ARTICLE BY EVENT CHAIR CHRISSY CROWE   PHOTOS BY GRETUS HOOGESTRAAT, TODD MIERZWIACK AND NICHOLAS RIGHI

In the morning it was 30 degrees and snowing, not the best driving conditions, therefore I was a little skeptical about the attendance. I arrived at The Lingenfelter Collection around 8:30 a.m. and Ken Lingenfelter and his employee, George helped me get my equipment inside the building quickly. George and I were setting everything up and in the meantime Ken made coffee for all of us.

Appreciation Gift

Thank you everybody for coming out despite the weather. More than 180 members, friends, neighbors and co-workers visited The Lingenfelter Collection on Saturday morning March 26. Every donating party received prepared gift bags at the front door that included water blender bottles, face masks, hand sanitizer and lanyards.

In the crowd I spotted SEM Board Members Lucas Phan, Chris Bohr and President Walter Crump along with Officer Michael Cohen. I was able to talk to a lot of new and old members including Todd Mierzwiak, Lee Burlingame, Steven Uhlman and Chris Krauser from the Maumee Valley Region.

Chrissy greeting and handing out gifts to the arriving guests

Around 10:30 a.m. Immediate Past President Gretus Hoogestraat introduced Ken Lingenfelter and asked him to talk about the cars in his collection. Ken was more than happy to answer questions from the audience and signed posters afterwards. Ken even let people sit in his Lamborghini Reventon, number 12 out of 21 built, but Ken made sure the keys stayed in his pocket. At the end of the event, Gretus Hoogestraat and I gave an appreciation gift of a 993 dimensional drawing lasered on to a white tile to The Lingenfelter Foundation.

Immediate Past President Gretus Hoogestraat introducing Ken Lingenfelter

Ken telling stories and answer questions

Overall it was a wonderful event and I’m very happy with the results. Unfortunately most of Ken’s Porsche collection was out on loan to other venues and museums. I hope you enjoyed your visit to the collection and hope you had a chance to buy something from Kristen’s Goodie Store. I’m sorry some people couldn’t attend the event, you missed out on donating to a very good cause, seeing some incredible cars and listening to the sound of one of Ken’s Corvettes. When Ken started the Corvette, it had an amazing sound. I feel sorry for his neighbors when he drives the car to his residence.

For those who missed the opportunity, watch the calendar of events at https://www.thelingenfeltercollection.com. On April 23rd there will be a spring open house as more unique vehicles find their way to the collection. Two new Ferraris are on their way now.

Thank you to Ken and Kristen Lingenfelter for their generosity and invitation to visit their collection. Also, thank you to George, Steven Unroe, Charles Cross and Immediate Past President Gretus Hoogestraat for their help.

Have a wonderful 2022 and let’s enjoy the drives we can take together
Chrissy Crowe

		Ken Lingenfelter and his Lamborghini Reventon