Au Revoir from Carl

What a great tour yesterday from Sharon to Brandon and lunch at French restaurant Provence! The route was devised by Carl Wulfestieg, our immediate past president and events chair, aka "the indefatigable." Since driving into Woodstock in 2008, in his 1971 911E with wife Sue, Carl has made enormous contributions to our Green Mountain Region, and is a key reason so many of our tours have been so much fun over the last more than ten years.

Carl's efforts on behalf of the club were barely affected by the many months he dealt with serious heart complications, culminating in open heart surgery and a heart pump. Soon after treatments, anesthesia etc, Carl would be right back on his iPhone gregariously dealing with GMR business. As Sue said once when asked how he was doing after a serious procedure, "With Carl, you can't tell. He's always so damn upbeat!"

Now he and Sue are returning to their roots in Seattle to be near family, leaving Vermont in two weeks. Carl plans to immediately rejoin the PCA region there where he was previously active -- this time not with the 911E, but his new 2016 bright red Spyder.

We thank him immensely and wish him and Sue all the best and fun times on the road!

Carl has sent the following farewell address and as usual, it's all about the people in the club, not just the cars.

Sandy Gilmour

Editor, Mountaineer

Director-at-Large

I’ve written this letter in my mind more times than I can count. It is very hard to express my feelings about the Green Mountain Region family, as we move to our new home in the Pacific Northwest. Good-bye is too final, a bientot or a demain too soon, and so long is good, if it’s understood in the true meaning. I think that I’ll stay with au revoir, as it’s open ended and hopeful for the future.

“Some trails are happy ones, Others are blue. It's the way you ride the trail that counts, here's a happy one for you. Happy trails to you, until we meet again.”

Saturday, May 15th dawned with a brightening sky and warm temperatures as the Green Mountain Region (GMR) kicked off its summer series of events. We had a wonderful turnout with over thirty Porsches and 52 PCA members gathered at the Sharon Trading Post. The GMR was the beneficiary of Vermont’s effort to get “shots in the arm” when for the first time in almost 18 months GMR members freely socialized before and after the tour. The tour route, prepared by Carl Wulfestieg, provided the participants with a wonderful ride that took us on a double gap tour over the Bethel and Middlebury Gaps. We eventually wound our way to Brandon where members enjoyed a delightful lunch at Café Provence and more socializing.

In every volunteer organization there are always a few members who really make a difference and contribute to its success. The GMR has been fortunate that over its 35 year history to have had several who fall into this category. However, at this time I would like to take the opportunity to recognize our Immediate Past President, Carl Wulfestieg. As you probably know by now Carl and his wife Susan are in the process of relocating back to the Pacific Northwest. Over his GMR tenure Carl has filled official roles and responded to many requests for assistance. He has also been a tremendous help to me as I transitioned into the GMR Presidency. Carl and Susan will be missed but he assures me that we are all welcome to come visit them in the Seattle area.

As a reminder - keep an eye on our website gmtpca.org and the Mountaineer for updates on our summer events. In June, we will be hosting our New Member Meeting in the Burlington area. We’ll be focused on the southern half of Vermont during July and August. In July our V.P. Dave Whittal is planning a driving tour and in August, Bob Rubin is planning an overnight event. For September, we are headed to NY’s Adirondack State Park for a driving tour and luncheon at Livingoods Restaurant in Peru, New York. In October we will be holding our Annual Meeting and Fall Foliage Tour and finally, in December it will be time for our 35th anniversary themed holiday party. While these events are locked into the GMR schedule we are not limited to these events, if you have an idea for an event or tour (statewide or regional) please let the Board know.

In closing, I’d like to paraphrase Carl’s remarks at the Café Provence - “GMR is a volunteer organization and the more volunteers the more successful the club will be, please give serious to offering your services, no matter how small or large. You will have more fun and get back much more than you might expect”.

Best Regards,

Alessandro Iuppa

President, Green Mountain Region PCA

Here are a few photos from last Saturday's (May 15) tour, Sharon to Brandon. Thanks to Dave Kynor for the nice car shots! More on our website soon!

Saturday, June 12. Join your fellow GMR members as we welcome our newest members and their cars. Rather than organizing one or more tours to drive to the meeting, the Board has decided to forgo the organized tours so that you can travel to the meeting at your leisure on a route of your choosing. We'll meet at the Doubletree Hotel in South Burlington.

Friday/Saturday, August 13/14. Bob Rubin has once again offered to put together an overnight event in southern Vermont.

Saturday, July 10. Our Vice President, Dave Whittall, will be leading a tour in south central Vermont. The route is expected to commence in Grafton and conclude with a luncheon in the Manchester area.

Friday/Saturday August 13/14. Bob Rubin is planning an overnight tour in southern Vermont.

Saturday,September 25. Stu Friedman is putting together another ( his 4th for GMR) drive through Adirondack Park in upstate New York.

October. GMR Annual meeting and Fall Foliage Tour

December. Holiday Party -- GMR's 35th Anniversary Gala

Tim Engelbert, Essex Junction, 2003 Boxster S (Color not listed)

James Williams, Northfield, 2010 Cayman (Color not listed)

Richard Kessler, Penn Valley, PA (dual membership with GMR), 1998 911 Carrera

Name Tags: We recommend that new members and their spouses or partners purchase "official" Green Mountain Club name tags for wearing at all GMR events. Please email [email protected] to request them for you and your spouse or partner, and our treasurer, Christina McCaffrey, will try to get them for you in time for the next event. The cost is $15.00 per name tag.

Please reply to this email with your photo and information.

Sandy Gilmour

Editor

Check out our GMR website and Facebook page for event updates and club news.

Replies to these newsletters come to me (Sandy Gilmour), not the entire membership; however, I can forward to our president and other board members if needed or you may email the president, Alessandro Iuppa, directly at [email protected]. We welcome any comments on ways we can improve communications.

Join Green Mountain PCA -- If you are receiving this email as a "friend of Green Mountain Porsche Club," please consider joining PCA. You get a great magazine, Panorama, and membership in Green Mountain Region is included in the annual dues of $46 a year. Go online at www.PCA.org, or simply call headquarters in Maryland at (410) 381-0911‬.

We welcome any submissions to this newsletter and to our website by members who have some fun experiences, photos, tech stuff and other adventures to share! Email me at [email protected]

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