Club History
1960’s
The origin of what would become the Longhorn Region of PCA is a short letter dated June 13, 1962. W.R. Allen writes to PCA National offices in Virginia wanting information on how to start a PCA Region in San Antonio. Several letters go back and forth for the next five months culminating in a PCA Charter being granted on November 10th, 1962 to PCA Longhorn Region. Letters dated prior to the end of October all referred to ”PCA-San Antonio Region”. After the first letter by W.R. Allen, all others were written by R.H. Mottweiler. W.R. Allen’s name is not seen after the first letter, and he is not on the list of charter members in November.
The founding officers were W.H. Turner, Jr. (President), Dr. Herbert K. Eastwood (Vice President) and R. H. Mottweiler (Secretary-Treasurer). Including the three officers there were thirteen charter members. The boundaries of the new Longhorn Region in 1962 were Bexar, Kendall, Wilson, Atascosa, Guadalupe, Blanco, Comal, Frio, Medina and Bandera Counties. For the next 16 years we would be a charter region of the Porsche Club of America before we would finally become incorporated.
By the end of 1964 most active members and officers were in the Austin area even though Travis County was not part of Longhorn Region. In February 1965 Travis and Hays Counties were added to Longhorn Region’s boundaries and the Region’s address was changed to Austin.
There is little recorded history of club activity until a newsletter was started in 1966. This first version was a single piece of paper. Later that year it became known as the "Porsche Bull". Hill climbs, Rallies, Gymkhana’s, and pleas for articles were all themes this year. Not surprisingly, most of the events and meetings took place in Austin rather than San Antonio.
1967 saw our membership grow to 26 members, Rallies, Picnics, Gymkhanas at the Austin Raceway, and car shows were the activities for the year.
All seemed to be going well for the club in 1968 with a host of new members joining in, including one Mr. Bill Jones. SCCA races at the Austin raceway were popular events, as was a Wurstfest in New Braunfels. Discussions over raising membership fees and changing Regional boundaries were hot topics this year.
1969, membership was now at 38 and No less than 18 races (SCCA Races, TSSCC Gymkhana's, Pro-formula races in Austin and Aqua Festival races) were the events to see and be seen in this year. The fourth annual Wurstfest was a big success and was held in the (then) faraway city of New Braunfels. General membership meetings were held at Lenzo's Italian Kitchen near intersection of HWY 35 and 290E in Austin.
1970’s
March 1970 was an exciting time for the club as they participated in the Porsche distributor's official roll out of the 6-cylinder 914. This tour was organized by John Young, the club president at the time. The club helped New Braunfels celebrate their 125th anniversary with tours to old homes, and of course, an auto show. A favorite event this year was the "Spaghetti Rally" south and west of Austin. Other events included the "Fix and Fiddle Day, more SCCA Racing, dinners, Gymkhana's and more Rallies. In a sign of things to come, much discussion seemed to center on the Austin group unable to fill positions of leadership and a note that twice as many members (15 vice 7) lived in San Antonio.
1971 saw Bill Jones as our president, and he wrote some lively and interesting stories about Concours Prep and going to Parade with his Speedster. The name “Porsche Bull” for the club newsletter was changed to simply “The Newsletter from Longhorn Region” The newly created club logo appeared for the first time on the June 71 issue of The Newsletter. The first professional Longhorn Region Logo was created by Austin area artist, and Longhorn member, Gene Mobley. 40 metal car badges were made, few survive today. Of interest was a Road and Track article and full spread of a four-door 911 S created for San Antonio native, Mr. Bill Dick. There is nothing in the archives for 1972.
In 1973 our newsletter became a monthly publication in March and was now called the Longhorn Flyer. A familiar theme asking for help on activities was in the news, as were picnics, rallies, autocrosses, and a border rally. Our tradition of an autocross the first Sunday of the month was born this year.
In 1974, the club's attention was placed squarely on the gasoline shortage and things such as a 55 MPH speed limit, rationing of gas to 10-15 gallons per week, and increasing tolls and parking fees. Not exactly the best news for an automobile club. Club interest in car restoration seemed to be growing with handy tips of where to get parts/service plus helpful hints at increasing gas mileage were at frequent subject in the Flyer. Women seemed to be taking the forefront in autocrosses as Betty Jeffrey and Jan Molberg dominated in their classes. Hints of the impending split between the Austin and San Antonio members was mentioned in the March issue of The Flyer. One central problem was meeting locations and times for the large geographical area the club represented. Despite this, numerous events went forward, including autocrosses, picnics, rallies, and tech sessions.
