The month of February finds me shifting into my new role as your CVR President. I am pleased to say that my first “official” task was awarding CVR Member, Mark Calabro, the 2nd Grand Prize in the 2022 PCA Fall Member Only Raffle, a 2023 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet!

When I was first notified that one of our CVR members won the raffle, it was a challenge finding a way to surprise someone I never met. Thankfully, Susan and Dave Vaccaro know him, as he is not only a DE participant but also a DE Instructor. Dave made plans with Mark, pretending to “take a look at” a Porsche that Mark was thinking about selling. Once Dave had Mark distracted inside the garage, our little group showed up with a big Raffle Winner Poster to surprise him. Mark’s wife hit the electric door opener from outside and Mark was confused about why the door was opening, asking Dave “what’s happening?”. The look on his face was priceless, especially when his wife, Shona and two daughters joined us a moment later. The kids were just as excited as their parents.

This is the second year in a row that a CVR member has won a car, so the next time you think to yourself “why bother entering”, think again.

The CVR Annual Planning Meeting was held on January 21st. Twenty-four board members, including elected officers and activity chairs attended. We spent a lively four hours discussing the details of our plans for the coming year which will involve over fifty separate events. As a group, we strive to offer a variety of different events including driving activities (on the track and on the road) as well as Porsche-centric non-driving and social events.

A partial list of events planned for the 2023 season includes:

• Multiple Driver Education days at both Lime Rock Park and Watkins Glen
• A strong AutoX program culminating with the Hoffman Cup
• Approximately 18 Coffee Runs occurring in several regions of CT
• A Member Sampler to inform members of available activities
• The annual CVR Club Race at Lime Rock Park
• A number of monthly member meetings at various locations around the state
• A People’s Choice Concours at the Farmington Polo Club
• A Fall Tour to Freeport, Maine, our first tour in three years, due to COVID

My personal list of goals and objectives for the coming year includes a re-establishment of CVRs schedule of regular in-person events that were interrupted or modified during the pandemic. This does not mean that the pandemic is totally behind us, but I believe that with a few simple steps we can begin our return to normal.

Another one of my goals is to continue building on the success of the 2022 Lyman Orchards Picnic organized by Caroline and Alan Davis, the Cars, Caffeine & Conversation Event organized by Allen Fossbender and the Morning Coffee with Wayne Carini organized by Lynn Keller. An increase in social events and activities will provide us with a unique way of increasing our charitable donations by conjoining these events with charity drives for worthy causes in the state of CT.

I look forward to meeting you at one of our upcoming club events.

CORRECTION

I’m sorry to say that one of our sharp-eyed CVR members pointed out a fairly serious mistake in the 2023 Calendar that I put together for the club.

The dates on the month of August are wrong. Since it would be far too costly to re-print and mail I have included a one page PDF “patch” for the month of August with this article. This can be printed out at full size on your home printer and affixed to the calendar with tape or staples.

August Calendar patch instructions: Click the link below to view and download the patch