Pre-Purchase Inspection

On March 15, 2003 the Down East region held its Annual Banquet at the Marriott Sable Oaks hotel in South Portland. As usual, it was lovely to see so many new and familiar faces to chat about the upcoming motoring season. Linc Avery brought some color to the cocktail hour with his excellent automated slideshow projected onto a large screen. Down Easters got a big chuckle out of seeing themselves in photographs they didn’t even know existed! On a side table, there was a fun Model Car Concours, with a bunch of great entries. Hopefully there’ll be even more next year! The TV and VCR were going with a showing of a history of Lime Rock Park and a wild RUF Porsche demonstration video provided by Gerry Giordano. Of course there were plenty of snacks and beverages to keep everyone satisfied while they chatted with each other about upcoming events.

A short business meeting was held to approve this year’s board members as well as to welcome the folks from the now-defunct “Up ‘N Maine” region into the DER. Andy Field came all the way down from Brewer to represent these folks, and he expressed his desire to help bring fresh Porsche Club activity to Northern Maine. A welcoming round of applause let him know that the Down East Region is glad to have them all on board! Also, the Member of the Year award was presented to PFME’s editor Glenn Hill! Our Zone-1 representative Henry Hoeh surprised even Don McGilvery by presenting the DER with a huge 30^th Anniversary banner! It’s really gorgeous and will look great at our club events!

Several members presented their ideas for new Down East Region activities. Larry Theut had received permission to give a limited number of people a tour of the boatyard where he works, where they are building a stunning 155’ yacht (click here for the full story!), and Harry “Dutch” Dresser offered to organize a tour to the Balsams Hotel in New Hampshire…which everyone agreed would be a super event (registration and details here) .

This year’s guest speaker was a real treat. Everyone seemed to enjoy Dr. Andrew Burgess and his presentation on automobile crash safety technology, and how the Germans are so far ahead of everyone else. He backed up his presentation with an excellent slideshow of photographs, charts, and medical diagrams. I certainly gained a new appreciation for the safety features in modern automobiles, and Dr. Burgess is a real authority on the subject. In appreciation, President Don McGilvery presented Dr. Burgess with an honorary DER membership in the hope that might convince him that he needs a Porsche in his garage!

The evening closed with the raffle and it seemed many folks waked away with something. There were posters, gift certificates, and of course, charming floral centerpieces provided by club secretary Sally Sprafka.

If you could not make it to this event, make an effort to join us next year, as it is always an enjoyable evening.

Nicholas Yardy with Theresa & Doug Omatick	DER Member of the Year - Glenn Hill	Ingrid & Brian Poulin	Guest speaker Dr. Andy Burgess with the Hills
Model P-Car Concours	Louise & Dick Spiers	PCA Zone 1 Representative Harry Hoeh	Buddies Stave Atwell & Don McGilvery
The Poulins and Klingamans	Dutch & Elaine Dresser with Ron & Barbara Boes	Kyle Atwell & Jane Thrift	Steve Atwell & Hodgdon Yacht's Larry Theut
Karen & Glenn Hill, speaker Dr. Burgess, and Linc Avery	Don receives a surprise 30th Year DER PCA banner from Harry Hoeh	Guest speaker Dr. Andy Burgess explaining crash research	Neal Weinstein & friends

As always, a lot of fun, but this banquet had a few twists!