All Porsche Grand Display

STORY BY Dennis Rood

PHOTOS BY Rich Andrade

It seemed very early to me when I awoke at 4:30 AM on Sunday March 5 so I could get ready and be at Carefree Town Center to set up for the first All Porsche Grand Display.

Bill Stubbs and I and other volunteers had worked on this show for the past two months and I had meetings with the Town Manager starting last April to see about having a show here. When I arrived at the site at 6:10 AM Bill was already putting out the barricades and Street Closed signs to block off both ends of Easy Street and the North end of Ho Hum Street so that we could safely place the cars where they would look their best for the show.

All the volunteers arrive shortly afterwards, and I can’t tell you how happy I was to see the “Porsche Spirit” pervading all of them. They all pitched in and we got the club PCA tents and tables set up for registration, membership and coffee and pastries. While the show was free to the public, we also put out tables at each show entrance and at the central tents that said “$5 Donation Appreciated, Proceeds Benefit Mesa Community College Auto Services Program.” (At the end of the day we had collected $460 in these bins.) We had a total of 15 volunteers as follows:

Dennis Rood, Nancy Rood, Bill and Audre Stubbs, Ted and Kathy Vanderhoek, Frank Gremmelmann, Gregg Bull, Jim Roberts Sr., Rook and Debbie Younger, David Fisher, Moe Scharhon and Rob Mains and Paul Hanson, photographers. Thanks to you all for the great work.

Now we were all set to receive the cars. Frank Gremmelmann was stationed at the entrance to Carefree Town Center under the arch on Cave Creek Road. Frank directed them down the drive to Ted Vanderhoek, who checked them off and made sure they were registered and could stay for the entire show. Then Ted sent them down to the volunteers to place the cars. Gregg Bull and I had Group 1 and had each entrant back into a space at an angle so as people walked down the row they would have a better view of the cars on display. Others had groups two and three for a total of over 80 cars. About 7:30 AM the sun broke over the buildings in the East and it was warm and sunny all day and about 72 degrees just perfect. All the cars were placed shortly before 9 :00 AM. We then opened the show by welcoming everyone and playing the National Anthem to show our respect for our flag, our country and all our men and women in uniform and first responders who keep us all safe and free.

We played jazz background music all day, trading off with an Indian Flute Player who, I guess, just sets up there ever Saturday and Sunday. By alternating it was OK and everyone had a great time looking at all the cars, meeting new ones and greeting old ones. After all, “You Come for the Cars, but Stay for the People” and this is so true.

Judging started at 10:00 AM and results were turned in by Noon. At 1;30 PM we assembled the participants, I introduced our President, Mark Manente, who introduced the other officers and had some kind words for the volunteers who put on the show. Awards were given at 1:30 PM and shortly thereafter we released the cars to leave, and the show was over and in the history books. Our great group of volunteers all stayed and help break down the show and get everything stored away.

Here were the awards winners:

Group 1

First Place Jacque Booth 1963 Red 356 Coupe

Second Place Stuart Lehr 1973 Bahia Red 914

Third Place John Carnahan 1978 Minerva Blue 930 Turbo

Group 2

First Place Mark Stieg 1995 Guards Red Coupe

Second Place Dan Francis 2005 Arctic Silver Boxster S

Third Place Jerry Rusca 2002 Oriant Red 911 Turbo

Group 3

First Place Rob Biddle 2019 Racing Yellow GT3RS

Second Place Mark Harris 2019 Carmine Red 992 Speedster

Third Place Marty Ercoline 3 2015 Carmine Red 911 GTS

Here are a few comments I received after the show:

“Great show today. Was surprised to get a second-place award” Stuart Lehr, Group 1, 1973 914

“It was a great show, most every model was represented, and everyone who helped put the event on did a great job. The spectators really enjoyed the event also. Thanks again for getting us registered for the event. Looking forward to next year. Don Tevini & Jacque Booth”-1959 Porsche 356A, Pan Americana Race Livery, 1963 356 Red Coupe 1st Place Group 1.

“Dennis-I wanted to congratulate you on yesterday’s event. I have participated in many different events with many different cars from Concours events to Cars & Coffee all over the country. It is nice to attend an event that has great cars, great people and logistically comes off without any issues (the weather you ordered was perfect!). I for one am glad you brought this event to Zone 8 PCA”. James Borowski-1983 944, Guards Red

I and all the volunteers want to thank everyone for bringing a car, those visiting the show, those who donated and for the nice comments. It seems everyone had a good time and perhaps we will put this on again next year. We also want to thank Steve Prokopek, Carefree Economic Development Director, who helped us for 11 months to get our show approved by the town council, waived the normal $1400 permit fee, showed up Sunday at 5:45 AM to help us set up and came back at 2:00 PM to help us break it down. Thank you so much Steve.

All the best,

Dennis Rood & Team All Porsche Grand Display