Hoping everyone enjoyed the past holiday weekend! Could not have asked for better weather!
I want to pass along some Schonesland accolades from the national PCA level. The Loess Hills Drive lead by Cam Torstenson with help from Jeff David and social media postings by Skip Hammerman was acknowledged by Aaron Ambrosino, National PCA President. I received the following after the event.
Jen,
Good morning. I wanted to congratulate you and the region on a wonderful drive this past weekend. I saw the coverage on social media and it looked like a fun well organized event. Please pass along our thanks to the team of volunteers that made the event a success.
And thank you for all you do for your Region.
AaronThank you to everyone that attended that made it a safe and fun event! I was quite impressed that the national president pays attention to our “little” club and all that we do! And I second his comment about thank you to everyone that makes events happen. A lot goes into planning and executing an event. You do not realize how much time and effort it takes until you do it yourself. Please thank the organizers when you attend an event! Without all of them, we would not have such great drives and events!!
I know I have mentioned this in prior Apex articles, but Schonesland’s membership numbers continue to grow. Each month I receive an email from national about membership growth. In this email there is a list of the top 10 regions in growth by number and then a factored growth. By factored growth, a region that has 1000 members and grows by 5 has a lower factor than a region that has a 100 members and grows by 5. This month we cracked the Top 10 in the Factored Growth!!
We have a lot of drives and events coming up this summer. I hope everyone has taken a chance to go to the updated website to view the calendar. Hoping to see you at one soon!
Jen Scharff, President jenscharff@me.com
April 22 - Mad Warren
May 6 & 7 - Loess Hills to Sioux City
June 9 & 10 - Omaha Cars and Coffee
July 13 to 16 - Wisconsin Drive
August 5 - Brucemore Estate in Cedar Rapids
August 31 to September 4 - Eureka Springs
September 28 to October 1 - Redwing
When: Sept 20 – 24
Where: Ritz-Carlton
Clayton, MO
Website: treffen.pca.org
Make this your Gateway to Rennsport as we head to the trendy suburb of Clayton, MO to celebrate Oktoberfest. About 10 miles west of downtown St Louis, the Ritz-Carlton is our host hotel and launching point to the Missouri Rhineland. Our tours will follow the Lewis and Clark Trail and Route 66 to some of the most scenic destinations along the Missouri and Mississippi River Valleys. You will get the chance to win one of ten early registration spots for Treffen Wine Country at this event. Registration opens on June 28, 2023 Check the PCA and Treffen websites for additional info and follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/treffennorthamerica for latest updates.
“Touring the Missouri Rhineland & River Valley”
Meet Ken Watkins’ ride. Ken: I saw a brand-new gun-metal grey 930 at a car show when I was sixteen and vowed then to own a Porsche someday. I knew I wanted a Gseries car (1974–1989), a coupe with no whale tale (always liked the purity of design of the back end without a spoiler).
I’ve had the car for ten years now. Can’t beat the noise of an air-cooled six.
Stuart Lehr, 2006 Cayman S West Des Moines, IA
Eric Nelson, 2012 911 Carrera S Grimes, IA
James Powell, 1998 Boxster Boone IA
Andrew Heiting-Doane, 2009 911Carrera S Cabriolet
Clive, IA
Clinton Ackerberg, 1987 911 Carrera Targa Des Moines, IA
When you see a parking lot containing more Cayennes and Mecans than 911”s and Boxters you know the weather is not the best. May showers brought out SUV’s and Porsches needing a car wash. Ben Nordstrom won for dirtiest car. Phil Patterson won for the most un- Porsche-like ride with his pick-up truck..
From left to right: Emily Hillman, Carol Torstenson, Cam Torstenson and Safety Chair Garry Seemann.
From left to right: Competition Chair Bob Eddy, Phil Patterson and Michael Beck.
From left to right: Jim Baker, Sandra Bassett and Social Media Chair Skip Hammerman.
A Concours d’Elegance is a judged event celebrating the history and provenance of the Porsche marque. PCA members show their cars and judges deduct points from a maximum possible value based on vehicle condition and cleanliness. The Parade Concours is an event favorite. Parade is a great time to give it a try!
