Don's Recap, 2 May 2003
Thanks to the following:
Hotel Carla Scheifele and Steve Wennick. Greeting sign in hotel welcoming all of us said it all. Ability to wash our cars, parking area, the meeting room and  the excellent buffet dinner Friday and breakfast on Saturday were perfect.
Badges  Debbie Nuttall and her husband Andy Slusar. Their badges were the first sign that this was going to be a professional event.
Judges  Judy Hendrickson, Manny Alban, Lois Kriens, Ed Kriens and Ellen Beck. With almost 60 cars participating in the wash-n-shine, things got hectic and they did  a super job of registering folks and fairly judging the modified, cabriolet and coupe classes. I still have some scoring sheets - let me know if you want yours.
Outlet Center  Craig Brown and Dave Ober. Space for judging wash-n-shine was perfect with lots of opportunities for us to get some shopping in. I understand this was a hit with the spouses.
Tech Quiz  Jeff Coe, PCA 968 Register Historian. Jeff's quiz was super with Trevor Ridgley taking the Tech Quiz Award.
Tech Sessions  George Vassos and Raj Datta. Both presentations were professional and both guys are very qualified. If they lived closer, I would probably be over at their garage with questions quite often.
Door Prizes Eric Sandoval, Rich Tokar, Rimas Balsys. Just about everyone got either an award or a door prize, thanks to their generosity. W.A. Wells got my 1:24 Hasega model and has already put it together.
Surprise Gift for Don  Thanks to all of you for this beautiful token of your appreciation. I understand that Cosimo, Damian, Andy and Debbie Nuttall played major roles in this surprise. The Picture is located in a special place of honor in my garage. It means a lot to me - thanks again!
968 Polo Shirt Rich Tokar and Liz Kile. These are the most unique polo shirts I have seen, with my color car, name of our event and my first name on them. Great shirt Rich and Liz!
PCA 968 Register  Dick Petticrew, 968 Register Advocate traveled from Arizona to be with us. I highly recommend that anyone who has not joined the 968 Register contact Dick to join up. I noticed that Peter Olliveire and John Hennig have joined. About 30 of the 80 owners that participated are members of the 968 Register and we hope to have the other 50 join the 80 current Register members. Total of 130 968 Register Member would get Porsche's attention!
968.net Registry  Ray Starbird, webmaster of 968.net gave a presentation at the send-off dinner where we had 35 guests. Check his website under "discussions" and see a bunch of feedback on our Celebration and the Swap Meet plus lots of great pictures! If you want it all, join Ray's 968 Registry and PCA's 968 Register!
Magazine Coverage Brian Minson, Editor & Publisher of 9 Magazine. Loved the write-up and pictures of cars for Jeff Coe, Chris Lin, Mike McCormack and Rene Valentino in the Vol 2 - No 2 issue that we received at the gate. I am really anxious to see Brian's write-up on our event. If you are not a subscriber yet, send $19.97 for 6 issues to: 9 Magazine, P.O. Box 408, Gamerco, NM 87317 tel 888-225-6920.
Attendees  Each of you, whether you were a 968 owner with or without your car, a guest or a judge. By driving far distances or making the effort to attend, in spite of some onerous weather forecasts, you each made this a success.

80 968 Owners Attended!
Alabama (1)  Larry Currie, 92 horizon blue cab
Arkansas (1)  David Duncan, 92 black coupe
Arizona (1)  Dick Petticrew, 93 amazon green coupe, PCA Advocate 968 Register
California (2)  Trevor Ridgley, 92 amazon green coupe; Eric Sandoval, 92 midnight blue cab
Canada (Ottawa) (1)  Steve Vincze, 93 slate grey coupe
Colorado (1)  Chris Lennon, 92 polar silver cab
Connecticut (6)  Rimas Balsys, 94 midnight blue coupe; Jeff Coe, 92 amazon green cab; John McCarter, 94 midnight blue Turbo S conversion; Jim Sheehan, 92 polar silver cab; Cheryl Sojkowski, 93 amazon green cab; Andy Williams, 95 guards red coupe
Florida (1)  Peter Olliviere, 93 triple black cab
Georgia (1)  Ray Starbird, 94 polar silver coupe
Illinois (1)  Frank Novak, 93 black coupe
Kansas (1)  Scott Harrison, 92 horizon blue cab
Maine (1)  Tom James, 94 polar silver cab
Maryland (4)  Matt Blair, 92 triple black coupe; Bob Hickman, 92 black coupe; Bill Miles, 95 grand prix white cab; Scott Woehr, 94 iris blue cab
Massachusetts (4)  Chris Cannon, 92 guards red coupe; Graham Rippel, 93 amazon green M030 coupe; George Vassos, 95 black cab; Brian Wilson, 93 amazon green coupe
Michigan (1)  Michael Heilman, 94 speed yellow cab
New Hampshire (1)  John Hennig, 93 iris blue coupe
New Jersey (11) Seymour Bogdonoff, 92 guards red coupe; Mark Buchanan, 95 black cab; Raj Datta, 94 white Turbo S conversion; Damian DeBlis, 95 speed yellow cab; Kenyatta Finn, 95 black coupe; Chuck Frobosilo, 95 black cab; Chris Lin, 94 midnight blue coupe; Pat Lippo, 94 black coupe; Charlie Mink, 92 black coupe; Chris Onulak, 95 grand prix white cab; Rene Valentino, 94 amaranth violet cab
New Mexico (1)  Bob Blackwell, 93 midnight blue coupe
New York (8)  Brian Coupe, 95 guards red coupe; Rod Davis, 94 adventurine green coupe; Phil Harrison, 92 grand prix white cab; Jerry Knight, 92 black coupe; Randy Martin, 92 black coupe; Doreen Moran, 94 riviera blue cab; Jerry Mosur, 92 black coupe; Ricardo Oliveira, 92 black cab
North Carolina (2)  Len Ebright, 95 guards red cab; Joska kulcsar, 93 amazon green Club Sport
Ohio (5)  Tate McNutt, 94 slate grey cab; Doug Pahl, 94 black coupe; Bill Roe, 95 polar silver cab; Jonathan Shew, 94 black cab; Chris Taylor, 95 guards red coupe
Pennsylvania (13)  Dwight Anderson, 94 guards red coupe; Curt Ashenfelter, 93 guards red coupe; Dave Erdman, 92 guards red coupe; Bill Gergely, 92 guards red cab; Don Hassenbein, 94 guards red coupe with Saratoga Top; Mike Kane, 92 midnight blue coupe; Mike Kukrika, 92 guards red coupe; Ben Loquasto, 92 guards red cab; Mike McCormack, 92 amazon green cab; Eric Schall, 92 grand prix white coupe; Joe Shemenski, 92 amazon green cab; Andy Slusar, 94 guards red cab; Rich Tokar, 95 speed yellow Strosek Evolution cab
Rhode Island (1)  Aldo Kusmik, 93 guards red coupe
Virginia (8)  Jeff Bushman, 92 black coupe; Ron "Cosimo" Cannizzaro, 95 adventurine green coupe; Marshall Contino, 92 white cab; Sreedhar Krishnan, 94 adventurine green coupe; John Sullivan, 94 slate grey Turbo RS replica; Dave Thomas, 93 slate grey coupe; W.A. Wells, 92 black coupe
Puerto Rico (1)  Angel Alberto Areizaga, 94 adventurine green 3.4 ltr Turbo conversion

