It’s spring, well almost, and it’s time to get your Porsche out of hibernation, detailed and ready for the road!

The Porsche Club of America Absaroka Region is hosting a Tech Session at our sponsors MARS of Billings, free of charge for all PORSCHE owners for both sports cars and SUVs. Come join us on March 18th from 10 am to 12 pm.

There will be a drawing for Porsche demos so be sure to drive your Porsche to possibly win.  The Region will be providing coffee and muffins.

Please RSVP to Stephanie Haider at snowgse@bresnan.net or call 406.672.4815.  This will be an excellent opportunity to learn more about keeping your car beautiful your car and meet other PORSCHE owners.

When: Saturday, March 18, 2017

Time: 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Where: MARS of Billings, 161 Moore Lane, Billings, MT 59101

Here’s your chance to go and run over some cones!

August 1, 2016

Ah! Summer. I love it. I hope you are enjoying it also. It will be over way too soon.

I hope you are getting ready for the All Euro Car Show on August 20^th  at Veterans Park. It is going to be bigger and better this year, but only with your help. Registration begins at 9:00am on August 20^th.

The turnout for the Phillipsburg trip was small. Just Jim and Karen Grace and myself. But we had a great drive through the beautiful Pintler Scenic route. Phillipsburg is a quaint little town with a lot of mining history. Karen and I split a bag of rocks from the Montana Gem sapphire mine. We both found some sapphires at least one carat in size to make something.

We have two trips for September if you are interested. The Hay Bale Trail is Sunday, September 11^th. If you are interested let me know and I will organize something. Even if we do not go as a group it is a fun day trip to Hobson and Windham.

I also have eight tickets reserved for the Tippet Rise outdoor Art in Fishtail. If I need to order more please let me know. We will leave from the usual Holiday Station on Gabel Rd at 9:30 am on Saturday the 17th. Our reservations are for 11:00 am. They serve lunch on the property or we can go on into Fishtail as they have a great little restaurant there.

We have several members that have renewed their membership. Thanks and hope to see you at one of our events.

Our next breakfast meeting at Grains of Montana in Billings is on August 13^th.

I hope to see you soon.

Stephanie Haider

Philipsburg, Southwest Montana

We are heading to Anaconda and drive the Anaconda – Pintler Scenic Route past Georgetown Lake and Phillipsburg. This is a short 65 mile drive starting in Anaconda and ending in Drummond. The route goes past beautiful Georgetown Lake and Phillipsburg. We will stop and spend time in Phillipsburg that afternoon. We can mine for sapphires, visit the Granite County Museum or the Granite Ghost Town.

We have block of rooms at the Holiday Inn Express in Butte.  Their number is 406-782-2000 under the Absaroka Region Porsche Club.  These rooms will be held until July 8th, so make your reservation soon.  We are meeting at the usual place, the Holiday near Gable Rd at 8:00 am with an 8:30 departure.  We will stop in Whitehall for lunch.  Either picnic or there is a Subway and A&W right off the interstate.  If we want to be brave we can go over Pipestone Pass from there, or get back on the interstate on to the Pintlar Scenic route and Phillipsburg.  There we can check out the Granite County Museum, mine for sapphires at Gem Mountain and have a cold one at the Phillipsburg Brewery.  I have not selected a restaurant in Butte.  There are several good ones so we can decide once we get there.  Maybe you have a favorite place you could recommend.

http://www.visitmt.com/listings/general/scenic-highway/pintler-veterans-memorial-scenic-highway.html

Today’s big event is the TSD Rally and the Concours Banquet. If you’re a rally driver, you know there are some that take it seriously. Their cars are equipped with all kinds of gadgets to make their way through the route to the gnat’s behind. When Fred and I did the rally in Salt Lake it was fun, but boy did we make a lot of errors. For the non serious rally team it’s a nice drive through the local area.

I volunteered to work a rally check point. Seeing the backside of the event really shows the effort involved in planning, and execution. It takes an army of volunteers and some serious timing gear. I guess we’ll just stick to simple gimmick rallys.  I also meet some nice folks from across the country in the process.

The Concours Banquet is sponsored by Porsche. All of the serious national awards are presented here in addition to the awards from the Concours event. Mike Holtzclaw from Alaska won Enthusiast of the Year. If you’ve had the chance to meet  Mike through Graham and Susan you know Mike is a great guy and ambassador for PCA. The award couldn’t have gone to a more deserving person.

Tomorrow is time to head back to Montana. It’s been a fun few days of escape, but it’ll be good to be back home.

Next year’s Porsche Parade is in Spokane. Hope you all can go for a few days.

