What a great time we all had, celebrating 60 years for our Southeast Michigan Porsche Club.   The venue, Inn of St. John in Plymouth was elegant and festive, with 140 members coming together to enjoy such a wonderful evening.

First, before I get into some of the details, I need to recognize a very special lady.  One who works tirelessly to make sure everything is perfect, as she does for anything pertaining to our club events.  I don’t want to neglect those that help her but this lady takes the wheel (pun intended).  Her focus is that everyone has a good time and that the smallest of details are taken care of.  We all show up to see the beautiful flowers on the tables, the white volunteer clothes beneath the vases, the gift bags for the members, the menu, the guest speaker, the security guards for the Porsches on the lawn, only to name a few.  It all seems to run so smooth and effortlessly.  Easy right? Patti Door is an icon when it comes to getting things done and I have never heard her complain.  She does it out of love for the club.  When we say it isn’t about the cars, but about the people, Patti Door is right up there at the top of the list.

Guest speaker Kim Wolfkill, Editor of Road & Track Magazine.

As we all checked in, we received our commemorative names badge recognizing 60 years and a key chain with Porsche engraved on them.  Patti made a great suggestion, being the jewelry maker that she is, to use it on a chain for a necklace, at least for the ladies. I just might do that.  The evening began with cocktails and hors d Oeuvres and conversations with other club members.  The tables were all decorated with lovely flower arrangements and candles to set the mood.  The wait staff started serving dinner with a delicious menu of salad, surf and turf, and then a decadent chocolate dessert.  Needless to say, we all added maybe just a pound or two that night.

As our formal program began,  our President Marc Molson, welcomed all of us and talked about some of the people who will be stepping down, which means we need members to step up and take on these roles.  Just to name a couple – the P4 Managing Editor, Michael Cohen, and Patti Door, who is involved with several things for our club.  So think about getting involved and taking one of these positions.  You will not have to jump into them alone.  Michael and Patti will help you get stated.  Marc then introduced our guest speaker, Kim Wolfkill, Editor of Road & Track Magazine.  Kim talked about his role as Editor for the Magazine and how he got started with his love of cars.  He grew up competing with his sister, in a friendly way, and now she is racing.   In fact, they were just awarded Family of the Year for Road and Track.  What an honor I would say.  Gretus then introduced our new Zone 4 Rep. Lori Schutz and asked her to come up to the podium to say a few words.  She might have been caught off guard just a bit but since she is such a good speaker she pulled through just fine.

We wrapped up the evening and headed out to our Porsches, thinking of the amazing evening we just spent with fellow friends.  As we walked outside there were a couple police cars.  Then I heard a helicopter overhead and said to myself….I wonder who they are looking for.  We drove off the grounds and more police cars were surrounding the golf course side.  By the time we got home Patti called me to say, there was a robbery, at gunpoint, at a local CVS Pharmacy and the suspect ran into the area.  She said anyone who was still at the Inn was told they could not leave and were in lockdown.  What a way to end our 60^th Anniversary Gala Celebration.

Looking forward to the next 60 years together.  Drive with passion and a smile.

Paula Trendov