Wow, it looks like we are ending 2011 with a bang! I want to wish all our members a happy holiday season and let’s count our blessings one more time. First, on a personal note, Jacquie has finished her last chemo treatment just before Thanksgiving - so we should be back to touring any time now! Secondly the club is in the best shape ever.

• We have a great 2012 plan for tours, events, and driver education.
• Financially the Diablo Region is doing very well.
• Our member count is at a record high with 1,009 members.
• Our October DE event had over 40 drivers show up on a weekday.
• We donated over $1,000 to charities.

Let us start with our 2012 planning session. Over 30 members showed up to plan our calendar and enjoyed Rocco’s pizza. We filled the weekends very quickly including some really great two day tours. Last year’s sold out Tour de San Juan is on again, our James Dean/Cambria tour is back after a one year absence, and new tours to Grass Valley and the Mario Andretti Winery are being planned. There are 35 Diablo events already scheduled for 2012. We are planning three driver education events as well. Thanks to all of you who attended and are taking the lead on tours and DE.

Speaking of Driver Education the club has a new DE Chairperson. Mike Roberts has agreed to take over the role and has already worked with Carlos Bocanegra and Luis Soler to coordinate our 2012 program. Special thanks to Carlos for all he accomplished in 2011 under difficult circumstances. The program really grew and we had over 40 members show up at Thunderhill on a Thursday in late October for our last DE of the year. If you have not tried driving a DE course, check it out. Talk to Mike or Carlos, and sign up for the next DE day! Your Porsche was built to run at high speed, corner tight turns and brake on a dime, so go for it!

Your Membership Chairperson, Doug Wiebe, continued to build on our 2010 success and has grown Diablo’s total members to over 1,000. He follows up with new members, and with members that transfer into Diablo. He also contacts members that have not renewed. Doug makes sure each person knows about the events and opportunities available with our club. This year Doug started using Evite online to make sure all new members are reminded of upcoming events. This effort really paid off as many new members showed up for the Family Picnic and Okto-berfest. Great job Doug!

Halfway through 2011 Ingrid Plooy volunteered to become our Advertising Chairperson. After contacting our major supporters she has drafted a new ad rate schedule and new rules for our event sponsors. The new rates were approved by the board in November and will take effect on January 1. We will also print a smaller version of the Advocate for distribution to our advertisers. The Advocate will be displayed at their place of business. The increase in our rates will offset the cost of producing these printed copies. Thank you Ingrid!

The club’s financial strength is excellent thanks in large part to our Treasurer, Kathy Soler. She has collected and reported payments on all events and tracked the budgets for DE. Her reports are always available online at our website. As of November we have over two years of reserves in our treasury accounts. Thank$, Kathy!

Phil Eskildsen (aka The Nametag Guy), is taking on an additional role as Diablo Tech Chairperson. Phil has already put five Tech Sessions on our 2012 calendar. I believe this will be a very valuable part of our educational effort. We all need to know more about the care and feeding of these great machines. Porsche North America, as well as our local dealers, are working along the same lines in 2012. This is another great idea from Phil.

We have all heard that “It’s not about the cars - It’s about the people!” and nowhere is it more true than in our charitable donations. Our Charity Chairperson, Ingrid French, has helped raise over $1,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, which included a considerable contribution from our National PCA. She has also provided school bags for Contra Costa County Social Services, Ready to Learn project and holiday toys for Families First of Contra Costa County. Thanks Ingrid, you truly care about helping others. Your work makes us a better club.

I want to thank all the members who have made my job as Diablo President fun, rewarding, and educational for two years. All our past presidents, including Brian Cameron, Jack Carpenter, Ted French, Steve Jones, Bill Packwood, Patrick Schmidt and Eugenie Thomas have helped in so many ways. Our board of directors always worked hard on all club efforts, particularly Kay Maloy as Secretary, editor of the Advocate and DE supporter, and Jacquie Lietz as Social Chairperson. Other members I have to thank are: Brian Adkins - Wash & Shine Head Judge, Elsie Lum - The Family Picnic, Ingrid French - Tour Chairperson, Ira Madnick - Pleasanton Breakfasts, and many, many more.

Our sponsors supported us with facilities, expertise, and financial aid. Gunther Feldmeier at Porsche of Fremont, EMC, Porsche of Livermore, and Kahlers of Dublin provided the club with tremendous support in 2011.

It has been a great year, thanks and enjoy the holidays!