As the saying goes, Time flies when you are having fun. When Phil and I started our tenure as CVR Driving Tour Chairs in 2009. we couldn’t imagine that it would run for twelve years. It is with mixed emotions that I am announcing that 2021 will be my last year as driving tour chair. We have met many wonderful people along the way that have become dear friends. We are very grateful for the team of CVR members that have provided a significant contribution to the CVR Driving Tour program; Rich Adua, James Ball, John Collins, Alan Davis, Caroline Davis, Sean Leahy, Karen Russell, Tom Russell and Steve Tougias.
The very first CVR event we attended was a Coffee Run put on by Richard Garmany, a true gentleman. From the moment we arrived that day we felt welcomed by the participants as if we had been with the club for many years. We thoroughly enjoyed the day and wanted to help.
We helped in the route planning for one weekend tour conducted by Harry Viens who was resigning as Driving Tour chair at the end of the year. The next thing we knew Phil and I were the new CVR Driving Tour Chairs. We were fortunate to have the masters of driving tours, Linda and Dick Borio as mentors. They invited us to their home and gave us the crash course on putting on a driving tour.
So we began our adventure and put on our first weekend tour in the fall of 2009 at the Mountain View Grand hotel. Fortune was with us because the first time we walked into the lobby of the hotel we knew we had a winner.
We have so many memories of our tour scouting trips, from driving our 2008 Cayenne S slowwwly up a muddy hillside road in Vermont with ruts up to the rims and a mom driving down the hill with a mini-van full of kids like it was a walk in the park to the time we had a standoff with a moose in Maine where we are sure it was thinking, ‘I could use that Boxster as a skateboard’.
Another memory is the time we were scouting somewhere in Pennsylvania and stopped at a McDonald’s to look at maps and we saw a gray 911 Turbo S coming down the road. As the car got closer we saw that it was Joyce and Sean Leahy. We called Sean’s cell phone and asked ‘What are you doing in Pennsylvania?’ Of course, they were surprised that we knew where they were and we met them for dinner that night.
The tours we put on touched New York, Pennsylvania, and all the states of New England. Most of all we remember the conversations and good times we had with so many people throughout the years.
Thank you to all the driving tour participants over the years for making my time as chair filled with fond memories.
Safe travels.
On each Coffee Run there are a couple of volunteering opportunities in support of the PCA Driving Tour Standards:
Sweeper: Be the last car in the line and assist any participants who may encounter car or health difficulties, advising the tour/group leader if vehicles became separated from the group.
Observer’s Report: Submit the PCA Observer’s Report – it takes about 10 minutes to fill out the form on the PCA website. Instructions will be provided.
Please contact the Coffee Run lead if you would like to volunteer.
We will again this year have a form to register for each Coffee Run but instead of using Constant Contact we will be using a form that will be located in the Challenge Event Calendar for each Coffee Run. The registration form goes live at 7 pm on the Tuesday prior to the Coffee Run.
RidewithGPS NAVIGATION PHONE APP
Through the generosity of Hagerty Insurance, a RidewithGPS navigation app club account is available to all CVR members.
It is highly recommended that everyone participating in a driving tour get the app and access to the CVR club account.
The RidewithGPS app provides turn-by-turn directions during the Coffee Run on your smartphone. The details on how to set up the app can be found here – click here.
Important Note(s):
Please complete all the setup steps below prior to the Coffee Run or Tour that will be using the app (it will take a few days to get through the membership approval process). It will not be possible to set it up on the morning of the event. Routes will typically be available for downloading from a few days prior to the event until the day of the event.
Here are the Coffee Runs that are on the calendar for 2021:
Sunday, August 7, 2021 | Black Bridge | James Ball |
Saturday, August 14, 2021 | Water Wheel | James Ball |
Sunday, August 29, 2021 | Early Bird – Plainfield to Vanilla Bean | Rich Adua |
Saturday, September 25, 2021 | Just Because | James Ball |
Sunday, September 26, 2021 | Early Bird – Farmington to Middlebury | Rich Adua |
Saturday, October 2 2021 | Kent Falls | James Ball |
Sunday, October 31, 2021 | Early Bird – Mystic to Plainfield, CT (aka Scituate Reservoir Coffee Run) | Rich Adua |
PCA DRIVING TOUR STANDARD BRIEFING
PCA has developed standards for driving tours that have to be followed by all of the PCA regions. Please review the standards we follow – click here
COVID-19 CONSIDERATIONS
We will follow the COVID-19 requirements for the states that we will travel through on our driving tours.
Thank you in advance for doing your part in helping us put on safe events.
“Thanks for the Memories “
Hi Maria
Joyce &I always looked forward to the Tours that you & Phil would run. The excellent planning & attention to detail ( including a dollar bill in the tour info package, to cross the Roebling aqueduct) gave all of us an exceptional, fun filled weekend.
Also, we haven’t thought about that time we met you & Phil in P.A.,that was a great time! So thanks for bringing back that memory.
Hope to see you folks on the Road less traveled soon.
All the best, Joyce & Sean
Thank you, Maria, for your years of leadership. Your planning and hosting of the weekend tours have made them among the most popular CVR events. The memories of delightful conversations, delicious food, scenic roads and beautiful drives will live on.