Author Archives for Reid Smith
- October 3, 2024
- Desert Drives, From The Presidents Desk
- Posted by Reid Smith
- Comments Off on FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK – October 2024
From the President’s Desk,
September was an incredibly event-packed month! Brian Schmidt, our Chief Driving Instructor, held a very informative Tech Session on Car Control at our monthly Brunch. From what I have heard, practically everyone learned something new at this excellent presentation.
The Gunlock, Utah Drive and Picnic took place on a hot morning when we met at Lake Mead. When we arrived at the picnic gazebo at Gunlock State Park, a nice breeze was coming off the lake and it was quite enjoyable. A group of our friends from Southern Utah joined us for some good comradery. A shoutout to Gary Lea, who came up with the plan and organized the drive. He said we will do it again!
September 21st marked the annual Las Vegas AutoFest, held on the fairways of scenic Red Rock Golf Course. Although this festival includes all marques, Porsche cars dominated with 86 awesome Porsches on display! See [...]
- September 5, 2024
- Desert Drives, From The Presidents Desk
- Posted by Reid Smith
- Comments Off on FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK – September 2024
From the President’s Desk,
As we say goodbye to Summer and look forward to a cooler Fall, check out our upcoming events in this issue. I consider our monthly Brunch as an event, thanks to all of the interesting guest speakers we enlist. Brian Schmidt will be sharing information at our September Brunch about tracking your Porsche and what is involved in the preparation. Our HPDE will take place September 28-29 at Spring Mountain Motorsports Raceway.
We are having a Day Drive on September 14th that will include a picnic. The destination is Gunlock State Park in southern Utah. It should be a fun day!
AUTOFEST is the largest car show in Las Vegas and will take place September 21st. Plan to sign up and display your car in the Porsche corral on the scenic 18th fairway of Red Rock Country Club. Last year we had over 90 Porsches!
October 5th is the date set [...]
- August 2, 2024
- Desert Drives, Events, Recap
- Posted by Reid Smith
- Comments Off on SANTA BARBARA PCA 60TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
First Lady Dana and I got out of the heat and headed to Santa Barbara last month to celebrate their 60th Anniversary. Party crashers from our area included Mark Coronado, Richard Burns and Craig and Di Shanklin (IRPCA). Dana and I were not able to attend the morning drive but we were informed that half of the approximately 50 cars got lost. Sounds like it should have been a gimmick rally! We had a fantastic lunch in the Reagan Room at the Santa Barbara Hilton by the beach. Our good friend, Lori DeCristo, Zone 8 Representative, presented the 60th plaque on behalf of PCA.
LVR member, Brian Schmidt, won one of the big raffle prizes, a trip to the Porsche Experience Center in LA. Congratulations, Brian!
- August 2, 2024
- Desert Drives, From The Presidents Desk
- Posted by Reid Smith
- Comments Off on FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK – August 2024
From the President’s Desk,
Now that we are on the downhill side of summer, we can look forward to planned club activities for the Fall. In addition, I have had a few organizers of local car shows reach out with possible activities for our members. Although they are not LVR activities, you may be interested in displaying your Porsche. We have included them in the Desert Drives.
Our monthly brunches and Mix & Mingles have been very successful during the hot summer. We are in the process of engaging guest speakers for Fall brunches and planning locations for our Mix & Mingle get-togethers. You can always access our activities calendar for events and signup.
AutoFest, the “Grand Daddy of all Car Shows” for Las Vegas, will take place September 21st. What could be better than displaying your car on the 18th fairway of Red Rock Country Club along with hundreds of other fantastic automobiles. Last [...]
- July 5, 2024
- Desert Drives, From The Presidents Desk
- Posted by Reid Smith
- Comments Off on FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK – July 2024
From the President’s Desk,
We are certainly in the dog days of summer. Even the dogs don’t want to leave the house! Dana and I had a nice Colorado trip in our travel trailer. While Las Vegas was setting record high temps, we were enjoying a cooler time visiting Mesa Verde NP, the Great Sand Dunes NP area and Black Canyon NP, all above 6000 feet. In July we are planning to head to California and assist the Santa Barbara Region PCA celebrate their 60th Anniversary.
As many Porsche Club regions in the northern states have a less active winter season, we tend to offer less activities this time of year. We had our planning session for Fall activities and many dates have been added to the calendar. We will populate it as we firm up plans.
In addition to our regular monthly brunches and Mix & Mingle get-togethers you can look forward to AutoFest, [...]
- June 4, 2024
- Desert Drives, Events, Recap
- Posted by Reid Smith
- Comments Off on SOUTHERN UTAH TOUR RECAP
By Reid Smith
Last month we had a successful drive to many points of interest in Southern Utah. On Day One we departed at the Lake Mead NP entrance and had an enjoyable drive on the North Shore Road. After a rest stop in Mesquite, we took Hwy 91 which is the old highway toward St. George. Taking the Gunlock Road, we arrived at Vejo for lunch and pie! Then we swung to the west on SR 18 and eventually arrived at Cedar City. This means we only were on Interstate 15 for about 15 miles!We had a superb dinner at Chef Alfredo’s Italian Restaurant.
On Day 2 we headed uphill to Brianhead and Cedar Breaks. After being stuck behind a slow-poke for the 10-mile uphill climb, we were turned loose [...]
- June 4, 2024
- Desert Drives, From The Presidents Desk
- Posted by Reid Smith
- Comments Off on FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK – June 2024
From the President’s Desk,
Well, it has been an incredible 50th Anniversary year so far! It began in January with our Winter Gala where we pulled out all the stops. Our guest speaker was none other than the Face of PCA, Executive Director Vu Nguyen. Then on our actual club’s 50th Birthday, we held the largest LVR member event in history, with over 250 members registered for our EXTRAVAGANZA. I have never seen such a display of Porsches, not to mention the live music, magical acts and Las Vegas showgirls. What a memorable celebration for the club! A shout out to our LVR Board, Committee, and volunteers. And a heartfelt thank you to Gary Ackerman, Paul Jarrett, and all of the members of the Gaudin Porsche team that helped make it happen. You are the best!
LVR members are welcome to participate in our planning session for possible future events and activities. Bring your ideas [...]
- May 5, 2024
- Desert Drives, Events, Recap
- Posted by Reid Smith
- Comments Off on TRES CAZUELAS RECAP
SPANISH COOKING AT IT’S BEST!
By Reid Smith
If you have not eaten at Tres Cazuelas yet, you need to! What a great experience in Iberian Peninsula cuisine. Club members started with a wine tasting and then proceeded to the cooking presentation. Chef Angelo Reyes took us through the steps of preparing paella. Originally, this dish from the 1800’s combined your weekly leftovers, but now it is quite a delicacy. The right ingredients and careful preparation is the key to a tasty dinner. Rather than leftovers, our paella included rice, chicken, pork belly, jumbo shrimp, mussels and clams seasoned just right. Yum!
