In the early morning hours of Friday, 2 July 2004, Manny Alban, trail boss extraordinaire, rounded up his doggies for the 2004 Porsche Parade cattle drive. We started at Front Royal, Virginia where six Detroit hulks of gas-gulping iron and their towed charges, along with one lonely 944S2, lined up for what became a 80-85 MPH and 10-13 MPG trek to Fort Worth, Texas. Cowpokes included the aforementioned trail boss and his son Derek, Henry Hoeh from Metro New York Region, Pete and Bettye Tremper from Schattenbaum Region, Tim Costa, his step son Travis and Stu Fine from Chesapeake, Ellen Beck from North Country Region, and yours truly. If you have never seen the classic motion picture 'Red River', in which John Wayne drives his cowboys and cattle to the brink of exhaustion, rent it soon to gain an appreciation for how our fearless leader relentlessly drove us south through the Shenandoah Valley, southwest and west across the Great Smokies of Tennessee and then on into the night until we pulled up 1100 miles later on the west side of Little Rock, Arkansas. Kids went hungry, bladders were bloated, rumps were rumpled, and sleep was deprived as Boss Manny got us to the town that first played to the political and personal desires of Slick Willie hisself. CB chatter amongst the doggies was incessant. And, like any talk radio station, some of the comments were quite perceptive and memorable, some humorous and witty (hard on the bladder, don't you know), and some were totally sophomoric and asinine. But despite the rains, the flying pig in Knoxville, Pete Tremper's blown tire in SW Virginia, the tasteless fast food, the boredom of mile after mile of interstate, and the tediousness of hours of mindless gossip on the CB, we made it through the day and a better part of the night, putting up at a Hampton Inn (Explanation from Manny: You know what you're getting, which, translated, means you're just too tired to really tell one from the other when Manny is cracking the whip.) for an evening's all-too-brief respite.


Then it was up again early on Saturday, and our trail boss, smelling the finish line, drove us for six hours the next day until we arrived in Fort Worth, none too much flustered for wear and rarin' to go. Dennis Howard and his family joined us for this segment, his Excursion plowing away the air like a battleship for the rest of us smaller craft. Half the group went directly to the hotel and half went to the Texas Motor Speedway, where we parked our trailers, had our Parade tech inspections done, and generally surveyed what was to become the focal point of Parade activities throughout the week. The contingent met up at the Fort Worth Renaissance Worthington, a beautiful downtown hotel in Fort Worth with first class meeting facilities. Downtown Fort Worth, much like the Inner Harbor area and Fells Point, is built up with nice hotels, the latest bistros, and charming shops and museums.


Registration on Saturday afternoon went smoothly. The Fort Worth Parade staff was organized and prepared to receive us, and we were mustered in with nary a glitch from our preregistration materials. Lynn Eckels, Registrar for the 2005 Parade at Hershey, received kudos from the Mavericks for her able assistance to the FW Registrar crew. Also taking copious notes and impressing both the FW and National Parade Staffs was our Couple in Gray, Dave and Diana Love- Chesapeake Region dual members who are the Treasurers for Hershey. Saturday afternoon of Parade week is a great chance to see old friends, to check out the cars, and to visit the Goodie Store and Hospitality. This day holds the most excitement for Parade goers- the week of Porsche activities is ahead of you with so much to do and so little time to do it. It's the like the first day of school and the start of spring training all rolled into one. Many of the hundreds of Porsches at the Parades could be viewed in the hotel's parking garage, which was free for us for the week.


Sunday was an opportunity for most to sleep in, redeplete one's wallet at the Goodie Store, and enjoy Fort Worth. Everyone from Chesapeake emerged this day, to include the airline contingent (mostly those wives/children and significant others who knew better than to ride with Manny) as well as long-time member Bob Rassa (who's never given up his Chesapeake membership despite living in LA these many years) and the Gilbreaths (who now live in Florida). The Welcome Party, tentatively scheduled for outdoors, had to be held inside the hotel due to rain damage, but, regardless, it was a fun evening. Some of the National Awards were presented, to include the newsletter and website awards. The power point audiovisual presentations were truly stunning and added a great deal to the festivities this night and for the remainder of the week. Sadly enough, the power point was much better than the anemic fire works shot off that night in FW, which we observed from the hotel rooftop.


