February 2011 - Keystone Region

KEYNOTES
PORSCHE CLUB OF AMERICA KEYSTONE REGION
February 2011
Presidents Column
- Dan Crust
I’m excited to take a turn as President of the Keystone Region PCA. The rest of the new board and I look forward to keeping
up the standard of great events set by previous administrations.
As for your new president, I am a long time Porsche aficionado, and sometime Porsche owner. My wife Anita and I
purchased our 1985 Carrera Coupe in 2007, and, along with car-crazy daughter Cherish, we have had lots of fun. We often
say the club is about the people more than the cars, and we are proof that it is true (but the cars are cool). We’ve made many
friends through club activities, which is much more valuable than the other benefits of the club.
The year got off to a good start at the Holiday Party in January. The previous decision to move the party a little later and
avoid the very busy holiday season seems to have been a good one. Now we have our own Porsche-mas, or Carrera-wanzaa,
or…er…yeah, I’d better stop now.
Our Cars & Coffee events have been popular the last couple years, so we’ve decided to have a ‘pre-season’ one in March.
Our cars might still be hibernating, but we can get together for a good time. We’re still planning the same three Cars &
Coffee events for the fair weather season as well.
There is lots of other good stuff in the planning stages for this year too. Stay tuned to these pages for updates on coming
events.
Cars and Coffee
TIRED OF THE SNOW AND THE COLD TEMPS ?????? JOIN US FOR OUR FIRST 2011 CARS AND COFFEE.
DATE: SATURDAY, MARCH 5TH
TIME: 10:00AM
LOCATION: RESTLESS OAKS RESTAURANT MCELHATTAN, PA JUST OFF ROUTE 220
IT'S A GREAT PLACE WITH DELICIOUS FOOD. COME JOIN US AND GET CAUGHT UP ON WHAT EVERYONE'S BEEN DOING SINCE THE
HOLIDAY PARTY IN JANUARY.
IF YOU ARE COMING, PLEASE EMAIL ME AT [email protected] BY WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2ND. WE HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL!!!!!
Keystone Holiday Party a Success!
- by Bill Simon III
If you missed our Keystone Region's post-Holiday party, you missed a good evening out with lotsa good people. Your
Keystone Executive Board had decided not to compete with all the other social events during the first three weekends of
December, when everyone has a dozen different parties to attend. Good decision!
On the 15th of January, most of us had recovered from the "Hassle of the Holidaze" and were ready to get together with
like-minded motorheads. The Nittany Lion Inn on the Penn State campus outdid themselves again. As with last year, we
were again fortunate to be in the "Alumni Lounge," an old-style venue in the original part of the Inn. After about an hour
of hors d'oeuvres, munchies, schmoozing, and meet-and-greet in the lobby/bar, we all adjourned to the Lounge for a
delicious dinner and lots of conversation and gemülichkeit. President Bob Cornell officially passed the gavel to newly
elected President Dan Crust It took the disorganized team of Bob Cornell and yours truly over an hour or more to give
continued next page
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For the calendar of events, newsletters, classifieds, photos, and more, please visit http://key.pca.org
away all the numerous door prizes donated by many of our members
and especially by our valued sponsors. Special thanks to our sponsors,
newsletter advertisers, members, and others who donated door prizes for
the event. Special thanks to Oregon Hill Winery (Eric and Karon
Swendrowski), Dix Honda (Dave and Tina Dix), the Keystone Region
Goodie Store (closeout giveaway), and Bridgestone, Pirelli, Porsche AG,
the PCA National Office and the 2010 Porsche Parade for assorted
posters, calendars, ballcaps, shirts, and other Porsche goodies with which
to decorate your garage or yourself.
Our end-of-2010+beginning-of-2011 bash was a big success, and it gave
us a chance to see some members from our geographically dispersed
Region that we don't always see. Stretching to the north, south, east, and west ends of our Region, thanks to all who came out,
and proved once again that "It's not the cars --- it's the people." Some of the hard core, who were staying overnight, joined up to
patronize the American Ale House and Grill (a faithful Key Notes advertiser), where Tommy Wareham, entertainer extrordinaire,
reminded us, a la Janis Joplin, that "Oh Lord don't you buy me a Mercedes-Benz,..... my friends all drive Porsches, and I must
make amends......." Mark your calendar now for 14 January 2012 --- that's when we'll probably do it again.
ROLEX 24 HRS. DAYTONA SPEEDWAY
by Bob Cornell
I have a friend who's name is Bryan Starsky, late of Niagara region, who
now lives full time in Central Florida. Since he and his lovely wife Teri
moved two years ago, we've talked about going to the Rolex 24 at
Daytona. Well, this year we did!
On the Monday before race day Gwen and I fired up the Boxster and
headed for Florida. We arrived at Starsky's home on Friday afternoon
following stops at Charleston and Savanna, two of our favorite places.
Saturday morning, loaded with beer and sandwiches, Bryan and I left for
the track – warm, sunny, and the top down. When we arrived, the Porsche
corral was nearly full, but we got in and it was pretty cool. There was a
big tent with closed circuit TV and they served coffee and doughnuts for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, and hot dogs for dinner – all for free.
I don't know how many Porsches were in the corral, but certainly well over 100. As soon as we parked the car, people started showing up that I
knew. Also, Manny, Vu, and Caren Cooper were all there from PCA national. I'm enclosing a picture of Bryan, Andrew Moore (Pres. Of
Pocono region) and me on Saturday afternoon before the race started. Also a picture of me in the middle of the night trying to look warm.
