NEW and UPDATE events are highlighted below.
REMINDER: To locate events, details, and registration information, please go to our HCR Calendar and you can find these events there with registration links.
SPECIAL MESSAGES:
1.
Last week your Executive Council took up a discussion on the recent move by City of Austin and Travis County to go to Stage 5 for COVID. We looked at a lot of data from Austin Public Health, the City, and the County to try and determine what we should do with our events. After a pretty in-depth meeting, plus follow-up 1:1 conversations with multiple EC members, plus a conversation with PCA Attorney Ken Laborde, I crafted a new Communicable Disease policy for HCR. The policy went through a couple of reviews and drafts, and ultimately was presented to the Board for a vote late last week. The vote was 12-1 in favor of implementing the policy.
In short, the policy acknowledges that, for our planned events in Austin or Travis County, we will follow the most restrictive recommendations from the City and the County, which is the COVID Chart for “unvax’d” individuals. That chart currently reflects that in Stages 4 and 5, “unvax’d” individuals shouldn’t attend any events in the City or the County, indoors or outdoors. So that means we will officially avoid doing events in Austin or Travis County until they get back to Stage 3, or make further changes in their COVID guidance. HCR will also follow guidance in other counties, such as Hays and Williamson, for events we may plan in those counties. (Those counties use CDC guidance, which is less restrictive than the COVID charts Austin and Travis County use.)
We also polled our social event coordinators for their thoughts on holding their regularly scheduled events, and doing them in other counties outside of Travis. Crystal Zarpas, Social Chair, collected their feedback and shared it all with me. Most felt we should press “pause” on our social events for awhile, until the transmission and infection rates subside. So that’s exactly what we are going to do, and that’s why you will see cancellations in our social events below and on our calendar.
Your Executive Council will review this new policy, as well as the Austin and Travis County COVID updated data, in the next couple of weeks and make any recommendations to the Board for adjustments to our events or this policy as warranted, especially if COVID wanes and/or the City and County make any changes to their COVID recommendations.
We are working on creating a place on our new website to place all our policies and working documents, like this policy and others, Bylaws, etc. The intent is to make all our policies visible to our members, for complete transparency.
2.
Y’all remember I shared an email last week that I received from John Parr in Houston. He was looking for an older Porsche convertible for his daughter’s wedding pics. The update is that from my email, 3 members reached out to him with offers to use their cars. WOW!!! That’s very cool, and I’m very proud of region lending him a hand. WTG HRC!
3.
This past week I spoke with Joe Petty, the PCA sales rep out at COTA. They are already gearing up for the 2022 F1 race at COTA, so here’s his pitch:
Formula 1 United States Grand Prix
October 21-23, 2022
Due to popular demand for tickets, we are offering all members of Porsche Club of America an exclusive opportunity to secure 2022 USGP tickets.
If you have already placed a deposit or are interested in attending the 2022 USGP, please contact Joe via email at Joe.Petty@thecircuit.com
If you are interested in Hospitality or any of their Private Spaces feel free to give Joe a call at 512-655-6461 to discuss.
Here’s some new and updated events:
Jan 20: Hoppy Hour – CANCELLED
3rd Wed of each month.
Jan 22: NEW – Tech Session at Esses Racing in Buda
Buda-based Esses Racing, an HCR sponsor, will be hosting its inaugural tech session on Saturday, January 22, 2022, from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The session will cover four topics: (1) alignment; (2) tire pressure; (3) tire type; and (4) general maintenance. Each topic will include a comparison and contrast between track and street car readiness.
Esses will provide breakfast. Waivers will be required, and masks are suggested. Registration is now open. More details and registration link is on the HCR Calendar.
Jan 27: North/South Happy Hours – CANCELLED
4th Thursday each month, 5:30pm-7:30pm
Feb 3: Ladies Lunch at Casa Freudenberger
Ladies, join us at Casa Freudenberger for Ladies Lunch. The event is at the estate of Casa Freudenberger on Wednesday, February 2 at 11:30 am. The address is 9608 Palmbrook Drive, Austin TX 78717. Their home is located in Avery Ranch in Parkside. Come enjoy something fun and different.
Please email Michelle if you are interested in attending.