Monday, 5 July was concours day, and for the first time in Parade History, a concours was arranged around the closed off streets of a major American city. We were blessed with blue skies and tolerably warm temperatures. 72 cars graced the show, with a very nice display of historic 911s- all from Texas. Chesapeake's Ron and Linda Gordon, who will head our concours scoring for next year, were seen in the thick of calculators and scoring sheets. Unfortunately, the factory did not send one car to FW for the Parade. Nonetheless, the crowds were large, the traditional lunches very tasty, and the myriad restaurants were doing a great business, despite the 5 July holiday. My favorite car was a gorgeous 1959 356A Carrera coupe done by Bill and Bob Jones- who at one time had a nationally-known restoration business in San Antonio but have scaled back their activities in recent years. The coupe had Rudge wheels, a like new tool and travel kit, and perfect black paint. I was told it was hastily assembled and had some incorrect pieces, but it won People's and Judge's Choice. The concours banquet that night served wonderfully tender filet mignon, and everyone was quite happy with the upbeat MC job done by Mark Shevitz, who kept the door prizes and the speeches (all of which were forgettable) moving. The evening actually was finished a little early, which is a minor miracle when one looks back at the history of this event. No Chesapeake Region awards for the concours banquet, although Riesentoter Region took Region of the Year.


Tuesday was rally day, and, by far, this was the best Parade rally in decades. The day was overcast, with some misting in the afternoon, but cool. A simple, straight-forward tulip rally featured clear directions and traps based strictly on time differentials. You could have run the rally without a watch and still had a good time- four hours were all it took. The rally master did his best to give you some nice scenery, which around this part of TX consisted of ranches, a wildlife park with real live buffalo, a lake area, and some interesting railroad vistas. We concluded the rally at Texas Motor Speedway, and discovered that the last and longest leg was thrown out because the checkpoint never got its clock. The ice cream social in the snack bar of the speedway was somewhat anticlimactic, and we were happy to drive the 25 minutes south from TMS to get back to our hotel room. (Texas' Bluebell Ice Cream is one of the best ice cream companies in the U.S, but it sure wasn't at TMS that day.) Posted results indicated Dennis and Justin Howard finished in 23d and Ellen Beck and yours truly took home 20th. We would have placed third had I not blown the transitional leg when I miscalculated our departure time. Tuesday night was billed as the Zone 13 party, a fraternal celebration of Zones 1 and 2 at a place called the Flying Saucer. Beer flowed, a mariachi band played, and Manny demonstrated once more how insomniacs thrive on three hours sleep a night. I skipped the party and went to bed. The Chesapeake Revelers who partied with Manny felt the sting of their indulgences the following day. Of course, folks like Ron Gordon were abducted by aliens for most of the week and made the Flying Saucer their home away from home. The beer and ambience were that good.


Wednesday began two solid days of intense activity at the track. Driver Education was on the agenda for Ellen and me, and words cannot describe the fantastic rush of driving on the banking of a super speedway. TMS is a classic 1.5 NASCAR oval, and Maverick Region slows the cars down going into first turn with a small chicane that forces fourth gear and jink of the wrists from left to right. The infield portion is not as simple as it looks, with a lot of late apex corners. But four sessions on the track had us all grinning by the end of the day. My instructor, West Dillard from Hill Country Region (my first region in PCA), was superb and knew the track like the back of his hand. While some drove on the track, others were negotiating cones at the autocross course just south of the Speedway on one of its larger (and pole-free) parking lots. Implored by Henry Hoeh to come out and play, Manny skipped one of this DE sessions, got in line at the autocross, and without a walkthrough, still managed an 84.97 to take fifth in his class. Although the day was hot and interrupted with a thunderstorm that sounded like the Wrath of God, the garage area provided plenty of shade and comfort between sessions. With nary a minute to spare, Ellen and I packed up after our last DE run group session and zoomed back to the hotel for the Tech Quiz, which was held open for the folks coming from TMS. The quiz was very enjoyable, and featured a number of questions on PCA and PCA people. We finally showered after the quiz and attended the rally banquet that night, which featured Texas fried chicken and mashed potatoes. Since I was running the following morning, I carbo'ed up with three deserts. Entertainment was largely provided by the Parade Kids in attendance, who queued up with great excitement for all the door prizes given away specifically for them. Mark Shevitz didn't wear a red suit, but the kids sure treated like him July's version of Santa Claus. Manny's son Cole won a pedal car, which will soon become part of his father's extensive Attic Boutique Collection of Porsche memorabilia.


Thursday morning's 5K Run was a day of reckoning for Manny and me. It was only the second time I had run since my hernia operation, and it was the first real opportunity Manny could show his PCA friends how his new-found fitness has taken the form of competitive domination. I ran like an old Gmund coupe with half of a carburetor and still managed to win my class because I was the only one in it. Manny, on the other hand, started steady, picked up the pace, and blew the entire field away, coming in first overall. Quite an accomplishment for someone who last year weighed 55 pounds heavier and looked like an Ecuadorian version of the Pillsbury Dough Boy. Sleek Karen Gilbreath was the class of the woman's field and whistled by me in the last half mile. Right after the run, Ellen and I zoomed up back to TMS to ensure the car got into staging for our autocross class. Our rushing about proved needless, since the autocross was two hours behind schedule and we had plenty of time to bake in the sun and wait for our runs. We finally went out at mid afternoon, and Ellen smoked both the ladies and men's class in P9, breaking the lights with an 86.779. I finally put together a good run my last time out, and won the men's class, albeit one second behind the Bexster. In the Turbo class, Dennis and Justin Howard stomped the competition, finishing 1st and 2d, respectively. Late that afternoon, the Mavericks held a chips and dip reception for the Tech Quiz results, and Chesapeake truly shined through all that cheese and guacamole. Paul Gilbreath took home a second in the mid 911 class, Manny took a third in Club Racing, and I also got a third in the very tough 356 class. Ellen took home a second in the ladies class for 944s.