1975 started out with a newsletter editor and format change plus a new set of leaders for our region. Calls to lobby your Congressman and Senators concerning new Federal Mandates on gasoline conservation. Autocrosses, Rallies, our "Spring Thing", Defensive Driving courses and Tech Sessions seemed to dominate activities with concerted efforts to get events in and around Austin as membership in that area continued to grow and the Austin group began having separate meetings. For the first time in Longhorn Region history, the March issue of The Flyer had photos of our members in action during a Tech Session showing how to tune up your 911, 914 and 356.
April 1977 heralded a major turning point in our Region's history with the split from the Austin Group to form the new Hill Country Region. Despite the split by the Austin Group, huge 15th Anniversary Celebrations included numerous Concours (including one in Mexico), Autocrosses, Rallies, Parties, Tech Sessions, and much more were held. Our newsletter changed formats again, now a 12-page monthly with photos, features and a slick new cover.
1978 saw Trips to Monterrey Mexico, Tech Sessions, Rallies and Autocrosses. 1978 is also the year our region was Incorporated by the state of Texas. The region grew by 30 people this year.
1979 saw another trip to Monterrey, Bunny Hop Rallies, Hill Country Autocrosses, and trips to the War Bonnet Region for some really great Tech Sessions.
An icon of the San Antonio Porsche circles, and major supporter of the Region, Jones Autowerks was born this year.
1980’s
1980. Tech Sessions at Carrera Automotive were a common occurrence, we also had Wine and Cheese Parties, Wildflower Tours, Sports Car night at the drag strip, Hill Country, and Pan American Autocrosses, and we established our Goodie Store.
The War Bonnet Tech of 1981 was a big event this year, as was a trip to the Kerrville Car Museum, Longhorn Region autocrosses, the National PCA Board meeting held in San Antonio (the first time ever), and a weekend event in Nuevo Laredo Mexico.
1982. The first year for the multi event Fiesta Challenge, more Rallies, and Event Seminars in the Lone Star Region. The Fiesta Challenge event was a rainy one, yet everyone had a good time. An interesting addition to the Longhorn Flyer was monthly Tech Quizzes and from the looks or the questions, they were challenging.
1983 heralded in big changes for the club as the newsletter became the Roundup. Autocrosses, Fiesta Challenge, Rallies, Tech Sessions, events with the Lone Star Region and Concours dominated the year.
1984, The Porsche Market Letter, better known as PML was a big hit with the club, as were a slew of technical and fixer-upper hints in the Roundup. Dallas had a F1 Grand Prix that many members attended. The War Bonnet Region Tech events were still big attraction for our members as were winery tours and autocrosses.
1986, SASCA autocrosses, Texas World Speedway (TWS) High Speed DE's, War Bonnet Region Tech Sessions, Tours in the Hill Country, and Autofest Charity events were part of the lineup of events. There was even a Corvette Challenge Autocross (Porsches held sway this day!), stints at the Alamo Dragway and of course, our Fiesta Challenge, this was the 5th year for this event. People were gearing up for the upcoming Zone 5 hosted PCA Parade to be held in Dallas.
1987, In July our members to the south in Corpus Christi split from Longhorn to from the Coastal Bend Region. Spurs Games, Tech Sessions, Fiesta Challenge, Autocrosses and the 1987 Zone 5 PCA Parade in Dallas dominated the events this year.
1988, You could buy a Longhorn Region watch this year as well as partake in Potluck Dinners, Autocrosses, War Bonnet Tech Sessions, and the Fiesta Challenge. People were talking about the 25th anniversary of the 911, and the Spring Wildflower Tour.
1989, Dinners, Tours, Autocrosses and Fiesta Challenge made up the bulk of events, with the Grand Prix of San Antonio (IMSA) a major bonus to the club.
