experience with other members.

Our National award-winning SDR website encompasses an amazing amount of information. You can find a calendar of events, event photos, administrative forms, competition rules, classified ads, and much more. Our website receives over 10,000 visitors every month with the most popular places on the site being the Homepage, Driving Events pages, and the Photos page. If you haven’t already done so, take a minute to check it out at www.pcasdr.org.

In March, Dieter’s Porsche and BMW Service hosted a Technical Inspection Training event to teach members how to perform tech inspections required at competitive driving events. The event was presented by Steve Grosekemper and sponsored by JMC Motorsports and Roberto Montoya, owner of Mexi-Cocina, who donated lunch for the event. We would like to thank the event sponsors for their continuing support.

Coming up on the weekend of April 4-6 is a spectacular event at the California Speedway at Fontana. This event, known as the Festival of Speed, is the largest gathering of Porsches on the West coast. This is your chance to see some amazing Porsches running at full speed. For more information, or to volunteer to help at the event, see the ad in the Witness.

San Diego Region’s Performance Driving School is set for April 18-20 and provides an opportunity to learn the limits of your Porsche in a safe environment under the guidance of experienced instructors. March 8 was the date for sending in your entry. This school fills up very quickly so if you are interested you’ll need to act quickly. Please see the ad in the Witness.

The Tours team announced a tour in April heading to Idyllwild which is in the mountains above Palm Springs. One of our tours chairs just resigned so if you think you might like to help with organizing tours and taking Porsches on back country roads, please contact the Tour chair listed in the Witness.

Our Social committee is looking for members who are interested in volunteering their homes to host a catered course for the Progressive Dinner. Please contact social@pcasdr.org if you can help. On April 12 there will be a meet and greet at Pioneer Porsche on Miramar Road. This event will provide an opportunity for SDR members to meet and enjoy refreshments while exploring what a local dealer has to offer and also to talk to SDR chairs about their respective activities that the Club has to offer. This is your chance to find out the difference between a rally, a tour, and a progressive dinner.

On the 20th is the MotorCars on MainStreet in Coronado. All entries will be judged on Best of Show, “Bad to the Bone”, and largest Club Participation. So let’s get out there and have a large PCA-SDR turnout.

I look forward to seeing you at SDR events!
Martha

Our Region’s 50th Anniversary Installation Banquet was a great success and is featured in depth in a Witness article. The evening was a fitting conclusion to a great year. I want to thank the following: Margi Knight for her work as the 2007 Board advisor, the 2007 Board and Chairs for all their efforts throughout the year, the incoming 2008 Board and Chairs for their dedication to the Club, all of our sponsors, all those who donated to our charity auction, all who contributed and helped make this evening such a success, and Ted Myrus for leading the Club through 2007 and its various 50th anniversary celebrations!

At the 50th banquet, Mark Smith, General Manager of Pioneer Centres, announced that Pioneer Centres would collaborate with our 2008 charity drive, benefiting Monarch School for homeless and at-risk children (http://www.monarchschools.org/), by offering two seats at the Porsche Sport Driving School in Alabama. Raffle tickets will be sold for $20 each at SDR events throughout 2008 and are also available at Pioneer Centres. The raffle drawing will occur at the January 2009 Installation Banquet.

I would like to remind you to introduce yourselves to advertisers in our newsletter whenever you frequent their establishments and don’t forget to mention that you saw their ad. It is important to let them know that their association with our Club is very much appreciated.

The largest Zone 8 event of the year is the upcoming California Festival of Speed, scheduled for April 4-6 at the California Speedway in Fontana. This is a chance to see the largest gathering of Porsches on the West coast. Come out and watch Porsches race and perhaps participate in a lunch time track tour. The event features a PCA Club Race, Enduro, Time Trial, Concours d’Elegance, Vendor’s Row, and more. Complete event information may be found at http://zone8.pca.org/speedfestival.htm . It takes a lot of effort by many people to stage this event. If you want to help out by volunteering, please contact event organizer Vince Knauf.

