Christine and Tim Beckwith have been rallymeisters for four years. They will lead their final rally this fall. Christine was elected last November to be the club’s secretary. She will devote her focus exclusively to that position in 2021. Tim is currently assisting Don Phelan, the CVR treasurer. He is Don’s prospective successor in 2021. Christine and Tim excelled as rallymeisters. Their rallies have been enjoyable, often intriguing and always challenging participants’ attention to detail. Although Christine and Tim’s positions in the club will be different next year, they are committed to training and supporting their successors.

The rallymeister is responsible for the planning, developing and hosting of regular, road-going rally events. The tasks involve scouting event locations, developing the rally course, managing registration, organizing rally volunteers and working with local establishments that accommodate the start and finish meetings. The rallymeister is a CVR board member who attends monthly board meetings. In the past rallies have been managed by a single rallymeister or, as in the case of the Beckwiths, by two rallymeisters. If you are interested in the position, I encourage you to contact Christine and Tim at rally@cvrpca.org

Maria and Phil Capella have been tourmeisters since 2009. Maria assumed responsibilities for the tours in 2019 when Phil became CVR president and devoted a great amount of time to chief-executive responsibilities. The tours flourished during the twelve years of the Capellas’ leadership. The number of Coffee Runs, which are under the tourmeister’s purview, also flourished; their number increased significantly in recent years. For many club members, the tours and Coffee Runs are the central activities of their CVR experience.

Weekend tours occur typically in the spring and in the fall. A tour weekend begins with participants arriving at a designated hotel Friday night. (In recent years, the tour hotels have been located in New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Maine.) A group breakfast occurs Saturday morning. Prior to embarking in their cars, drivers and navigators attend a meeting, during which detailed route directions are distributed and discussed. Tours consist of traveling on scenic, country roads with many curves – – great Porsche roads. Tour participants stop together for lunch at a predetermined location. After lunch, participants may explore the area on their own or return to the hotel. There is a group dinner Saturday evening. The tour ends with a group breakfast Sunday morning.

The tourmeisters choose the hotel, make room and food arrangements, plan the tour route and choose the lunch venue for Saturday. They coordinate club members’ sign-ups for the tour and communicate with them before the event. They work with the club’s webmeister and editor of Challenge in posting and advertising the tours. The tourmeisters often write an article in Challenge after the tour occurs. They attend CVR board meetings. Maria and Phil will provide guidance to the new tourmeisters. In addition, Caroline and Alan Davis, who have been the assistant tourmeisters for several years, will continue in their position, providing reliable support to the new tourmeisters.

The tourmeisters’ management of Coffee Runs is made easier by the leaders of the runs, all of whom have considerable experience: James Ball, Rich Adua, Steve Tougias and John Collins. The runs are half-day, no-fee events that take place on either Saturday or Sunday morning. They occur in Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts. Participants drive on scenic roads in a group and enjoy lunch together at a predetermined restaurant. Coffee Runs are a great first event for club members – – low key driving with great opportunities to socialize.

The tourmeisters work closely with the leaders of the Coffee Runs to make certain preparations for the events and related advertising proceed as planned. The tourmeisters review periodically PCA driving standards for the runs, which are easy to access on the PCA website.

I encourage you to become a tourmeister. It is a wonderful way to meet many club leaders and club members. The group drives on scenic roads are always a memorable experience. If you are interested in the position, please contact Maria at tourmeister@cvrpca.com

CVR’s monthly magazine, Challenge, and CVR’s website are the primary means by which the club communicates with its members. Both the website and Challenge have been modernized during the last two years through the conscientious work of Eric Richmond, the editor-in-chief of Challenge and Mike Keller, the club’s webmeister. Paul Roth, chair of the CVR Photo Club, has provided timely assistance. Given the ubiquity of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Reddit and other social media platforms, it is important for CVR to complement its traditional methods of communication with a presence on some of these platforms. CVR needs a volunteer to achieve this goal. The volunteer would be a board member and would be working with a team of club leaders, including Eric Richmond, Mike Keller, Paul Roth and Shelley Krohnengold, the former editor-in-chief of Challenge who is currently the club’s executive vice president.