1990’s
With four major military bases located in San Antonio, the region always had a large turnover of active members. The active group through most of the 90’s was interested in the driving events, Auto Cross and DE (Drivers Education). The club was fortunate to have the old runways at Brooks Air Force available for many years. PCA DE’s were held at both Texas World Speedway and by Coastal Bend Region at the Navy’s Cabiness Field in Corpus Christi. There were even regular trips to Alamo Dragway.
There were still plenty to do for the rest of the folks. There was an all-Porsche Car show inside Windsor Park Mall (now Rack Space), a Vanishing Texas River Cruise, Tech sessions, a Rallye school, and the Corpus Christi Weekend events. The club participated in the Natalia Blue Bonnet Festival Parade as well as the Classic Cars Cruise Down the Corridor. And of course, there was the annual Fiesta Challenge in the spring. In February 1990, the PCA National Board meetings were held in San Antonio.
1994 saw the first charity event, a car show benefiting the Children’s Habilitation Center.
The August 1995 Roundup announced, “WE GOT IT! now what are we going to do with it?” in reference to the 1997 Porsche Parade. The event was to be co-hosted by Longhorn and Costal bend Regions. Laura Olsen from Costal Bend, a past Zone 5 Representative, was the event chairperson along with 25 committee chairs from both regions. There was also lots of help from several Maverick Regions members who drove numerous 500-mile round trips from the Dallas area over the next two years for the planning sessions.
The 1997 Porsche Parade was held from June 15th thru the 21st with the newly opened Hyatt Hill Country Resort acting as Parade headquarters. And yes, it rained on our parade, but only a few times during the week. The event was a financial success, and our treasury had excess money for the first time.
Only two current Longhorn members had ever entered their cars in a Parade concours in the past. With Parade in San Antonio quite a few entered. The locals did very well, taking five class and two division wins.
The rest of the nineties continued with Fiesta Challenge, Auto crosses, Hill Country drives, and monthly dinner meetings.
2000’s
Several DE/Autocross events were held in 2000, including one DE for Ladies only. The first Longhorn Web Site was launched.
In 2001 we had joint events with both Maverick and Hill Country Regions. A Zone 5 three-day event was held in Houston. 300 people attended, including many from Longhorn.
2002 brought a new club logo. Porsche began cracking down on their trademarks and since our original logo included a stylized Porsche crest it was decided to create a new one. Longhorn member Troy Demel did the design. The Bandera Runs, a more “spirited drive” than our usual tours began in 2002 and continued for several years.
2002 was the clubs 40th anniversary. The annual Christmas party also served as the anniversary event. Guests included the Zone five representative, Jan Mayo as well as the PCA National President Bob Miller.
2003 saw an overnight trip to Big Bend, and the constant search for a local site for autocrosses. Parking lots are getting harder to find, and expensive to rent. The club’s main events were now touring and social. Of course, we still had Fiesta Challenge, but without the autocross.
In 2004 an unofficial event was started, a weekly Wednesday lunch. This was started by a group of Vintage Racers (not all PCA) and soon became known as the “Lies-n-Fries”. This is still ongoing in 2020.
2004 also saw the Porsche Parade close by in Fort Worth. Many Longhorn members were present. We had a well-attended Region party in a suite at the hotel. Bill Jones 356 Carrera won the People’s Choice and Judges Choice awards.
The year ended with a very cold night drive to Marble Falls and Johnson City for their annual Christmas lights displays.
In 2005 Jim Basey organized the first or the monthly “Meet & Eat” series of drives to restaurants. These were anywhere from the Gulf Coast to the Hill Country.
We finally had an Autocross site, Verizon Amphitheater, for this year’s Fiesta Challenge. Another cold ending to the year when the club participated in a lighted night parade in Boerne Texas. Yes, the cars were fully decorated with lights.
2006 saw tours to the Gulf Coast and Hill Country, a Tech Session at Jones’s Autowerks, more Meet & Eat drives, but still no affordable Autocross site. Members were driving to other Regions for DE’s.
2007 was a busy year with a February Meet-n-Eat, March Bandera Run and a Tech Session covering Concours Prep at Autowerks. Fiesta Challenge in April followed by a Hill Country tour in August, Boxstoberfest, and rounding out the year with the annual Christmas Party.