Seventeen 968 owners were planning to attend but could not due to baby deliveries, illnesses, damage to their car, etc. We hope they can join us next year: Joe Bellusci, Jim Clemens, Dan Davies, David Downey, Mike Kennedy, David Kloth, Bill McCullough, Eddie McLaughan, Bob Mallaney, Lisa Miller, Walt Stribling, Muti Sufi, Paul Sullivan, Bill Saunders, Rich Tillotson, Chris Trzaska and Nigel Tzeng

I highly recommend that each of you note the other people's names in your home state and adjoining states and set up your own local Celebration or Gathering.  I am considering hosting a Pennsylvania mini-Celebration sometime this summer. As you may know, Chris Lennon, Monument, Colorado, is hosting the 2003 Rocky Mountain Porsche 968 Gathering on Friday Sept 5 (BBQ, Tech Quiz, Social Gathering), Saturday Sept 6 (scenic driving tour w/lunch & dinner) and Sunday, Sep 7 (autocross). If you would like to go, contact Chris (719-487-2842).

Award Winners
Farthest Distance: Bob Blackwell, 2,030 miles
Highest Mileage: Matt Blair, 193,300 miles
Lowest Mileage: Don Hassenbein, 9123 miles
Tech Quiz: Trevor Ridgley
Most Modified: Raj Datta, 94 white Turbo S conversion
Wash-n-Shine, 1st Place Coupe: Dave Erdman
2nd Place Coupe: Brian Coupe
3rd Place Coupe: Frank Novak
1st Place Cabriolet: Peter Olliveire
2nd Place Cabriolet: Andy Slusar
3rd Place Cabriolet: Damian DeBlis
Peoples Choice 2nd: Rene Valentino
One can only win a particular award once, thus opening up subsequent years for other owners. In 2004, we will have a "winners circle" where previous year winners in the 1st Place Cabriolet, Coupe and Most Modified award categories will be shown.

The first year (2001) of the 968 Celebration in Hershey, 15 cars met at the Swap Meet on Saturday and lined up for the peoples choice. Yours truly won the 2nd place award. There is something strange about 968 owners winning 2nd prize in the Peoples Choice for the last 3 years!

2004 968 Celebration in Hershey
Mark your calendars for Friday, April 23 and Saturday, April 24, 2004. It's become evident to me (especially when we caravaned, and caravaned some more, to the Swap Meet Saturday morning and found that they had changed the entrance gate from previous years) that the Celebration is becoming quite popular, which means more coordination for a successful event. For 2004, your humble servant will continue to serve as host but will be helped by a number of Chairpersons:
PCA 968 Register Chairperson: Dick Petticrew
968.net Registry Chairperson: Ray Starbird
Badge Chairperson: Debbie Nuttall
Spouse Activities Chairperson: Marylynn Roe
Tech Session Chairperson: George Vassos
Tech Quiz Chairperson: Rimas Balsys
Road Rally Chairperson: Dave Erdmann
Awards Chairperson:
Hotel Chairperson:

We could conceivably have more than 100 968s at next year's event so we will need lots of volunteers. Let me or the Chairperson noted above know if you have any ideas on further enhancements to the event.

Finally, drop me an email indicating whether you are making plans to join us next year for both days and whether you will bring any guests. Once I get this preliminary number I can then determine our hotel requirements and buffet seating.

See you either this summer at the mini-celebration or next year at the 4th Annual 968 Celebration!