Porsches & Pancakes at Anthem Country Club

CONTRIBUTED BY FRANK J. GRIMMELMANN PHOTOS BY RICHARD BERNAL at Anthem Country Club

What do you do for a memorable Sunday in Arizona in the fall? Enjoy a perfect Porsche Fall day at the Anthem Country Club, of course!!

Fortunately, 120 members of the Arizona PCA answered that by attending the 9th Annual ‘Brunch a’ Little’ Porsche & Pancakes (P&P) signature event at Anthem’s Ironwood Country Club. The weather was picture perfect for the September 25th Event, a tribute to Arizona and the good fortune (and luck) after the event had to be rescheduled for the 5th time due to the pandemic. Sixty-five Porsche’s were on site with several owners bringing multiple cars driven by various family members, quite a show for the Marque. Once again, it proved that it's the people, not just the cars that make the club.

With the event check-in scheduled for 8:30 with the food service beginning at 9:00, being a AZPCA P&P event many participants showed up an hour early with some just before 7:30. At this event the added incentive was arriving early assured that you would be able to position your car around the circle in front of the clubhouse. That said, seems like our club has a penchant for early arrival at all P&P events, so no surprise and we were ready for them with coffee available.

Additionally, we identified another characteristic of AZPCA members, namely as evidenced by Andy Schermuly, an innate sense of misdirection. Specifically, Andy and several participant cars showed up at Anthem’s Persimmon Country Club instead of the Ironwood Country Club Facility (yes Anthem Country Club has 2 golf courses and correspondingly 2 clubhouses with very different personalities). Upon closer inspection, it turns out to be a guy thing, namely an innate inability to read emails and follow directions. I can attest to this since I’ve been there myself many times in the past, and don't necessarily intend to change in the future. More fun to get lost and divine your way to the right location.

Fortunately, we had several engaged volunteers for the event assist with the checkins, including Mark and Jeanne Baker, David and Cynthia Haag, and of course my wife Maria,who supported the event throughout.

Additionally, Richard and Vicki Wyatt and, Jim and Nancy Golba kept an eye on the car positioning around the circle engaging many ad hoc volunteers to further assist on the spot, demonstrating their commitment and dexterity. Also, a big thanks to Richard and Vicki Wyatt, Marla McDermott, Rook Younger, and Angela Manente for their assistance with posting the webpage, Motorsport, registrations and of course publishing this piece in Going Places. We were also pleased to see several long-time members appear who had avoided past events by displaying an abundance of caution due to the pandemic. Good to see Jan and Monyette Nyquist join the party, we’ve missed you.

Finally, a special thanks to our friend Richard Bernal (aka David Bernal due to my dyslexia), the owner of Event Party Photos for volunteering his time and providing individual printed photos for everyone at the event for the 9th consecutive year. Of course, we couldn’t have gotten the group photo without the special wide angle lens given the number of participants. So a grateful thank you Richard for your support and contribution to the event.

This fun event proved once again that it's the people, not just the cars that make the AZ PCA so special. The highlight is always the social interaction between the long-time club members and participants just joining the festivities for the first time. Our thanks to all of you for your engagement and support in making this annual event so special through your participation, and keeping the event fresh and alive as we approach a decade celebrating together. Maria and I look forward to welcoming everyone back next year for our 10th anniversary hosted Brunch ‘a Little event and another great time for everyone to get together and celebrate life!