PHOTOS BY GRETUS HOOGESTRAAT AND CHRISSY CROWE

ARTICLE BY GRETUS HOOGESTRAAT

It became routine to have a guest speaker at Annual Membership Dinner, which this year was held on Friday November 5th at Roger’s Roost in Sterling Heights.  It was a challenge to find an adequate speaker and I was planning to make it a “Dinner and Movie” night because I did not want to cancel and take the event away from our membership.  Our own member, Tom McDonald, stepped up and arranged for his longtime friend of 40+ years to make the presentation.  It was no one less than Rich Ceppos, Deputy Editor of Car and Driver Magazine.  During this time it is hard to find a restaurant that flexible enough with timing and commitments plus has reasonable prices.  SEM member, John Dorscht arranged for us to use Roger’s Roost again.  Their room is perfect for the Membership Dinner and I was familiar with the setup for audio and projector, including the screen.

Fast forward to the day of the event.  As many of you know I had an accident and my left leg does not always want do what I want to do.  I managed to be at the restaurant in time for the event prep-work.  Thirty people signed up and it promised to be a good event even with two no-shows which were replaced by two walk-ins.  Our President Walter Crump including wife Sabrina and one Board Member, Lisa Molzon, Membership Chair, were the honored guests as well as PCA Zone 4 Representative Lori Schutz.  She is the daughter of well-known Porsche A.G. CEO Peter Schutz who saved the 911.  Drive Your Porsche Day and Charity Chair, Chrissy Crowe and our friend Chynna Christian greeted the guests and took care of registration and wristbands.

The evening started out with a social hour that allowed members to renew old friendships and meet a few of the new club members attending the event.  The private dining room had a well-staffed cash bar and round tables, which helped facilitating the dinner conversation.  About 7:30 PM we consumed a delicious meal from a special menu.

By 8:00 PM Rich Ceppos started his wonderful presentation.  Compared to previous Membership Dinner presentations I experienced, it turned out to be very Porsche related.  Through his career at Car and Driver Magazine, Rich drove, tested and wrote about a ton of Porsches.  Like he said “So Many Porsches, So Little Time and I have to drive a lot of them.”  One of the first pictures we saw showed Tom McDonald from 40 years ago, dressed in a nice suit with his 930, which showed how long Rich and Tom have been friends.  Rich presented the list of Porsches he drove in 2020.  There were 21 of them, including a 718 Boxster and Spyder, Cayman GT4, Cayenne, Macan, Taycan and of course 911s.  I’m really sorry for those who missed this presentation, it was incredible and took us through generations of Porsche cars.  When the presentation was almost over we brought Rich, Tom and our Zone 4 Representative Lori Schutz together, which turned into a nice little exchange between the three of them which was very informative for the audience.

Thanks to Rich Ceppos, Tom McDonald and Lori Schutz for this memorable night.  Thank you Chrissy Crowe, Chynna Christian and the team from Roger’s Roost for all the help.  John Dorscht, thanks for providing the location and making this happen.

Have a wonderful 2022 and enjoy the drives we can spend together.

Rich Ceppos (Car and Driver Magazine)	Tom McDonald (PCA SEM Member and Friend)	Lori Schutz (PCA Zone 4 Representative)
Chrissy Crowe and Chynna Christian Registration