The social-media leader would work closely with the team of leaders in developing a basic social media policy, coordinating postings on select platforms, monitoring the postings and coordinating responses to related comments and inquiries. The leader would keep the board informed of the work being done in his or her purview. The board’s objective is to have the new leader begin the work in limited scope and to afford the new leader opportunities to expand responsibilities over time. If you are interested in the position, please contact Paul Roth at photoclub@cvrpca.com

While informing you of opportunities in rallies, tours and social media, I believe it is timely for me to explain leadership succession in general. CVR does not have bylaws or policies that prescribe the length of time a club member may remain an elected officer or activity chair. With few exceptions, succession in leadership positions occurs through diplomatic, timely and routine means that promote the interests of the club. It is uncommon for the president, executive vice president and secretary to serve more than one two-year term. (Presidents serve in substantive leadership roles before becoming president.) The treasurer usually remains in office a few more terms because of the complexity of the club’s finances and the time it takes to learn the routines and responsibilities of the office. The length of time volunteers serve in other leadership positions varies. Some volunteers serve for a few years; others serve for much longer periods of time. The length of service depends on the volunteers’ personal and professional circumstances, including availability of time and predictability of their residence in the region. Of course, the length of service also depends on the volunteers’ interests.

I recently convened a committee of all elected officers to review the status of club leadership. The three officers who are up for renomination this fall were not on the committee, which was an intentional omission to avoid perceptions of conflicts of interest. The primary finding of the committee is that club leadership is sound. Current board members have the skills, temperament and dedication to improve CVR, enhancing its traditions of organizational excellence and positive relationships. Nine current board members have served in their leadership positions for 10 or more consecutive years: Maria Capella, Phil Capella, Roger Funk, Dan Jacobs, Shelley Krohnengold, Paul Kudra, Lisa Parker, Susan Vaccaro and Sue Young. The committee expects seamless succession of elected officers during the next five years. The leaders of three major sectors of the club – – DE, autocross and club race – – are mentoring prospective successors, creating conditions for continuous improvement. Eric Richmond is leading the transition of Challenge to digital format, working closely with Shelley Krohnengold, his predecessor. A new board member, Caroline Abba, became the director of sponsorships in 2020, effectively building on the foundation established by Frank Sena. There are many other examples of board members effecting well-organized, successful activities, from tours, coffee runs, concours and special events to community service, rallies, CVR store, photography, website design and historian reports.

The success of the club’s current, long-serving board members is particularly noteworthy. Lisa Parker, who has been a board member for 35 years, was selected in 2018 to become a member of the PCA National Club Race Team. As one of the national team’s scrutineers, she travels to races throughout the nation, checking the safety of race cars and performing other responsibilities that are critical to driver protection. Paul Kudra, who has been a board member for forty-two years, was appointed the PCA National Chair of Autocross in 2020. Dave Vaccaro has led our driver education program since 2012, working closely with his wife, Susan, who has been the program’s treasurer since 2006 and registrar from 2008 through 2015. Dave was selected to become a member of the PCA National Driver Education Committee in 2015; he was appointed PCA Zone 1 National Instructor Training Chair this year.

In light of the ongoing, significant contributions and achievements of longtime board members, it is not surprising that term limits or other temporal constraints have never been instituted in CVR’s history. Based on its review, the committee determined that succession in leadership continues to be consistent with the club’s high standards. Current leaders, including those with considerable length of board tenure, continue to improve CVR without impeding the rise of other club members into positions of influence.

The work of club leaders is impressive. They plan and host a prodigious number of events in any given year. Club members are fortunate to be beneficiaries of their vision and competence.