Passing of Dennis Thovson, who along with spouse Marlys, acted as “inspiration” to NNJR, contributing ceaselessly to any and all club endeavors, along with mentoring club members and leadership. Special tribute was paid to Dennis at a “Celebration of Life” ceremony hosted at a fitting Paul Miller Porsche dealership memorial
Coincidental was the passing of longtime NNJR member and past-President (’66-‘67) Bill Oldenboom who actually recruited Dennis (and Marlys), Bill & Dennis sharing same age of 88 (1934-2022)
65th Anniversary of NNJR celebrated in June at a Gala Family Summer Picnic at Fountain Spring Lake in Ringwood, NJ. A very special 65th P4US hardcopy print publication was designed to commemorate event thru extensive research by Bruce Zabor, Rich Barry & Bill Gilbert, with abundant historic photos included
Remarkably, Charity set another record in 2022- exceeding $63k dedicated to Cheshire Home! Despite worrisome inflation, serious downturn in financial markets, Hubert King rallied membership in support of a most worthwhile cause, the $63k may be the greatest annual amount ever achieved by any Region within PCA for Community Service
DE Chair Thom Calabro continued to deliver a full DE schedule, complete with NNJR-sponsored Safety Techs & HPDE seminar, augmented by an extensively researched and well-presented article published in P4US titled ”Off-Track Excursions”- a multiple page description of available activities proximate to driving tracks which offer family members alternatives to explore while DE driver stays on-track
Nearby in Poconos, PCA hosted its 66th annual Parade, drawing the greatest Parade attendance ever! With abundant NNJR members attending, no surprise that NNJR contestants reaped the lion’s share (Kalahari is an African-inspired theme park) of PCA Awards, especially in Concours competition
Rally Meister John Vogt fabled Rally Program continued to delight with full 5-event season supported by a Rally Cadre comprised of specialists schooled in fine-art of rallying, including Peter & Joanne Schneider, Erik & Pat Sjogren and Duncan & Britt Findlay… one of most popular in PCA! Cruise/outdoor Movie Night a big hit at Flanders German Swin & Sport Club, along with 9th annual Off-Road Excursion thru NJ Pinelands, hosted by Peter Schneider!
Concours chair Kevin Fitz successfully shepherded Concours events thru Covid with a wide-array of “How-To” You-Tube instructional videos, transitioning Program over to veteran Concours-emeritus Hank Menkes (Hank Parade Group Winner-Preparation/Kevin 1st Full Preservation)
Capping off 2022 with a Holiday Party return to Highlawn Pavilion following three Covid years, Cindy & Tony Cristello pleased all with a Sunday afternoon extravaganza, complete with special 65th Anniversary memento
In six decades we’ve grown to nearly 3,800 total members, all sharing the same passion. Members enjoy participating in a wide variety of events throughout the year. As an NNJR-PCA member you have access to all PCA National and Zone #1 resources and events.
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President Letter 2017
/in President's Letter /by nnjr-pcaI just returned from our Introduction to High Performance Driving seminar where we introduce driver
ed, autocross and our famous car control clinic to drivers who have not yet participated in these activities.
The seminar was very well attended, which was so nice to see.
On the way home I was listening to the radio and the famous Janis Joplin song came on where she sings;
“All my friends drive Porsches, I must make amends…oh Lord, don’t ya buy me a Mercedes Benz..”
and I began to wonder how many songs actually reference or call out Porsche. So I started searching the
internet… (hey, it’s winter and it’s too cold to work on the car).
Savage Garden: “…So slide into your Jag, or Porsche baby,…” (All Around Me)
Joan Armatrading: “…He would die for a Porsche all covered up in chrome…” (Shape of a Pony)
Weird Al Yankovich: “…Just watch me pass that Porsche on the right…” (Belvedere Cruising)
Fresh Prince: “..We are doin’ 90 in my Mom’s new Porsche,…” (Parents Just Don’t Understand)
Someone told me that Roger Waters mentions “Porsche” in “It´s a miracle” from the album Amused To
Death.
The BAND: “…Miss Cristina drives a 944” (Welcome to the Boomtown)
Rod Stewart: “…Never gonna own a race horse or a fast-back mid-engine Porsche…” (True Blue)
Beck: “One’s on a Porsche, the other’s on a ….”
Juliana Hatfield: “…in a silver Porsche, polished and waxed…” (Road Wrath)
I then found a lyrics web site that claims to have identified 1065 song lyrics that have “Porsche” in them.
Wow, I wonder how many of them say something positive about Porsche versus negative.
So it seems that Porsche goes well beyond the car nuts I associate with and is often mentioned in songs.
I wonder how many songs reference Ferrari. Well, that lyrics site indicates only 897 hits. Poor Ferrari.
While writing this article I am simultaneously watching the last 3 ½ hours of the Rolex 24-hour race that
I recorded, and it looks like the Ferrari in GTLM just lost his engine….(oops!!). Gotta go.
See you around and be sure to take advantage of all NNJR has to offer.
President Letter February
/in President's Letter /by nnjr-pcaSo here we are in the middle of the winter, but if you check the NNJR Calendar on our web site or the Around the Corner column in this magazine, you will see that there is plenty to do with more and more each month. I am looking forward to witnessing the magic performed by the Dent Man at the workshop to be held at Paul Miller Porsche. A really exciting event will be the Paul iller Classic Car Center launch. This is a major event for Paul Miller as they will be one of the few Porsche Classic Car Centers in North America. February is capped off by our Instructor and Driver Seminars. There is one seminar in the morning for our instructors and one in the afternoon for the rest of our DE enthusiasts.
You probably know that I am a DE junky on many levels. I really enjoy being a part of our instructor team as well as participating in as many events possible with our region as well as others. Last year was a good one for me with 27 days on track. I get asked from time-to-time what I do to maintain my car and whether I have any special projects planned for this winter. The long maintenance answer is not for this column, but I do know that proper maintenance and safety checks are very, very high on my list. Regarding special car projects, I am doing nothing, nada, not a thing! What? No special shocks, sway bars, bushings, shifters, ECU tune, etc….. Nope, not a thing.
What I am focusing on is listening to lovely music (vinyl) playing on my home audio system while I am envisioning every corner on every track I drive each season. I go through each corner many, many times to ensure I have a very solid mental image of where I am looking, where I brake, how I brake, rolling my hands and the wheel, moving off the gas and onto the accelerator, and so on. I think about “bending the turn” (thanks Dick Fell) and making longer straights. The point of the matter is, there is nothing I could do to my car that will make me a better driver. I need to work on me and not the car. All this is aided by reading books written by very fast people and some videos. I do look at some data but this is something I want to learn more about: how to use data. Anyway, time to get back to turn 1 at Watkins.
Enjoy the winter and everything NNJR has to offer and see you around.
President Letter December
/in President's Letter /by nnjr-pcaWe just returned from VIR with really big smiles on our faces – what a great event! The track is amazing all by itself, but when you add three days of perfect weather (‘70s and ‘80s) to the mix, it becomes that very special. What a fantastic way to end the NNJR DE season for our members and for Lisa and myself. Special thanks to Tom Swift and the whole DE team for a great season and for leading us through a transitional year where we returned to our “normal” schedule. We have also concluded the competitive concours season. Jeff and Chris Erven did a splendid job organizing our events. Thanks to Chris, Jeff and the concours volunteers. Autocross is already on winter break. Despite some challenges with our location, Grant Lenahan and his team did an outstanding job arranging the autocross events. At this writing, rally is still going strong and social is just getting started. Hope to see all of you at the holiday party