Friday was a recovery day of sorts. Sleep, laundry, and many meetings on Parade 05 dominated the agenda. Chesapeake Region members were pulled in many directions on this day and throughout the latter half of the week, for that matter, answering countless questions about the Parade in the general excitement about Hershey that continued to build as FW concluded. Friday was also the 'official' start of Parade 05, when our t shirts debuted at the 'Going Out of Business' sale at the FW Goodie Store. Sales were incredibly brisk- at one time there was line of 30 people waiting to buy the shirts. (If sales and questions are any indication, EVERYONE is coming to Hershey next year for our little party.) The 2005 Parade T shirt store moved its operations to the FW Stockyards for the worker party on Friday night, and even more shirts were sold. The stockyards is a neat area of old Fort Worth that is being rebuilt with new commerce and attractions. Our party was in a huge converted stockyard room and featured delicious barbecue, Texas Two Stepping and door prize giveaways that were gone before you could say 'all this volunteer work and nothing to show for it".


Saturday was the last day of Parade and the second day for Club Racer's to strut their stuff at the Speedway. By all accounts, everyone enjoyed the racing. Manny narrowly survived a shunt with a car that stuffed itself into the tire wall coming off the banking. Tim Costa was not so lucky, sideswiping the chicane in the first turn. Tim was fine, and his Petrol Blue 911SC will live to fight another day. When it was all said and done, Manny finished 2nd in his class in the Club Race and Michael Vietz finished 3rd. Michael also obtained his club racing license at this race- congrats!


Even as we made preparations for our Sunday departure, the Region came together for our presentation to the World on Hershey 2005 Saturday night at TMS. Manny and I had a 30 second rehearsal, and then all of us drove up (again) to TMS to outfit the lovely dining room (which overlooked the Speedway as part of the luxury box suite complex known as the Speedway Club) with Hershey Kisses and refrigerator magnets. With everything in place, the huge crowd was let into the room for the Victory Banquet and autocross awards. It was a lovely evening, and one of the most memorable quotes came from none other than Eleanor Bobbitt, who said, upon entering the room "omigod, the place smells like chocolate". Indeed. The view from on high overlooking the Speedway as the sun set was spectacular. We all basked in the glow of autocross successes, and watched with incredulity as the new 997 was debuted on video. It is an incredible machine, and half the people in the room were ready to write a check for one right then and there. Finally, it was show time as Parade 05 was introduced and Manny and I took the stage. After a bit of tomfoolery involving Jan Mayo, the Fort Worth Parade Chair, we queued up the very slick and very watch-able DVD presentation on the massive screens. A hush fell over the crowd as they took in the video, rapt, and politely applauding in all the right places. Lots of smiles and applause at the end. Thanks go to Todd Bernard, who made this happen!


We returned back to the hotel that night for a very short summer night's sleep. Judy Hendrickson and her F150 joined Ellen and me for the trip out of town that morning, while Manny and the boys left from the Speedway and DFW. We all came together in Texarkana, and then it was more of the same CB chatter and shenanigans throughout the day. We took leave of one another in Knoxville, and for all of us, home the next day.


Hope to see you next year at Hershey where:

1. The entire Porsche world will descend upon Hershey for a week long celebration of the marque

2. You'll see upwards of 300 cars in the concours, over 75 cars in the historic car display, and 400 or so cars in our low key car show. As a matter of fact, we want you to drive up and participate in the show, even if you cannot register for the full week of the Parade.

3. You'll attend the first ever National Parts and Literature Swap meet, the first ever family gimmick rally through the Amish country of Lancaster County, the first ever National Tech Day (known as Porsche Club Academy Day)

4. You'll smile every time you snick third gear at our huge autocross course

5. You'll be entertained, wined, and dined better than any Porsche club event you ever seen

6. You'll have the opportunity to meet, greet, and compete against Porsche owners from across the country.

7. You'll rub elbows with the Porsche Family and senior management at Porsche Cars North America, to include Wendelin Wiedeking (CEO of Porsche AG) Himself.

8. You'll gain a new appreciation for Porsche and PCA history at our 15,000 square foot museum throughout the week, by taking the fun-filled Tech Quiz on Friday, and by soaking up all those historical cars on concours day.

9. You'll know why Hershey and Hershey Park is known as the Sweetest Place on Earth

10. And, finally, where you'll be able to drive 90 minutes to Hershey without having to listen to Manny on the CB. And you can go to the bathroom any time you choose.