Time marches on
For some reason, 2019 has come and gone more quickly than other years. At least it seems that way to me. Maybe that’s because I’m getting older, or maybe it’s because there was so much going on that I lost track of time. While it’s likely a combination of both, it does seem like only yesterday that the year started.
The beginning of the year brought the induction of two new officers to the Board. Phil Capella transitioned from his post as Webmeister to club President, and Joe Kunecki was voted in as club Secretary. I think we’d all agree that despite their on-the-job training, they’ve done a fabulous job and kept us pointed in the right direction.
The new year also brought with it a new project – convert the club’s beloved, award-winning magazine Challenge to an all-digital publication. While that seems to be a fairly simple requirement, it wasn’t. There wasn’t a roadmap. It took a talented team of dedicated CVR members 4 months of meeting 90 minutes a week every week to accomplish the goal. But in the end, we built something that none of the other 141 PCA regions in the United States had built. And since the launch of Challenge other PCA regions have reached out and asked if we could provide assistance with their efforts.

Event-wise, the jam-packed year ended with CVR’s 60th Anniversary Celebration at St Clements Castle. Alan and Caroline Davis worked hard and pulled off a night to remember. The evening offered great food, music, dancing, the introduction of new Board members, Photo and club award presentations and conversations with great friends. Walt Hyjeck took home two photo awards as did Kim Kellogg-Hosley who also walked away with two awards. I was personally very gratified to have won the club’s 2019 Rookie of the Year award. The award has a place of honor on the bookshelves behind my desk (right next to a couple of CVR wine glasses). Look for a writeup in the December 15th Challenge.
Sadly, the Anniversary celebration wasn’t to be the last notable event of the year as we’ve lost 2 club members in the days since then.

On November 24th, long-time CVR member, driving instructor, driver, uber club supporter and all-around great guy Spencer Cox passed away after a long battle with Cancer. Roger Garbow, who handles media relations sent us a copy of the official press release. CVR members and friends who would like to attend services for Spencer and reception at SSTAuto on December 7th can find details here. We’re in the process of putting together an article about Spencer – pictures, videos, memories – that should be available in the December 15th issue.

The other club member we lost is Jim Maitland. Jim was one of the two guys who turned me into “a Porsche guy”. He was an avid DE enthusiast driving as often as possible. Earlier this year, Jim contributed his first article on being a PCA volunteer at Sebring to Challenge and was making plans to attend the event again this year for another piece. He passed away on November 29th – the day after Thanksgiving and while I was writing this article – after undergoing emergency surgery on for a previously undiagnosed tear in his aorta and a heart valve replacement. Details on services for Jim will be forthcoming.
On behalf of both families, I would like to thank all the CVR members who signed cards for Spencer and Jim during the 60th Anniversary Celebration.
– Editor