Today is a highlight for me. It’s the Concours where everyone slaves over cleaning their Porsches with toothbrushes and tweeser. I like to drive too much, so my Boxster is constantly dirty. These folks are obsessed. One guy had a 930 that I thought was the same color as my old 83 SC. After complementing him he schooled me that his color was unique and I was was mistaken. It was a nice car, I just don’t take it that seriously.

I had a look at some Boxsters and again wished mine was here. I actually looked in the engine compartment. I’ve never done that on mine after 7 years! I know mine can’t possibly be that clean either!  One guy from New York had a collection of GT 3s, all with  Montana plates of various styles. There was also a beautiful 356 Carrera cab from Montana. We must have great tax laws.

Porsche has their big tent of new cars to lust for too. They have the crowd favorite 911R which is all ready sold out, a new motorsports edition that is way cool, and a new 911 turbo S that costs more than the house Jo and I just sold. It’s sure is fun to day dream, but in the end I’m happy with my little 01 Boxster S. It pushes all the right buttons for me.

Tonight is an open night for attendees. PCA a has a party for staff and region presidents that is fun time. It’s a nice reward for all the effort dedicated over the year. Graham and Susan will be representing our Absaroka Region for Stephanie. There is always an abundance of Porsche factory folks there as well, so it gives me a chance to speak German.

Well, the presidents party is over  and I and  the  Alaska Region came up with an idea will revolutionize PCA.  Virtual auto cross. Same course across the country, submit  your times and settle it all at Parade. We’ll see how we can make that work. Beer makes you smart, especially free beer.

Tomorrow is the Time  Speed Distance rally, a Huge Parade event. Many PCA marriages have been tested on this event. I’m a scorer, so stand by.

Another fun day. Plan for next year in Spokane.

Well I made it to Vermont. It’s another beautiful state, green, old and still with an occasional Bernie sign in a front yard. Day one for me is business. As a lucky member of PCA’s national staff, attending meetings is what pays my way on this fun trip. Parade however just isn’t the same without Jo and my Porsche. It’s kind of like taking your sister to prom, so when I saw Graham Beckett and Susan Peacock today  it lifted my spirits. They’re about the best examples of welcoming PCA members out there. They both should be on a recruiting poster.

Jay Peak is a ski Resort and scattered across the base of a mountain. Unlike last year at French Lick it doesn’t seem as crowded, and I can sit on my balcony with a beer and not feel like I just jumped out of the shower. That is a welcomed change for sure.

The mood today is pretty jubilant. The German word “schadenfreude” or the joy you get in someone else’s suffering was in full definition as Porsche won Le Mans when the leading Toyota stopped three minutes from the end! 23:57 minutes of racing and hardwork and nothing to show for it!

In a few minutes is the first banquet sponsored by Pirelli. It’s fun, casual and will have several Pirelli Calendar girls walking around. If your lucky, you’ll win a new set of Pirelli shoes for your Porsche.

So time to get ready. Concours tomorrow combined with volunteering for the cleanup detail.

Wish you all were here too.

Happy May Day;

I am a couple days early for this letter but I am leaving town tomorrow.

I want to thank all of you that joined us on our annual Chico trip.  The weather was a little better this year.  Still cold but no rain or snow.  It was a great time as usual.  New members Mark and Sharon from Livingston joined us for lunch and dinner.

May will be a busy month.  Our monthly breakfast meeting is on May 14th at Grains of Montana.  There will be a  pre Zoom Mt car show on May 15th at City Brew on 24th and King starting at 10 am.  City Brew will give us free coffee.  If you are not busy on Sunday morning shine up the Porsche and come have coffee with Mustangs and Corvette’s.

On May 21st we are heading to Miles City to the  Range Riders Museum.  The entry fee to the museum is $7.50 and $5 for seniors.  We are meeting at the Flying J Truck Stop in Lockwood at 8:00 am leaving at 8:30.  We will be having lunch at the Montana Bar and Steakhouse as well as tour the Tongue River Winery.  Please RSVP so I can make lunch reservations.  This is also the Bucking Horse sale weekend so Miles City will be a lot of fun.

Mark your calendars for June 11th for the Zoom Mt Car Show in conjunction with the Corvette and Mustang clubs.  This is a fund raiser for the zoo.  Dana Motors is our sponsor.  There is a $20 entry fee, which goes to the zoo.  It includes two tickets to the zoo.  I know the other car clubs will have a great turnout.  I hope we can have a good showing.  This is also a great membership drive for us.

We will be swapping the breakfast meeting to June 18th as the car shown is on our regular meeting day.

I would like to thank Graham Beckett and Nicholas Heesy for renewing their membership.

I hope to see you soon.

Stephanie