2010 was a fantastic year for the First Settlers Region’s charity efforts thanks to the support from our many sponsors, the hard work of our tireless volunteers, and the generosity of our enthusiastic members.
Our first major event was “Porsches and Wine” at the spectacular Williamsburg Winery. Despite the record summer heat wave, we gathered 27 Porsches of all types from around the region. We enjoyed a wine tasting, guided tour of the wine making facilities, and a fantastic gourmet lunch at the Wedmore Place. There was a very active bidding war during the Silent Auction on the many special items donated by our sponsors.
In October, our first annual “Air and Auto Classic” car show for our charities, as well as the Virginia Beach SPCA, was an overwhelming success. We had over 100 cars and hundreds of spectators turn out on a beautiful, sun-drenched fall day which included live music by “Suburban Key Party,” bi-plane rides, great food from Zooks BBQ, Williamsburg Winery wine tasting and plenty of car camaraderie. The raffle tickets were big sellers and generated lots of interest in the prizes. Thanks to Andrea Lagergren for walking many miles on high heels to generate overwhelming sales for our 50/50 raffle.
“Turkeys-in-the-Trunk” was our third major charity event of the year and exceeded our greatest expectations for membership turnout and generosity. Owners of over 43 Porsches drove through the service bay at Checkered Flag to have their food donations weighed before enjoying a catered lunch, courtesy of the dealership. A special thanks to Richard Hutsko, the General Manager, for all of his support. FSR member Rich McDaneld was the proud winner of the Porsche varsity jacket donated by Checkered Flag to the member who brought the most food in their Porsche trunk. At the end of the day, we donated over 3,100 pounds of food to the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia, which when added to the funds raised at the Air and Auto Classic, generated 15,000 meals for the needy.
The event continued with a tour of members’ garages, starting at the Lisners’. Marc and Katina rolled out the red carpet and several of their wonderful cars across their front yard. The second stop was at Kevin and Jeanie Pirkle’s garage where several would-be race drivers got in some practice on the I-Racing simulator, Kevin’s secret weapon for preparing for the Drivers’ Ed events! The last stop was at George and Pam Michaels’ garage for drinks, hors d'oeuvres and even more car talk. We really didn’t need plates to eat the hors d’oeuvres; we could’ve eaten off of George’s garage floor.
The McDanelds’ “low rider” with 366 pounds of food.
Raffles held at our monthly breakfasts in Richmond and Chespeake also showed how generous our membership was when it came to supporting charity. We had some great fun competing to win some pink Porsche hats and even had a fight over a Porsche fanny-pack! It was all in great fun and benefitted our charities.
All told, our events resulted in $8,700.00 to charity, divided between the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia, Boys’ Home in Covington, Special Olympics, and the Virginia Beach SPCA.
Our sponsors deserve very special thanks for providing support throughout the year. We could not have achieved anything without them.
Thanks to our 2010 Sponsors and Supporters
RACEWERKS ● NATIONWIDE INSURANCE
VIR ● SURF and ADVENTURE COMPANY ● GRIOT’S GARAGE EUROCLASSICS PORSCHE ● CATCH 31 ● HILTON VA BCH
POPS DINER ● SILVER DINER ● TODD JURICH BISTRO
TIKI ISLAND BAR AND GRILL ● CHIK-FIL-A
KRAFT FOODS ● SNOWSHOE MOUNTAIN
SYNERGY RACING ● LMN MOTORSPORTS
INTERSTATE BATTERY ● ABACUS RACING
WILLIAMSBURG WINERY ● LONGHORN STEAKHOUSE
UNILEVER PRODUCTS ● STIHL INC
AIR-TITE PRODUCTS ● F and S ENTERPRISES ● GEICO
STUTTGART SERVICES ● CHESAPEAKE BAY LURES
SAM GASSEL ● TAMMY BARRY ● GEORGE & PAM MICHAELS
KEN & KATHY THOMAS ● PHIL & JOSIE GRANDFIELD
BOB & GLORIA JASINOWSKI ● SUBURBAN KEY PARTY
A special thanks to “CHECKERED FLAG PORSCHE” for supporting us for every East-side breakfast and every event.
I personally would like to thank all the people that have helped throughout the year, especially George and Pam Michaels and Ken and Kathy Thomas. We can’t do any of this without volunteers. Speaking of that, I’m looking for some fresh people to abuse. If you would like to volunteer in the New Year please email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . I plan to have a meeting in January.