June 18-24, 2023
La Quinta Resort & Club
Palm Springs, California
www.porscheparade.org
A perfect night in Downtown Des Moines was the backdrop for the May Drive & Dine. Over 60 Schoneslanders filled the outdoor patio of Vibes Kitchen and Bar. Vibes even prepared a special “Porsche Punch” for our enjoyment. Welcoming our club to Vibes, to the left from left to right: Mary David, Karen Wright and Dorothy Struthers.
From left to right: Dave Hill, Janet Hill Jackson, Emily Hillman, Past President Drew Hillman, New Member Chair Ken Watkins, Jacqueline Nickolaus, Michael Nickolaus and Angela Nowysz.
From left to right: Dorothy Struthers, Spinner Editor Bryan Shiffler, Albana Selimaj, Robert Hughes, Jim Baker and Heather Baker.
From left to right: Tim Hawkins, Diana Hawkins, Evie Maners, Randall Maners, Susan Walter and Craig Walter.
From left to right: Karen Wright, Jim Wright, Social Chair Belinda Nordman, Competition Chair Bob Eddy, Carolyn Moore and Karl Schroeder.
The Annual Loess Hills Tour had record turnout. 27 cars and 42 Schoneslanders enjoyed the hills, valleys and curves that are just two hours west of Des Moines. The photo above shows Trail Boss Cam Torstenson giving final driving instructions before we took off. Please note the shadows on the parking lot. Turned out it was the only sunlight we saw on the trip. The Hotel Renovo once again was our start point. Their parking lot looked more like a Porsche dealer’s than a hotel’s.
Yup, we filled up the parking lot at Buffalo Joe’s, an annual watering hole just south of Sioux City. You know 27 Porsches showing up in a parking lot in Smithland, IA is a big deal when the waitresses leave their posts to take photos for their Facebook pages. Below from left to right: Tim Reinhardt, Treasurer Kloey Runyan, Logan Runyan, Frank Krennrich, Dorothy Struthers, Dave Sly, Tour Director Jeff David, Don Parbs, Klay Kane, Shasi Parera, Angela Nowysz and Thomas Nowysz.
From left to right: Nathan Torstenson, Trail Boss Cam Torstenson, C-7 Corvette owners Dr. Corrine Ganske and the Honorable Dr. Greg Ganske.
From left to right: Dave Sly, Carolyn Moore, Karl Schroeder, Bill Nowysz, Angela Nowysz and Thomas Nowysz.
From left to right: John Carlile, Past President Drew Hillman, Treasurer Kloey Runyan and Logan Runyan.
new things for 2023
Sign-up with motorsportreg.com and Ride with GPS
New for 2023 we are requiring everyone to register for ALL
on motorsportreg.com. It’s very easy to create an account and have it remember your password for future use. We have found that motorsportreg makes managing these trips much more efficient for the organizers of each trip and for communicating with participating members.
Ride With GPS has been purchased by the Schonesland Region with a club membership entitling all of us to use it without a fee. This app, which all of us will need to download on our cellphones, will enable trail bosses to create and archive all of our tours with step-by-step driving instructions, maps, and verbal commands that can be viewed and heard from your phone or through your car’s Bluetooth PCM system.
New for 2023 is a shared event for the Schonesland and Great Plains PCA regions. Touring committee members and trail bosses Roy Johnson and Bill Frank have put together a wonderful inaugural event here.
On Friday, June 9th, Schonesland members will gather and enjoy lunch at The Handlebar restaurant in Dallas Center at 11:00 AM. After lunch, we’ll depart for Omaha via US 44to the Loess Hills, where US 30 will take us to the Missouri River where we’ll stop for a brief visit to the DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge. We’ll stretch our legs and view the bottomland forests, tall grass prairie and wetland habitats that mimic the natural Missouri River floodplain. While there, we’ll also see artifacts from the Bertrand Steamboat that sank on the bend that is now De Soto Lake. Over 250,000 different artifacts are contained within the walls of the De Soto National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center.
After this stop, we will continue a very short distance on US 30 to our hotels in West Omaha, very near Saturday’s activities. Currently, there may be limited numbers of individual rooms available at these nearby hotels: Home2 Suites by Hilton (402-289-9886) and the Hilton Garden Inn (402-289-9696) near by. After checking in, we’ll join our Great Plains friends at Bravo! Italian Kitchen for cocktails at 6 PM and dinner at 7 PM in a private dining room.
