Welcome to Parade Portland
John Draneas, Parade Portland Chairman
Look forward to seeing you at Parade Portland,
John Draneas
2006 Parade Chair
paradechair@paradeportland.org
John's Message From Fall, 2005
Making It Different
John Draneas, Parade Portland Chairman
On
behalf of the entire Parade Portland planning team, I would like to
extend a warm welcome to the Porsche Club of America’s 51st
Parade. We’ve been working very hard to make this the best Parade
we can. We know that you are investing a lot of your precious time off,
and money, to come to Oregon and spend a week with your fellow Porsche
enthusiasts. We’re going to make you glad that you did.
As I wrote in Panorama quite a few months ago, it all starts with attitude. At Parade Portland, the universal goal will be to have fun. Of course, we will have the normal range of competitive events, but all will have a bit of a different twist to make them more fun. Plus, we’ve added a number of new, fun things to do – the brand new Zone Challenge, six fabulous driving tours that will get you into the Northwest that all us locals know and love so much, a winery tour that will delight any wine enthusiast, bus tours to our active volcano and several fabulous car collections, our new Lifestyles seminars that will give you a break from kicking tires, lots of great food, beer and wine, the list goes on and on. Check out the schedule, and don’t be surprised if you won’t be able to do everything.
While you’re here, we want you to experience the relaxed Northwest lifestyle. Start by leaving your suits and ties and evening gowns at home. At Parade Portland, business casual is as dressy as you need to be. Or, dress up if you prefer. We’re flexible out here.
As you have no doubt heard, we have a very full Parade. Because of that, I would like to ask your indulgence and cooperation. Most all of our events are sold out. We’ll have a lot of PCA members at every banquet, and we’ll have a lot of cars on the road. Please read all your instructions, and try to be on time to every event to speed up the logistics. We are confident that we have a good handle on everything and that all will go smoothly, but please keep in mind that we are all volunteers here, just a group of friends trying to help each other out.
I would also like to extend special thanks to all of you registered for the driving tours for your exceptional cooperation. The two driving tours we initially offered were so hopelessly oversubscribed, we were going to have to get parade permits and police escorts everywhere we went! Rather than just calling them full and disappointing many of you, we decided to try to meet the demand. We added a third tour, and repeated all three on a second day. Our registrars contacted everyone who had registered for the tours and asked them to reschedule as possible. It went without a hitch, everyone was very flexible, and we now have six separate tours, with 5 cars on each. Thanks for your help. Now, that’s the right attitude!
Finally, if you get here early enough on Sunday, meet me for lunch out by the pool. The Red Lion will be offering a no-host outdoor lunch that will be just the right, relaxed spot to meet your friends and say hello. And, if you see Vic Elford hanging around there, say hello to him, would you?
As I wrote in Panorama quite a few months ago, it all starts with attitude. At Parade Portland, the universal goal will be to have fun. Of course, we will have the normal range of competitive events, but all will have a bit of a different twist to make them more fun. Plus, we’ve added a number of new, fun things to do – the brand new Zone Challenge, six fabulous driving tours that will get you into the Northwest that all us locals know and love so much, a winery tour that will delight any wine enthusiast, bus tours to our active volcano and several fabulous car collections, our new Lifestyles seminars that will give you a break from kicking tires, lots of great food, beer and wine, the list goes on and on. Check out the schedule, and don’t be surprised if you won’t be able to do everything.
While you’re here, we want you to experience the relaxed Northwest lifestyle. Start by leaving your suits and ties and evening gowns at home. At Parade Portland, business casual is as dressy as you need to be. Or, dress up if you prefer. We’re flexible out here.
As you have no doubt heard, we have a very full Parade. Because of that, I would like to ask your indulgence and cooperation. Most all of our events are sold out. We’ll have a lot of PCA members at every banquet, and we’ll have a lot of cars on the road. Please read all your instructions, and try to be on time to every event to speed up the logistics. We are confident that we have a good handle on everything and that all will go smoothly, but please keep in mind that we are all volunteers here, just a group of friends trying to help each other out.
I would also like to extend special thanks to all of you registered for the driving tours for your exceptional cooperation. The two driving tours we initially offered were so hopelessly oversubscribed, we were going to have to get parade permits and police escorts everywhere we went! Rather than just calling them full and disappointing many of you, we decided to try to meet the demand. We added a third tour, and repeated all three on a second day. Our registrars contacted everyone who had registered for the tours and asked them to reschedule as possible. It went without a hitch, everyone was very flexible, and we now have six separate tours, with 5 cars on each. Thanks for your help. Now, that’s the right attitude!
Finally, if you get here early enough on Sunday, meet me for lunch out by the pool. The Red Lion will be offering a no-host outdoor lunch that will be just the right, relaxed spot to meet your friends and say hello. And, if you see Vic Elford hanging around there, say hello to him, would you?
Look forward to seeing you at Parade Portland,
John Draneas
2006 Parade Chair
paradechair@paradeportland.org
John's Message From Fall, 2005
Making It Different
Parade
is
an amazing event. For
50 consecutive
years, PCA members have met to spend a week celebrating the Porsche
marque and
themselves. Few car
clubs, or even
organizations, can boast of such a lengthy and consistent history of
participation.
This exceptional pride and enthusiasm for the Porsche marque continues year to year.
Parade
Portland is the first of
the second 50 years of Parades, and we will be starting the second
half-century
in a very big way. Foryears, the PCA National Parade Committee has surveyed Parade participants to learn
what should be changed, and what should be kept the same.
Parade Portland will be the start of a progression that will change Parade over the
next few years to be more responsive to what all of us have said is important to
us. But don’t worry; frequent Parade
attendees will still recognize the event. After all, we’re talking evolution, not
revolution.
A New Attitude
It
all starts with attitude. At
Parade Portland, the universal goal will be to have fun. Everything we do is going to be geared toward
maximizing the fun quotient and keeping you entertained. After all, we realize time
away from home is
precious for PCA members, and many use up their vacation time to attend
Parade. We’re
going to do our best to make you glad
your 2006 vacation was in Portland, Oregon on August 6 through 11.
The
Oregon Region believes that if you’re going to have fun,
there’s one necessary
element – driving. After
all, we have lots of great roads begging to be driven. You’ll
want to bring a car, preferably a Porsche. But we know driving across
the country takes
a lot of time, so we’re working on lining up some deals on
car transport to and
from Parade. Since
many of you just
won’t be able to bring your Porsches, the Gimmick Rally and
tours will be open
to rental cars.
All of us on the Parade Portland team are very excited about this event, and we look forward to seeing you and showing you what life is like out here in the Pacific Northwest. We really hope you can attend.