2008 Tech Session at Jones Autowerks, Pecos Trail run to junction with lunch in Kerrville, Corpus trip through Goliad, with lunch on Landry’s boat restaurant got the year started. Fiesta Challenge, A Trip to Houston area and Battleship Texas on Galveston Bay, another Hill country tour with breakfast at Old Spanish Trail in Bandera. The first annual Potluck dinner at the Merrell’s. Six cars from Longhorn and three from Hill Country made the trip together to Eureka Springs Arkansas for the Porsche Palooza. The Christmas party, and finally another very cold drive to Marble Falls to view the Christmas lights.
2009 The Wounded Warrior and Family Support Center becomes our designated charity. Some Region members run the Jaguar Club Luckenbach Rally since it is the only TSD Rally in the area. Good practice for Parade. Hill Country Drive with lunch at an interesting Automotive Art Gallery “l'art et l'automobile” in Harper Texas. In May there was a “Mid-Engine Drive” at Blossom with Porsche Driving School Instructors. The region was well represented at the Parade in Keystone Colorado. Club members had cars on display for the Panamera Launch at Sunset Station in October. Twenty Longhorn members participated in the Harris Hill Road track Orientation Day. The monthly non PCA “Cars and Rides” Saturday morning event sometimes brings out more Porsches than we see at Longhorn events. In the fall there was Boxstoberfest in Fredericksburg, Porschedillo in Austin, and the Christmas Party at the Barn Door.
2010’s
2010 saw a change of leadership with jack Merrell taking over the President’s position from long serving Ron McAtee. Ron was already an active PCA member in Oklahoma when he moved to San Antonio in the late 80’s. Through the 90’s Ron was the club president five times, a few of those times were when no one else volunteered. Along with his duties as president he was also frequently the membership chair, auto cross chair, Fiesta Challenge chair and anything else that needed to be done. Ron continued with membership, autocross, Fiesta Challenge and planning for monthly dinner meetings and the Christmas party for the next ten years.
The club had been without an autocross site for a few years. Thanks to Bob Lundin and Jack Merrell we secured an Autocross site at the Alzafar Shrine, only to find out that our autocross trailer had been stolen two weeks before our first event. Fortunately, the timing equipment was not in the trailer, and the thieves threw the cones out before they left. Our first event drew 40 entries including PCA National Secretary, Caren Cooper.
Twenty-eight Porsches and 53 members of Longhorn enjoyed a drive through the hills northeast of San Antonio in February navigating through the winding back-country roads skirting Canyon Lake and arrived at “Dick’s Garage,” a classic car museum containing some 55 rare and classic cars. The club members also enjoyed a catered barbeque lunch.
Not much interest in the Parade this year located near Chicago with only one Club member, the President, attending. However, 6 members made the trek to Kamloops British Columbia for the Porsche Escape.
Some members took advantage of the Cayenne Demonstration Outing in the Hill Country sponsored by PCNA.
The club had started rotating restaurants for the dinner meetings a few years earlier, giving members a change of cuisine and location each month.
The annual Christmas party went up scale with a move to the Plaza Club atop the Frost Bank building in downtown San Antonio.
2011. Three local Autocrosses and a DE (driver’s education) at Harris Hill Raceway were on the agenda this year. The Harris Hill DE had run groups for both experienced and novice drivers, with instructors available. In March twenty-seven cars and 49 members participated in a drive to Hunt Texas for lunch at “l'art et l'automobile”. Fiesta Challenge was a big success, raising three times the money from the previous year for the Wounded Warrior and Family Support Center.
An extremely hot July day found 19 Porsche entered in the annual Luckenbach Car Show. The show is primarily American Iron, not sure they were ready for the foreign invasion.
More Longhorn members attended the Porsche Parade in Savannah Georgia than any other Parade outside of Texas, and all returned with a trophy from the various events they participated in. Longhorn was also well represented in Flagstaff Arizona at the annual PCA Escape.
Natalie & Marshall Nathan reported on their trip to the Porsche factory to pick up their new Cayman R, and the 1700 kilometers of touring Europe.
For the first time in the region’s history someone from Longhorn was appointed to a PCA National staff position. RJ Wilmoth became PCA National Historian and a member of the board of directors. (Region presidents are on the BOD).
