Somerset Hills Learning Institute Trek for Kids

One of the joys of owning a Porsche or other sports car is actually driving the car. Many times I have volunteered to go get that gallon of milk or pick up that bag of dog food (I have two 100 plus pound Bernese Mountain Dogs so it is more frequent than you might think) just so I could get the car out on the road. Now, driving the car and raising money for a good cause only makes it all the more worthwhile. Hence the idea for our fundraiser for Somerset Hills Learning Institute (SHLI) on July 24. SHLI is a school for children and adolescents with autism and is our designated charity for this year.

 On a somewhat cloudy day, and we did see a few drops of rain (but, as I have learned, rain does not cause our cars to melt), 35 cars gathered at SHLI in Bedminster for a casual two hour drive through the beautiful countryside of Somerset, Hunterdon and Morris counties. We had a good Porsche turnout as well as a few other marques including some Italian thoroughbreds. After a donut and a beverage, we headed out from the school and drove through some of the most beautiful parts of New Jersey. We drove single file on back roads, many of them quite curvy, but obviously no match for our machines. In fact, though, the curves did create one casualty — one passenger in a Jaguar, and a former NJ Devil hockey player at that, had to turn in due to car sickness! 
At the halfway point, we stopped for a 20 minute break at Hacklebarney State Park. We all had a chance there to stretch our legs and admire the fleet once again. Then we hopped back into our cars and continued the drive to our final destination — High Marques, in Morristown. There, John Vogt, the owner of High Marques, provided us with a fantastic lunch and a chance to look at the cars in his shop, including a beautiful 959. During lunch, we gave away a number of door prizes, including books about Porsche and other sports and exotic cars, some posters of cool cars (what kid, old or young, does not like a car poster?), and some lovely bottles of wine and Champagne. Everyone had a great time, and at the end of the day, we raised $2,350 for SHLI. Thanks to all who participated and to John Vogt for underwriting the lunch and providing the venue.