Su Porsche & Pancakes at Anthem Country Club

We arrived a few days prior to the start of the event, at the request of national Driving Tour Chair Greg Halverson, who had expressed the need for assistance with final plans and logistics for the driving tours and other associated Parade events for which he was responsible. Debbie’s experience as an event planner came as a bonus, and we were both more than glad to help out.

There are many accounts on the Web, in social media, etc. of the various activities that went on during the week, and I encourage you to check those out for a comprehensive story of PCA’s annual gathering of Porsches and those who share the passion for our special cars (2022 Parade in the Poconos). Rather than recount those, this article focuses on Debbie’s and my personal experience as participants and as part of the Parade Staff who do the behind-the-scenes work to make the event such a huge success every year.

2022 PCA Parade Staff, led by Ron Gordon, Parade Chair.

Much of our time in the two days leading up to the opening of registration was spent working with Greg on assessing the tour staging area, gathering equipment, planning the layout for as many as 14 separate tour groups which would be heading out each day, and ensuring that we were ready with all the tour information for the 1100-plus registrants who would be showing up at registration on Sunday.

Sunday

Registration ran all day Sunday, with Greg handling most of the Tour registration troubleshooting challenges while Debbie and I worked with the very helpful volunteers who manned the registration table to ensure that participants had their wrist bands, schedules, driving directions, etc. that they would need when they arrived at the staging area for their tours during the upcoming week.

Sunday evening featured a reception hosted by our Zone Rep Lori DeCastro. It was nice catching up with friends from around the zone and meeting others who had traveled across the country to this year’s event. If you get the chance to meet Lori, you will find her to be a very enthusiastic, friendly, outgoing person who is a great representative for our zone.

Capping the evening was The Pirelli Welcome Party and Social Hour, which featured remarks from Parade, PCA, and PCNA attendees, and a WORLD REVEAL from PCNA (check out the particulars on PCA and other media sites).

Monday

Monday was reserved for the premier event of the week, the PCA National Concours d’Elegance. Always a delight to the eyes, the Concours is an amazing display of Porsches, from some of the earliest 356 models to the latest Taycan, with just about every model and variation represented at the event.

Parade truly is about the people as well as the cars, and owners are always happy to chat about their special Porsches. Unfortunately, a steady drizzle on Sunday moved the Concours venue from the planned location at the nearby golf course to the large parking area outside the Convention Center. Many more of the cars were on display inside, where they had prepped for Monday’s Concours judging.

Standing out in the Historics display was Arizona Region member Richard Strahota’s 964 Carrera RS, in its special Rubystone Red paint scheme.

A quite interesting “drop-in” not registered for the event was this 959, a model which always attracts attention as Porsche’s first supercar.

Tuesday

Up early on Tuesday, we took the short drive to the Kalahari and began the first of four mornings managing logistics at the staging area for the hundreds of cars that would be arriving in anticipation of their scheduled tours. Four destinations were offered: Yuengling Brewery, Lehigh Valley Scenic Railway, Nurnberger Bierhaus, and Fabspeed Motorsport.

With the invaluable help of conscientious volunteers, the cars were directed to their assigned group parking areas. Participants were briefed by Greg in the drivers meetings, ensuring that everyone understood the importance of safety and other important details they needed to know before their tour headed out into the beautiful Pennsylvania landscape. With as many as 14 tours going out each day, and up to four separate groups per tour, managing the staging and getting everyone on their way on time was no small task.