Another Potluck dinner, the Christmas party and that wraps up the first 49 years of the Longhorn Region of PCA.
2012. Longhorn Region reaches its 50th anniversary, and it was a busy one for the club.
We were still using the small lot at the Alzafar Shrine for our auto crosses with the occasional use of the more expensive Ratama Park site.
Several members were driving their older Porsches racing cars in vintage race competition. These would include Ron Shade, John Setar, Skip Duplissey and Alfonso Tomita. The cars were prepared by longtime Longhorn member Bob Jones at Jones’ Autowerks. Those without dedicated race cars could participate in club sponsored DE (Driver’s Education) events at Harris Hill Raceway in San Marcos.
The 30th annual Fiesta Challenge was conducted over two days at the end of April. Four competitive events were held starting on Saturday with a concours at the Porsche center, followed by a rally to Pompeii’s Italian restaurant. For the brave, a tech quiz provided by RJ Wilmoth, the PCA National Historian. Steve and Sherry Farnham again won the overall award for scoring points in all four events.
The 2012 PCA Parade was held in Salt Lake City Utah in early July. Longhorn region was well represented with fifteen members attending and winning trophies in the concours, rally and autocross.
Formula 1 returned to the US for the first time since 2007 and was conveniently located just up the road in Austin. PCA reserved 700 seats in the turn 12 grandstands. Many from Long horn were in attendance.
The year wrapped up with the year end awards and Christmas dinner at the Petroleum Club with PCA National President elect, Dr Caren Cooper, in attendance.
2013. The driving programs were doing well, and the auto crosses moved to Retama park. Four were held including one with an auto cross school for beginners. Two driver’s education track events were held at Harris Hill Raceway.
PCA had a hospitality tent at the March Grand AM races held at COTA (Circuit of the Americas) in Austin. Volunteers from all the Texas PCA regions help staff the tent. The first 50 cars to sign up were allowed on the track for some “parade laps”. Not fast, but fun. A few of the tent volunteers were given “hot laps” with Porsche drivers at the wheel.
One of the hill country drives was all the way out to the Fall Creek Winery in Tow (pronounced “towel” – only in Texas!). Ed Auer the owner met us, provided a tour and box lunches in a beautiful setting.
Fiesta Challenge allowed us to raise money once again for the Wounded Warrior Family Support Center. Fred Del Toro was fastest at the auto cross – again.
We ended the year with over 300 primary members for the first time. Together with 200 family/affiliate members Longhorn was over 500 strong.
Midyear Steve Farnham his years long stint as Roundup editor turning over the duties to Holly Sanders.
2014. The Porsche Club of America has a few “National Awards” that are usually given out at the annual club convention, the Porsche Parade. Most of these awards are at the region level, Region of the Year, Newsletter of the year, etc. A few of these are for individual accomplishments. In 2014 Longhorn Region president Jack Merrell was named the PCA Enthusiast of the year for his work revitalizing Longhorn Region and his volunteer work at the Parade each year. This was the first time anyone from the region received a PCA national award.
Retired Admiral Eugene Ferrell wrote a wonderful article for the Roundup about buying his first Porsche while stationed in Spain in 1955. He and his wife spent thirty days touring Europe before returning to the US where he joined the Potomac Region of PCA. At 95 he still drives the 911E that he bought new in 1969.
The first tour of the year to a private auto museum in Kerrville had such a large turnout (48 cars and 100 people) that we had to split the group for lunch with RJ Wilmoth leading most to L’et art l’automobile in Harper Texas while Pete Harrell led the other group to the Peach tree in Fredericksburg.
The first autocross was also a success with forty cars on a very cold February day. We also had a large turnout for the annual potluck dinner that Jack and Sandy Merrell host each fall.
2015. James Bricken is one of the few Longhorn members to have an actual Porsche race car, and he built it himself. Decked out in the Martini livery of the 911RSR that won the 1973 Targa Florio it goes as good as it looks. James won his class in the final PCA Club Race to be held at Texas World Speedway. The car was also awarded the “Best Prepared” award.
There was never an official position in the region for “Tourmeister”. Jim Basey started it, Ron McAtee did the tours for a few years, then RJ Wilmoth took care of the last five. This year Jim Lowe took over and added some tours south of town for a welcome change. The tours seem to attract more people each year.
