Monterey Bay Region held its annual holiday party on December 13th at Porter’s Grill at Poppy Hills in Pebble Beach. The event started at 5:30PM with social hour, followed by dinner at 6:30PM.
Live music was provided by Sargis Atanous on drums, his son Andrew on trumpet and bass guitar, and Professor Chuy on lead guitar. Cathy O’Brien, Harry Woodworth, and Betty Atanous helped with registrations. The event was enlivened with photos of this year’s events, arranged by Richard Chew, displayed on multiple monitors.
A silent auction to benefit Rancho Cielo, organized by Connie Hong-Smith and Steve Fields, was held in a separate area. Donated items valued at more than $7,000 were beautifully displayed for prospective bidders. As a result, over $4,500 was raised for our charity partner.
After dinner, Ted Voigt, the event organizer, kept things moving, first introducing past president Dave Terdy, who announced the results of the election of club officers. This was an unusual year as all of the officers ran unopposed. Not surprisingly, all were re-elected.
Next up was Judge John Phillips, founder of Rancho Cielo, which was the beneficiary of the silent auction proceeds, as well as a separate $2,000 donation from the Club made earlier this year. He was followed by Pete Scudder, Board of Directors Chair of Rancho Cielo. Both talked about the importance of our donations and their exciting plans for the coming years.
Then President Mark McMahon proceeded to review this year’s many events and membership meetings. We had a very successful year.
He followed with the presentation of special awards. Al Munoz-Flores received an award in recognition of his work in improving our relations with Porsche Monterey, setting up the Elkhorn Slough tour and managing the PCA 70th anniversary dinner. Vega Roecker received an award in recognition of her work in photographing most of the club events, adding Montereyan newsletters and club history to the website, and coordinating with PCA to have club photos appear in Panorama. Chris Larson received an award in recognition of his efforts in setting up the Yosemite overnight tour as well as filling in as club Secretary when Steve became ill. Connie Hong-Smith received an award in recognition of her efforts in putting together the silent auction, support during the South Coast tour, and helping us find speakers for our monthly meetings. Mark himself was presented with an award by past president Steve Taty in appreciation of his leadership and efforts as president. This was followed by a special award presented to Ted Voigt in recognition of his lifetime contributions to our club.
The musical accompaniment returned as Santa Claus made an appearance, handing out special MBR ornaments made by Dave Kite to all attending, followed by a sing-along of several favorite Christmas songs with lyrics modified to be Porsche-related. The event closed with “Nobody’s Perfect” Porsche posters showing the 1983 LeMans results handed out to all attending.
With over 80 members in attendance, it was an extraordinary night of merriment celebrating the great year we had and our contributions to Rancho Cielo. A very BIG THANK YOU goes to Ted Voigt for all of his work in planning and organizing our fabulous Christmas event. His attention to detail is unmatched.
To view the PHOTO GALLERY click on any image above.