The racing, as you probably know, was fast and furious. It's actually a 24 hour sprint. The Porsche corral was located on a very fast left hander
at the end of the infield straight, with grandstands right next door. In fact, there are five sets of grandstands in the infield and all are great
places to watch from. You're never more that about twenty or thirty yards from the track. Porsche didn't fare too well in the Daytona Prototype
class with the BMW/Riley of Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas winning. Since I'm a big Scott Pruett fan that didn't bother me too much. I wish
Porsche would hire him. Of course, in the GT class, the TRG Porsche GT-3 of Andy Lally and Wolfe Henzler won, so all was not lost. By the
way, the girl watching was pretty good too.
When it started to get late on Saturday night and the corral thinned out, we moved the Boxster up to the
fence where we napped off and on and tried to keep warm. We didn't sleep very much. In fact we
watched a lot of racing in the middle of the night. You can really see the brakes and exhaust light up. The
infield reminded me a lot of Watkins Glen when I was a kid, with campers and campfires everywhere.
I guess I could go on forever, but there's no since boring you more that I already have. The weather was
beautiful and Daytona is the best spectator venue I've ever seen. The racing was spectacular and we met
PCAers from all over the east. Did I mention that the girl watching was good?
Would I do it again? YOU BET! Once again, it's all about the people.
Bloomsburg Cruise
It was a dark and stormy night…………sorry, wrong story. It was
actually a beautiful September day when our club had a cruise to the
Irondale Inn in Bloomsburg. As this was the first of back to back
weekend events for the Keystone Region, organizers Randy Kilmer
and Dave Dix were unsure about the turnout. As it turned out, we had
nothing to fear, as there were fourteen or so Porsches participate in
the event, which actually had two starting locations. The initial start
was at Eric Dash’s, Black Walnut Body Shop, where Eric and Jill
treated the group to coffee and wonderful pastries to tide us over. The
group got started around 10 AM, and followed a route devised by
Messrs. Kilmer and Dix through who the hell knows, but they were nice Porsche
roads (if you know what I mean). Our first stop was across the river from
Lewisburg at May’s Drive-in, where we met up with other club members,
including our illustrious president Bob Cornell. The convoy continued from there
to the Irondale Inn, owned by club member J. D. Davis. If you have not had an
opportunity to visit the Irondale, it is worth the trip, as it was originally the home
of the iron master who operated a mill nearby. It dates back somewhere into the
1800’s, which is older than Bill Simon! J. D. provided a great lunch, which was
enjoyed at various locations on the grounds.
There was a little bit of suspense, when couple
of the group missed the turn-off into the inn,
but all managed to find their way back to the
inn. Interestingly, a stranger, driving a
Mercedes followed the group into the Irondale
Inn parking lot because he was giving thought
to purchasing a Porsche, and assumed there
was some sort of club event going on. Thanks
to all who participated, and in particularly
Randy Kilmer, who organized it, Eric Dash, for
providing a wonderful starting location and
breakfast, and J. D. Davis for the fantastic
location, and meal. Hope we will be there
again. - Dave Dix
Visit The
Oregon Hill Winery
And Discover Our Award Winning Wines
18 miles south of Wellsboro on Rt. 287
next to Pine Marsh Golf Course
840 Oregon Hill Road, Morris, PA 16938
(570) 353-2711
Toftrees Resort & Four Star Golf Club
One Country Club Lane - State College, PA 16803
Toll Free 800-252-3551 Email [email protected]
Keystone Region
Porsche Club of America
c/o 109 Wildernest Lane
Port Matilda, PA 16870
UP COMING EVENTS
26 & 27 February -- PCA National Tech Tactics, Easton, Pa. (Info at www.pca.org )
5 March -- Keystone Region "Cars & Coffee", Restless Oaks, Rte. 220, near Lock Haven, Pa.
8, 9, & 10 March -- On-line registration for the 2011 Porsche Parade in Savannah, Ga. (www.pca.org)
23 April -- Porsche-only Swap Meet, Hershey, Pa. ( www.cpr-pca.org )
14 May -- Keystone Region "Cars & Coffee", Williamsport, Pa. (Location: TBA)
23 & 24 July -- Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix and Car Show, Schenley Park, Pittsburgh, Pa.
31 July - 6 August -- 2011 Porsche Parade, Savannah, Ga. ( www.pca.org )
PRESIDENT: Dan Crust
2528 Bernel Rd. State College, 16803
814-355-1961 [email protected]
VICE PRESIDENT: Mike Szczesny
18 Cricklewood Circle, State College, PA 16803
814-234-3721. [email protected]
PAST PRESIDENT: Bob Cornell
5 Fairway Drive, Selinsgrove, PA 17870
570-884-7000 [email protected]
TREASURER: Randy Kilmer
163 songbird lane, Bellefonte,PA 16823
814-357-8221 [email protected]
SECRETARY: Dave Dix
MEMBER AT LARGE: Bill Simon
880 West Aaron Drive
State College, PA 16803 814-235-1356
[email protected]
MEMBER AT LARGE: Gwen Cornell
15 Fairway Drive, Selinsgrove, PA 17870
570-884-7000 [email protected]
NEWSLETTER EDITOR / WEBMASTER:
Eric Swendrowski [email protected]
Keynotes is the official publication of the Keystone Region of the Porsche Club of America. All opinions, views, and information
appearing are those of the authors and not necessarily those of PCA, Keystone Region, its officers, or the editor. The editor encourages
submissions for publication, but reserves the right to edit such materials. Permission is granted to other PCA regions to reprint any material
provided full credit is given to the author and Keynotes. Contact Eric Swendrowski, Editor, at 570-353-2711, or at [email protected].