The spring Fiesta Challenge earned $4500 for our charity, The Wounded Warriors Family Support Center. The Porsche Parade was held in one of the more unlikely places, French Lick Indiana. Odd name, great resort, and location. This was PCA’s 60th anniversary and one of the displays was called “60x60”. One car from each of the sixty years of PCA. People had to submit an essay in advance for the selection committee. Three cars from Longhorn were selected. Chuck Bush’s 1996 993, Bill Rasco’s 2009 Boxster, and Jack Merrell’s 2012 Boxster Spyder. Our members collected trophies in many events. RJ Wilmoth won the “High Score” for the Tech Quiz.
The fall saw many members back at COTA for the six-hour Lone Star LeMans race. The PCA/PCNA hospitality tent on the top of the hill at turn one was the place to be. Once again, the volunteer staff was mostly from our region.
2016. A new slate of officers with Chuck Bush as president and Mikel Mathews VP takes over from Jack Merrell’s six-year time at the top.
Susie Bush created a couple gimmick rallies this year that were enjoyed by all. Fiesta Challenge was once again sponsored and hosted by Porsche of San Antonio and raised $7500 for our charity. We held the first tech session in a few years at the Porsche center with Porsche tech and Longhorn member Jon Parkoff providing the expertise.
Dave Sanders created a new website for the region. Jud Walford drove all the way to Monterey California to participate in his first national level concours at the PCA Werks Reunion and finished second in class.
After all the usual events, autocross, track days, rallies, Fiesta Challenge, pot lot picnic, we ended the year with the Christmas party supporting the USMC Toys for Tots. Membership was now over 400 primary members.
2017. Chuck Bush has taken on the Tourmeister role and took us to a brewery instead of the usual winery in January.
Some of our autocrosses have moved to the large lot at Six Flags.
The Porsche Experience Center in Atlanta opened last year. At least eight Longhorn members have been on the track and skid pads. Both Steve Farnham and Kris Campbell wrote articles about the Experience Center with the Campbell’s going on to the PCA Treffen in Ashville North Carolina.
For the last few years, the Laurel Tree restaurant in Utopia Texas has been on at least one of the tours. Wonderful place and only open one day a week! Sonny Siefert did the tour and arrangement for this visit in June.
No need to fly to France to see the finest Porsche race cars in action when Porsche brings them right to our doorstep. The World Endurance Championship (WEC) races were held this fall at Circuit of the Americas. Longhorn members were able to see the LeMans 24 Hour winning Porsche 919’s and 911RSR’s do the same here. Many of our members also volunteered at the PorschePlatz (Hospitality Tent).
September saw the first “All German” car show held on the Plaza in Boerne Texas. A joint event with the local Mercedes club saw over sixty Porsches and twenty Mercedes displayed, with some being judged. Chuck and Susie Bush along with Mike Vriesenga staged the event.
2018. Mike Matthews and James Bricken moved up to the top positions this year. We had a full schedule of events with autocrosses, track days, tours, and of course the multi-event Fiesta challenge. The club donated $10,000 to The Wounded Warriors Family Support Center from the money raised at Fiesta Challenge.
The annual Porsche Parade was relatively close this year, Lake of the Ozarks Missouri. At least it was a one-day drive for most. Nine cars and seventeen people from Longhorn participated, most bringing back a trophy. During the National Awards it was announced that there would be two people awarded the Zone Representatives ward of Merit. This has only happened once in the past. Both recipients were from Longhorn region! Linda Bosko and RJ Wilmoth for their eight years combined work creating the PCA National Archives in Columbia Maryland.
The fall potluck picnic moved to Steve and Cheryl Greentree’s property at Canyon Lake. The year’s events ended once again with the Christmas party at the Petroleum Club and the Toys for Tots collection. Over 100 people were in attendance
2019. Chuck Bush became the PCA Zone 5 representative, the first time anyone from Longhorn Region had held this position. Ron McAtee turned over most of his many duties to others after fifty years of service. He will still be working with Insurance, Concours and Autocross committees through the year. Cleo Garza was appointed the first region Social Media Chair.