Saturday morning, June 10th, we’ll join the Great Plains region members at their monthly Cars and Coffee at the nearby Village Pointe Bentley/Genesis of Omaha dealership in the parking lot prior to going to Supercar Saturday. A continental breakfast for 100 will be hosted at 8:00 by our friends at Porsche of Omaha. Due to limited showroom space, you must be one of the first 50 Schoneslanders to register for this event on Motorsports Reg. For those who register too late to enjoy this complimentary breakfast, you’re still welcome to Cars and Coffee, but you’re on your own for food and beverage.
For those of you who would like to display your car in the show field together with other Porsches, or park outside of the show field, you should be at the Supercar Saturday site by 7:30 AM to place your car. There will be a shuttle service running continuously from 7:30 until 9:30between the Bentley/Genesis breakfast and the show field site.
We’re looking forward to a great time with our friends at Porsche of Omaha and making new friends with the Great Plains region members. Please go to motorsportreg.com to get all the details and sign up for this June event.
The Wisconsin Drive will be this year July 13-16 in its new format and new roads. This is the third iteration of this iconic trip that was initially developed by Ron and Alice Newman.
This third format of the drive will take us on Thursday to Prairie du Chien where we will stay at the wonderful River District Hotel and have dinner at the Jones’ Black Angus Restaurant that is one of the all-time favorite dinner destinations of all of our drives. On Friday morning we take off towards Dubuque with a great lunch stop at the Potosi Brewing Company Restaurant and National Brewery Museum. After lunch we will cruise to Dubuque on some of the best scenic back roads Wisconsin has to offer. We will stay at the historic Hotel Julien in Dubuque and have a couple of great restaurants reserved for dinner. On Saturday we drive south and cross the Mississippi River to the Illinois side before a stop at Poopy’s Biker Destination. Then continue North ending in Galena at lunch at Vinny Vanucchi’s Little Italy Restaurant. That afternoon is open for everyone to enjoy what Galena offers or to drive some more in Illinois and Wisconsin as the scenery and roads are fantastic. Saturday night we conclude with dinner at Timmerman’s Supper Club overlooking the Mississippi River before returning to the Hotel Julien for the night.
Let us make this another great Schonesland Tour experience! Please register at http://msreg.com/ Wisconsin2023
Skip Hammerman skiphammerman@msn.com
Autocross Events held by Des Moines Valley Region - SCCA
June 11
Autocross at Eddyville Raceway Park, Eddyville Iowa
Registration opens at 7:00am
July 15-16
Autocross at Merle Hay Mall, North side parking lot.
Registration opens at 7:00am (can enter either day or both days)
July 15-16
Time Trial Track event at Ozark International Raceway
Located in Gravois, Missouri.
Registration at track opens at 7:00am
August 20
Autocross at Bell Avenue Business Center
Located at Bell Ave and Fleur Drive, DSM
Registration opens at 7:00am
Sept 16-17Time Trial Track event at Raceway Park Motorplex (the old MAM)
Located 16 miles south of Council Blufs, IA on Interstate 29 at intersection with US Highway 36
Registration at track opens at 7:00am
Sept 23-24
Autocross at Valley West Mall, North East parking lot
Registration opens at 7:00am (can enter either day or both days)
Registration and information www.motorsportreg.com
Complete info can be found at; https://website.nordstern.org/calendar/
Complete info can be found at: https://www.gprpca.com/events/
June 9-10 Super Car Saturday, Omaha, NE
June 10 Cars & Coffee @ Cozy Cafe, Johnston
June 20 Drive & Dine Gilroy’s Kitchen, West Des Moines
July 6 Thursdays in Pella
July 8 Cars & Coffee @ Cozy Cafe, Johnston
July 13-16 Wisconsin Driving Tour
July 18 Drive and Dine District 36, Ankeny
• Call to Order
• Cars & Coffee Recap/Future Events
• Drive & Dine Recap/Future Events
• Driving Tours Update
• New Member Picnic
• Holiday Party Update
• Financial Report
• Advertising Report
• Competition Events
• New Member Update
• Website
• Spinner
• New Business:
• Events Group Coordination
• By-Laws update discussed
• Trip Insurance discussed
• Next Meeting – June 27th, District 36, 6PM if eating, 7PM for meeting
Belinda Nordman