With
- Perfect Weather
- A Perfect Party
- With Perfect Organization
- At a Perfect Setting
... made for a perfect Oktoberfest Celebration.
The added bonus of exceeding our MANNA FoodBank fundraising goal of $10,000 to provide 40,000 meals for our neighbors facing food insecurity issues made for a perfect Oktoberfest Celebration where the Appalachian Region had fun while giving back to the community.
The day started bright and early for many as Oktoberfest Chairs George and Cindy Cain with Chuck and Char Mills met Old Bishop Place Farm owner Bruce with property manager Wayne at 8:00 a.m. to start set-up.
At the same time, the tour leads, sweeps and attendees were gathering in Mills River, Flat Rock and Sylva to prepare for the five organized tour groups that would be targeting The Old Bishop Place Farm for arrival starting at 10:45 a.m.
Over 100 of the 184 Oktoberfest participants were in the tour groups vectoring into Cedar Mountain for the 2nd Annual Oktoberfest Celebration. The 78 participants were either finding their own way to Oktoberfest, were part of the volunteer parking and set-up crew or Region sponsors, Porsche Asheville and Hagerty Insurance.
The weather forecast was an unseasonal high of 80° with sun and a beautiful late color season in the mountains making for perfect timing of this year’s Oktoberfest.
Cars started arriving at 10:25 a.m. putting Charlie Hickey and his parking crew to work placing cars for the 90+ Porsche parking corral. Every model imaginable could be found in every color imaginable.
It was a Porsche viewing delight!
Upon entrance to the pavilion, one was greeted at the registration table by Char Mills and Pat Quinn signing one in and providing lunch tickets, auction tickets and door prize tickets.
George and Cindy Cain along with Chuck and Char Mills, and Don Zelm and Pat Quinn had decorated the Pavilion with flags, banners and decorations that gave a truly spectacular Oktoberfest theme and feel. The Oomph band playing Oktoberfest music favorites, such as “Roll out the barrels ...” only added the festive nature of the day.
With over 184 attendees, staggered arrivals were coordinated. An appetizer pretzel with an Oktoberfest beer or German wine provided sustenance while socializing as all the tours and attendees flowed into the pavilion. What a scene to see 184 Porsche Club members gathered to enjoy the day. This was the biggest social event that the club has ever put on and it went without a hitch.
Yohan Sookdeo, George Cain, Paul Kaperonis
Meal service started at noon and as expected to serve the wonderful German meal from Haus Heidelberg of Schnitzel or brats was not a quick endeavor. Chef Helga wanted to maintain his outstanding reputation for delivering hot, authentic food so everything was cooked fresh and hot. There was a little wait, but worth it for the delicious meal.
The band played on during lunch and there was a special performance by an Alpen Horn performer adding a touch of Bavaria to Cedar Mountain.
President Jim Moore and Chair George Cain also pulled winning tickets during lunch for door prizes from sponsors and supporters:
- Porsche Asheville
- Hagerty
- Haus Heidelberg
- Burning Blush Brewery
- Individual member contributions (Dazzo, Peerson, Brewster)
- Guidon Brewing Co
Thank you to everyone who contributed and congratulations to everyone who won.
We also saw members walking the beautiful grounds of the property, viewing cars and playing the games, such as the handmade custom cornhole boards made in George’s shop.
Two special car displays were organized that were able to viewed from the pavilion. Right in front of the pavilion was a Red display showcasing some of the many reds available on Porsches from the 993, 994 to Boxsters, Caymans and 911’s. To the right was performance hill featuring gray/silver performance cars including GTS models, Turbos and a GT4 RS.
APR member and MANNA Board member, Judy Butler, MANNA Development, Chad Conaty,
APR President Jim Moore and Oktoberfest Chair George Cain.
Over lunch while the band was on a break, George and President Jim welcomed the group to the event and introduced Chad Conaty from MANNA. Chad provided a quick overview of the MANNA mission and announced that $15,000 had been raised from registrations, extra donations and matching funds from K&M Collision and Hagerty Insurance. This equates to over 60,000 of meals to help our Western North Carolina neighbors facing food insecurity issues.
The event concluded with the famous Stein Holding contest. A joint men and women event occurred but with separate prizes for each gender provided by Hagerty. Kent Brooks was crowned this year’s male winner and Trish as this year’s female winner.
Congratulations to both!
A final picture was taken of the remaining 54 participants from the original 184 as they grouped themselves around the remaining red car display with the lake and clouds in the background.
Thank you again to all for attending and donating to MANNA FoodBank.
Thanks go to the over 47 volunteers:
Oktoberfest Chairs
- George and Cindy Cain
Set-up Team
- Chuck and Char Mills
- Don Zelm and Pat Quinn
- George and Cindy Cain
Old Bishop Place Farm
- Bruce and Jacquelyn Rogow
- Wayne
Parking Crew
- Charlie Hickey
- Carl von Schummer
- Joe Esposito
- Dick Maybach
- Cathy and Rick Stumpf
- Dave White
Bartenders
- George Cain
- Chuck Mills
- Don Zelm
- Tour Leads and Sweeps
- Yohan Sookdeo
- Bob Disney
- Scott Rowbotham
- Don Zelm
- Doug Menchhofer
- Michael Stupp
- Allen Peerson
- Dan Dazzo
- Gene Carter
- Don Lowcavage
MANNA Coordination
- David Butler
- Jim Moore
Auction and Door Prize
- Jim Moore
- Yohan Sookdeo
Tear-down Crew
- Dan and Gale Dazzo
- Jim and Linda Moore
- Don and Lee Therien
- Bob Disney
- Yohan Sookdeo
- Don Zelm and Pat Quinn
- Chuck and Char Mills
- George and Cindy Cain
Display Cars
- Bobby and Brenda Brewster – GT4 RS
- Doug Campbell – 911 Turbo
- Scott Rowbotham – 911 GTS
- Jim and Nicole Davis – 911 Turbo
- John Koury – Cayman GTS
- Jim Symington – Guards Red Boxster
- Dick Maybach – Guards Red Cayman S
- Jeffrey Rubin and Judy Boyd – Carmine Red 911
- Alan and Victoria Peacock – Guards Red Boxster
- Carl von Schummer – Guards Red 993 Cab
- Mark and Lynn Cigal – Guards Red 944
- Owner unknown – Carmine Red Macan
Web site and Registration
- Dick Maybach
- Jim Moore
Finances
- Jim Symington
Appalachian Region Board
- Jim Moore
- John Goetzman
- Jim Symington
- Don Therien
- Dave White
Article theme is with thanks to Linda Moore.
Photo Credits
- Brenda Brewster
- Carole Carter
- Jim Davis
- Nicole Davis
- Bob Disney
- Dick Maybach
- Jim Moore
If I missed anyone who contributed to the event, I am sorry. Please let me know so I can correct this oversight: Moore911T@gmail.com
With thanks to:
Jim Moore – Appalachian Region President