Feb 9: Annual Meeting at Location TBA
SAVE THE DATE for our Annual Meeting!! On Feb 9 we will gather from 6-8p.m. at a location TBA. Our event starts at 6:00 p.m. with dinner. At 7:00pm we will have a VERY short program to present our year-end financials, report on our progress in 2021 as well as our initiatives for 2022. We will also have an open Q&A with any Board members who are present.
Registration is helpful just to get a headcount.
Show up, chow down, meet Board members, and hear how great our club is doing!
Registration is here: Annual Meeting
Feb 10: Lunch Bunch TBA
2nd Thur of each month at 11:30am.
Feb 12: NEW – Tech Session at HD Motorsports in Leander
This event will run from 10am – 1pm. Registration is open and can be accessed on the HCR Calendar. More details to follow.
Feb 16: Texas Sips & Sticks at Casa de Montecristo (TENTATIVE)
This is a cigar and single malt whiskey tasting at our club sponsor, Casa de Montecristo. We are celebrating the first steps that on this date in 1835 ended up with Texas Independence. Our event is set for Wednesday, Feb 16 from 6pm-8pm. We will be tasting a selection of four single malt whiskey’s from Texas distilleries. Cost is $50pp payable at the door. That covers the whiskey tasting PLUS a premium cigar from the Casa humidor. Or you can skip the cigar and just do the whiskey tasting, but the cost is still $50pp. Snacks are also provided. Registration is now open on ClubReg, the event is capped at 20 attendees, and Ladies are invited!
Feb 17: Hoppy Hour at Location TBA
3rd Wed of each month.
Feb 24: North/South Happy Hours at Locations TBA
4th Thursday each month.
February 25-27: NEW – Winter SchnellFest at COTA (TENTATIVE)
More details coming soon.
Mar 5: NEW – Ladies Tech Session- Dealing with the Dealer
Ladies, join us at Cedro Scratch Italian & Wine Bar in Cedar Park on Saturday, March 5 at 11:30a.m. This is a Ladies-Only Tech Session and includes a curated brunch (items ordered to be paid for by each participant).
This Ladies Tech Session will give you an opportunity to up your game when visiting your local Porsche Dealer, from sales to service. We are pleased that this special Event will be led by our very knowledgeable member and prior-Porsche Austin Sales Consultant, Amber Ashy. Amber will not only give the ladies the inside scoop on what to expect from a dealer visit, but she will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have.
To ensure that your registration can be confirmed, please make sure that you pay the $10 registration fee during the registration process, out on club registration.com. If you miss it, just check your dashboard on clubreg for the event, and then you should be able to submit the fee that way.
Stacey and Amber look forward to hosting the ladies for this special event!
Mar 12: Spring Autocross at HEB Center in Cedar Park
After a very successful Fall 2021 Autocross, we will again be getting our adrenaline going at the H.E.B. Center at Cedar Park for our Spring 2022 event on March 12. Your club recently purchased brand new timing equipment that will not only be much easier for your AX team to use, but should help everyone get even more runs than last event. As before, we want to encourage as many PCA members to fill up our 60 maximum attendance. For anyone that has not participated in an autocross in the past, you should know that this is a safe and extremely fun event. The AX team designs the course so that the top speeds are around 60mph, so very little wear and tear on your car. We plan on having an intro to Autocross Zoom call soon, for the newbies. On the morning of the autocross, we will conduct a novice walk to help everyone get comfortable with the course and have an idea as to how to navigate around the cones to achieve their best times. Lastly, we will have several autocross experts available to ride along with anyone that would like an instructor. At only $40 for PCA members, this is way more affordable than DE and takes place in a parking lot, not a track.
Your non-PCA friends can join us too for only $50. Registration is now open at https://clubregistration.net/events/signUp.cfm/event/12088.
In the Rearview Mirror
No Activities to report this past week, aside from the EC and Board meetings.
Our objective continues to be to keep our membership up to date on what is going on in HCR, as well as PCA nationally. Please remember, our goal is to deliver events where members can choose their level of participation. We will continue to stress safe and fun events!
If any questions or comments, please let me know.
Charlie Sparks
President – Hill Country Region
Porsche Club of America
918.510.3604
Follow @hcrpca on social media