50 Years of Friends and Fun

AJ Moffitt, Staff Writer

On the 50th anniversary of Steve Kidd’s membership with the Porsche Club of America, the Die Porsche Kassette sat down with him to take a look back at the course of his membership.

When did you join the Porsche Club of America (PCA)? My anniversary date is November 1, 1972.

How did you hear about PCA? I was told about the club from the dealership where I bought my first Porsche.

What club region did you join when you joined the club? I was first a part of the Potomac Region PCA. From there, I joined the Sun Coast Region (when I relocated to the Tampa area), and when I moved to South Florida in the late1970s, I transferred my membership to the Gold Coast Region.

What was your first Porsche? A used 1964 silver 356.

What was your first new Porsche? That was a 1972 white 914.

How many Porsches have you owned over your

lifetime? Probably about 50. Years ago, buying low and selling high made it easier to “flip” cars. I used to keep cars for a short time, but my current inventory is four Porsches – three of which I’ve owned for 15 years or longer.

What was the first event you did with PCA? If I remember correctly, it was an Autocross event. This might be why I am partial to Autocross and why Dottie and I started these recurring Autocross events with the club.

What positions have you held with the Board of

Directors? I have been President, Vice President, Director, and Alternate Director at PCA Gold Coast. In fact, I held the office of President for 5 years! But I also was the Zone Rep for the region at one point, which was a lot of fun. It’s a national volunteer position where I represented Zone 12, which includes all of Florida, some of Alabama, a bit of Mississippi, plus Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Being Zone Rep was a blast!

What is the most positive change you have seen in the

club in your 50 years as a member? Technology. In years past, we had to type-set the Kassette by hand. Everything was done by hand. It was more difficult to tell the members what was happening and keep them involved. With technology, it’s been much easier to distribute the information members need to know to be active.

What do you think is the most popular offering of the club?

As the Autocross cochair with my wife, Dottie, you know I am partial to Autocross. And Drivers Ed (DE) is very popular as well. But I think that the most popular thing the club offers is the tours, where everyone gathers at a meeting point and caravans to a location. For example, the recurring tour to Islamorada. This tour has always been very popular, and doing things like this is loads of fun.

What other events did you help implement in the club? Dottie and I went to many events with other regions, and we thought Gimmick Rallies were something the club was missing out on. These are like mini scavenger hunts – some are done in your car, some are done on foot, and others are a combination of the two. So, we were glad to help the club get started with them. Plus, they are a lot of fun to set up. I don’t know if people realize how much work goes into setting up a gimmick rally – from scouting the area to do the rally to coming up with the questions and answers – just everything involved on the backend.

What events really stand out in your mind? Well, of course, the Parade events are always great. Dottie and I go to as many of those as we can. But a few years ago, we went to the Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami. It was a toy drive for the kids. PCA is a non-profit organization, and doing such a great thing for a part of the community felt really good. That was highly enjoyable.

What do you see for the club in the future? The club is founded on two great principles. The first is, “it’s not the cars, it’s the people.” The second is “fueled by volunteers.” I think the PCA Gold Coast Region is doing a great job on both of those fronts. As a group, we hold many fantastic events that the people love joining in, and we always have awesome volunteers who help to make these events successful. We really couldn’t do it without these volunteers!

Anything you would like to add? I am just so happy that I’ve been part of such a great organization for 50 years, and I am really excited to see what the club has to bring in the future.