Member Profiles: May 2024

Member

Chesapeake Region

Member Profile: Randy Bruscup & Stephanie Reuer

By: James B Beavan III

Names & Join Date:

Randy Bruscup and Stephanie Reuer 2019

Current Cars, Previous Cars: 2014 Cayman – which Stephanie purchased in 2017. She does have a serious eye out for a 2023 or 2024 Macan T, though.

Have you served on any Regional or National committees: No.

What encouraged you to join the Porsche Club of America:

Randy became aware of PCA Chesapeake and we decided to attend a couple of Aniano’s wonderful tours. Both of us were so pleasantly surprised by the warm welcome we received and the terrific camaraderie experienced. Randy was interested in autocross and he encouraged Stephanie to give it a try. We were both immediately hooked!

When it came time to buy a vehicle, what made you choose your Porsche and is this your first Porsche (if not please detail prior Porsche's):

This is our first Porsche. Definitely not our last. Stephanie always loved small sports cars and enjoyed driving her TT in the early 2000s. Randy was much more of a “car guy,” however. We were discussing what sports car might be fun to have, but while Randy thought that was just a bit of daydreaming. Stephanie thought of it as marching orders.

Stephanie kept an eye out for a low mileage CPO Porsche and both of us were interested in the mid-

engine Cayman. One day, she showed up in the driveway while on a test drive of a Cayman S, but it wasn’t CPO and had a few more miles on it than she was comfortable with. Randy wasn’t excited about the red interior. Just 3-4 months later, we learned that a 2014 Cayman base model was available at Porsche Annapolis. So, unbeknownst to Randy, she looked at it, drove it, bought it and brought it home on a random day after work. Normally not impulsive, Stephanie says she was afraid if she brought it back to the house, Randy would find something wrong with it and back it would go. Thankfully, Randy loved the color and the two-tone interior and thought it was in terrific shape. He had a big smile on his face, which continues to this day whenever we drive the car.

What are your favorite Regional &/or National events:

Due to our work schedules (and locations), we haven’t had the opportunity to participate in these events. We are excited to join the Treffen at Sea cruise to Alaska in July. As our time becomes more our own, we look forward to things like Rennsport, the Porsche experience in Atlanta (or perhaps Germany!) and other events. We always know that we will have a fantastic time when we participate in anything that PCA Chesapeake and PCA National offers.

What is your favorite PCA memory:

Both of us still wax a bit rhapsodic about that wonderful winding road, Rt. 26 in Pennsylvania, that Aniano scheduled as part of a rally in 2022. Such fun – we hope that the club will host a repeat of that event.

We have truly enjoyed absolutely everything about the autocross program that Greg Hartke, Mark Hubley, et al have crafted. As newbies to the sport, we have both participated in the autocross school twice (and we’ll do so again because it is such a terrific learning experience.) Stephanie’s favorite memory from the school is when Kevin Keaty bet her five bucks that she couldn’t hit a cone in a slalom with her left rear tire. And Kevin paid up when she did! Both of us really enjoy the cumulative, incremental skill building that happens every time we go out on one of Mark’s well-designed and challenging courses. And, above all else, every favorite memory of PCA Chesapeake includes the camaraderie of all of the terrific people who are members, as well as those who serve in leadership positions.

Frankly, we were stunned to learn that when we purchased our car, we also gained this huge, active, fun and terrific social group that is PCA Chesapeake.

What advice about PCA or Chesapeake would you give to new members: We would suggest that new members try everything on the PCA and Chesapeake menu: autocross, tours, HPDE, the charity events, social gatherings of every kind, garage crawls – all of it. You’ll undoubtedly find some kindred spirits almost immediately and you’ll have a ball exploring all sorts of ways to enjoy your Porsche even more.

If money was no object, what Porsche would you love to own and why: Randy: I guess I’d really like to stick with the mid-engine configuration – the handling characteristics are tremendous, and it feels to us like the car turns on a keel just like a racing sailboat. So, for me, the dream car would be a 718 Cayman GT4 RS. But, as Kevin Keaty says, those are made of “unobtanium.”

Anything additional you would like to share about yourself (Family/Work/Etc):

Well, our first date was sort of interesting. We met on a skiing trip to Austria and the first day there, Randy split his lip skiing under some ropes meant to keep all of the hotdoggers out. Because Stephanie had a little bit of German, she was tapped to accompany him to the urgent care in the little town of Mayerhofen so he could get some stiches. They fixed him up AND gave him some pretty effective pain killers. So Stephanie had a bit of a challenge dragging a loopy Randy back to the hotel.

We both like to stay as active as possible. Randy continues to mountain bike regularly and enjoys doing so with Duane Orth, a PCA Chesapeake friend. Sailboat racing has been a big part of our lives for many years and we owned and raced one design in Stephanie’s J/35 “Dakota Girl.” Randy trimmed the jib and the spinnaker – and was the “crew boss.” Stephanie was at the helm. Just like autocross, we loved the challenge of building our skills and those of our team. We have lots of sea stories to tell, including some that start with “it was a dark and stormy night,” of course. And another one design race boat is definitely in our future. Randy continues to enjoy downhill skiing and Stephanie continues to say she can’t wait to get back to skiing, three knee surgeries be damned.

Stephanie has a Master of Music Performance in voice and piano. She sang with companies such as the Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center, Minnesota Opera and Northstar Opera. She continues to seriously study classical piano and practices a couple of hours most days. She hopes to return to a position as a Director of Music for a local church when she fully retires.

Randy has been an artisan in the marine canvas industry for over 50 years. He has handcrafted dodgers and biminis and custom fitted covers for powerboats, sailboats and even some secret military stuff he wasn’t really allowed to know anything about except the dimensions. Stephanie had to have a day job, so she “fell” into Global Trade Compliance, and has worked for several aerospace and defense companies for the last 30+ years. She’s had the opportunity to travel the world and even testified on export control reform to the Australian Senate.

We feel so fortunate to have found our home in Annapolis, where we live in a beautiful little post and beam home with our two pups (a mutt, Rocky (18) and a cream-colored golden retriever, Piper (just turned 1) and a toothless and grumpy Maine Coon cat, Gabby (8.) We love everything about our little city, from all of the history, the architecture, the Naval Academy (Blue Angels are May 21 and 22, so mark your calendars,) the Chesapeake Bay and the many special events held annually that make Annapolis unique. Where else can you burn your socks to celebrate saying goodbye to Winter?