Parade 2009 Revisited

Will we see you in 2010?

By Cole Scrogham

Registration opens March 9 and continues through June 20

Colorado in July, sounds kind of backwards doesn’t it? Most people head to the Mountain West to take advantage of powder snow in the winter, but not much snow is to be found in the summer months. “Most people,” however, are not Porsche people; where the location is just an excuse to get together with friends that share a love for the Porsche car. PCA holds its annual Porsche Parade each summer at locales around the US and even Canada from time to time, alternating east, central and west coast destinations. The Parade is the premier event for our club, and as PCA grows the Parade has also been growing over the past decades into a world class event that is not to be missed, and the 2009 edition in Keystone, Colorado was no exception.

Most Parades for me have been an opportunity to take the family on a nice summer vacation, AFTER the competition is over! This is going to sound really weird to most of you, but the Concours is what I really enjoy. It’s not just seeing all the beautiful cars lined up on some beautiful golf course, or all the people that are around enjoying the sight or even the opportunity to get to see something very unique in Porsche’s history. For me, I really enjoy competing in this event, whether with a restoration of a unique Porsche car or a newer model that requires an eye for detail (and very small fingers)…I love the competition. Years ago I was a little more serious about it than today, but that fire still burns enough once a year to make me think about new projects.

This year was a different story. No project, no car and no competition. I thought about not going at all, but after a lot of prodding by my son Michael we were thinking about turning Parade 2009 into a guy’s trip with just the two of us. I was lucky enough to be asked to judge the 356’s, so that at least gave me enough of a “job” to put me over the top. There were lots of rooming options, so we opted for a small condo that had a kitchen, pull out sofa and most amenities other than air conditioning. Turns out that omission wasn’t a big deal until faced with one of the warmest rooms I can remember, but no matter as cool nights and a few electric fans perched on the window sills made it all OK. Why would you need a room with AC in the Colorado Mountains anyway?

It was a surreal experience to walk around the Concours prep area and not have anything to work on. I always enjoyed it when people would come up and comment on your car and ask questions, so I guess now it was my turn. The prep location was a tad bleak in terms of lighting (note that this year Concours entrants will be treated to an indoor facility for prep) as it doubled as a parking garage, but you could still enjoy looking at the cars and catching up with friends. Some of the cars were really nice, and it was a pleasure to actually meet some first timers without looking out from under a car with sweat dripping off my nose! We actually went to the Goodie Store and had time to hang out in the Hospitality area before the Concours, which was pretty interesting with lots to look at and served to take my mind off not participating in the competition.