Drives to Junction, Camp Verde, Utopia, Fredericksburg, Lockhart and south to the Olive Orchard meant for a busy touring schedule this year. The drives were organized by Jim Lowe and Chuck Bush. Four autocrosses and three track days were run by Jack Merrell and Ron McAtee. And of course, there was Fiesta Challenge with yet another $10,000 raised for charity. Now, if all those drives mentioned above were not enough in October, we had a three day drive out to the Big Bend Country put together by Stephen Grigory and Chuck Bush. Sixteen cars caravanned out to the Hotel Pisano in Marfa Texas. The next day we split into smaller groups and visited Big Bend Park, Terlingua and The McDonald observatory for a star party. Most had covered 350 miles by the time we returned to the hotel. We had over seventy members attend the fall potluck picnic at the Greentree’s. Jud Walford held a concours prep clinic and some participated in a judged concours.
2020's
2020. The year started out bright with Dennis Halmai coming on as the new president with new ideas to attract younger members. Some of the changes were not universally accepted by all but it was agreed that appealing to younger Porsche owners was worth a try. Then COVID 19 hit and all activities stopped for a few months. Well, not all. Shelly Matthews continued to publish the Roundup. Before the shutdown we had a tech session at the Porsche center and two hill country drives, and an autocross.
It may come as a surprise to those reading this in the future but after a few months of hibernation the club had a full schedule (minus the social events like dinners, fiesta Challenge and parties) for the rest of 2020. We held two drives, three autocrosses, a track day at Harris Hill and two charity events. In October there was a short drive to Boys and Girlsville SA to provide a COVID-19 version of Trick or Treat for the kids, dispensing candy from the trunks and donating $500. December saw a “No Touch” concours at the Porsche Center supporting the USMC Toys for Tots.
Membership continued to grow topping 500 primary members for the first time.
2021. Pandemic interruptions and cancellations continued for part of the year but the club managed to reinstate monthly meetings outdoors for part of the year. New officers, Jud Walford, President and Ignacio Fortuno, Treasurer were installed and many activities resumed including Autocross and Track Days and many drives organized by Michael Sorbera and Mike Vriesenga and their new, active committee members. The Fiesta Challenge resumed with renewed interest at the Porsche Center and produced a record donation to three San Antonio Charities, Meals on Wheels, SAMMinistries and S.A. Food Bank. Over $15,000 was donated by the club from proceeds of the event and member donations. The Fiesta Challenge Concours had a record number of entries as well as the Gimmick Rally. The loss of a Autocross venue limited Autocross events but several Track Days at Harris Hill were filled to capacity. New Member Chair, Shelley Matthews held a very successful New Member Meeting for all new members of the last year with special goody bags for all and Officers and Chairs giving presentations. The Annual Christmas party was a big success with over 100 guests and special awards for Susie Bush for her years of service as club Secretary, Bob Jones for his work at car events and a special presentation to R.J. Wilmoth as he celebrated 50 years of service to PCA and many years as Region and National Historian. Region elections were held and Jud Walford, President, James Bricken, Vice President, Ignacio Fortuno, Treasurer and Chris Royter, Secretary were elected.
2023. LHR reached a record level of 900 active members in 2023. Social activities included a Princess Cruise, an Old Western Fall Picnic, our Toys for Tots Holiday Party and a New Members eclipse watching social. Porsche SA hosted our 41st Fiesta Challenge Concours and a Porsche 75th Anniversary party where members presented a historic display. Driving tours continue to be popular with over 290 drivers enjoying a variety of routes over the 9 events. Motorsport activities included 9 Autocross at Tree of Life Church and 2 HPDE sessions at Harris Hill Raceway with over 270 drivers participating. Boxstoberfest, the multiregional event in Fredericksburg continues to draw PCA members from many states for a weekend of Hill Country events. 2023 Elected officers: Chris Royter, President; James Bricken, VP; Ignacio Fortuna, Treasurer: Nathan Whynott: Secretary. Committee Chairs: Irene Camacho, Social; Michael Sorbera, Tour & Webmaster; James Bricken, Motorsport; Shelley Matthews, Newsletter and Membership, Mikel Matthews, Safety: Thomas Schadegg, Insurance; Jud Walford, Concours; Mike Vriesenga, Rally & Elections; Jack Merrell, Dealer Liaison.