SDR has numerous upcoming events that should pique the interest just about everyone. The first Time Trial of the year is at Streets of Willow on March 1-2. This is the perfect track for your first time trial. It’s not the longest track and it’s not the fastest track but it is definitely a great track on which to develop big track driving skills. As an added inducement, if this is your first time trial, you get a discounted price. If you’re a seasoned competitor, this track is perfect to improve driving skills. To sign up go to http://www.pcasdr.org/img/2008/Calendar/TimeTrial/Streets08.pdf. This TT is followed on Monday the 10th by the very first Motorhead Monday. Come join us for some “bench racing” at Oggi’s Pizza in Santee. Be prepared to brag about your driving successes or bring good excuses. Everyone is welcome. The Saint Patrick’s Day social on the 17th  is at Fiddler’s Green restaurant on Shelter Island. Join your friends for a fun social evening. The Last Tuesday Social on the 25th is at Trattoria Fantastica in Little India. This is a Busalacchi family restaurant serving award-winning cuisine. To round out March, join the Porsches for Pets Tour on the 30th. The tour provides an opportunity to participate in a pleasant drive in your Porsche and will benefit the Fallbrook Animal Sanctuary. Information for all of these events is available on our Region’s www.pcasdr.org website calendar.

Drivers will be happy to know that the driving dates for the first six months of the year have been scheduled and are posted on the www.pcasdr.org website calendar. We’ve got a great selection of autocross, driver’s education, and Performance Driving School dates – so come out and drive and have fun!

I look forward to seeing you at SDR events!

Martha

The year 2008 promises various exciting opportunities for members of our region. We started the year with a big celebration of our 50th Anniversary with our annual Installation Dinner, which was attended by about 300 members at the majestic Hotel del Coronado. The evening offered a great occasion to dress up, meet other members, and enjoy a great meal in elegant surroundings. There were door prizes, items for sale at the charity auction, annual awards, guest speakers, dancing to the legendary Mar Dels, and other surprises. Thank you to all the folks who spent countless hours organizing this fantastic event.

In 2008 we will be continuing our popular Last Tuesday Socials. This event occurs at a different location each month, which affords the opportunity to meet local members and try a new restaurant that you otherwise might not visit.

If you haven’t participated in an SDR Tour yet, you might want to consider doing so. It is a lot of fun to drive your Porsche through country back roads to a destination of interest and have a bite to eat with other participants. The Valentine’s Day Brunch is in February, and the Porsche for Pets tour is in March.

For those of you who enjoy driving your Porsche competitively on the big track (didn’t I say we had something for everyone?), there is a Time Trial event at Streets of Willow on March 1–2. This is the perfect venue for firsttime time trialers. If you’re a seasoned competitor, this is a great track to improve your skills. You can find the entry form in this issue or on the club’s web site.

I’d also like to introduce a new event called Motorhead Mondays. These events will take place at local restaurants on the second Monday following big track events. The idea is for the drivers to come out and participate in post-event “smack talk” in person (get out from behind your computer) and talk about why you were so fast or so slow. All members are welcome to join.

By the time this is published, we will have met with Qualcomm Stadium management and have our autocross, DE, and Spring Performance Driving School dates finalized and posted.

You can find more information on these and all our other events in the Event Capsules in each issue of the Windblown Witness and in the web calendar at www.pcasdr. org.

Our new editor, Larry Clark, is in full swing. The Witness has a new look, and Larry is receiving many compliments. One of Larry’s goals is to have the newsletter in our mailboxes at the first of the month. He has established the first of each month as the deadline for items to be included in the following month’s issue, so if you want to submit something for inclusion, be sure to submit it on time. Check out the Event Capsule section where, in one quick glance, you can read a short description of all the events planned for the next two months.

I’d like to say thank you to all of you who have volunteered to be on committees in 2008. We have a huge club, and it takes a lot of folks to run it. We have 40 different committees with more than 85 hard-working, enthusiastic volunteers. Every event that this club puts on takes the work of many volunteers, so, the next time you’re at a club function, please remember to say “thanks” to the folks who spent their time to plan and stage the event.

I look forward to seeing you at SDR events.

Martha