RSR 40th Anniversary Celebration

by Bruce Herrington

Riverside Region was granted a Charter from PCA, in 1968. That small group (starting with 10 enthusiasts in January 1968, reaching the required 25 members in March), has grown to some 350 today. In honor of its founding and 40 year heritage, RSR held its 40th anniversary celebration on 11 October 2008. The venue was the new Riverside International Automobile Museum, commemorating the cars and activities involved in Riverside Raceway, which grew up at about the same time as Riverside Region, and contributed its influence to making Riverside known as a Racing Region during the 1970s and 1980s.

Set-up and bar-tending were handled by Pat & Roy Corrall, who also arranged for the catering. Table decorations were prepared by Eleanor Youmans, assisted by Joyce Cook.

The entertainment (a driving event) was designed and conducted by Jim Burke, assisted by Shawn Anderson, Herschel Riley, Glen Sager, and David Smith.

In the very early days of the region, driving activities tended to be Gymnkannas, slow speed events patterned after equestrian competitions in England and India, where maneuverability and control were paramount. The 40th Aanniversary revived some of the those early challenges, for the edification of many newer members who didn't know what a gymnkanna was. Blindfolded drivers, carrying golf balls in a spoon while driving, and keeping a string taught (but not TOO taught) while driving in a circle, were used this time. More tricky ideas have been written up in back issues of Unsere Gedanken, and it's predecessor, the Porsche Eros.

It took a while for folks to catch on to the fun of gymnkanna maneuvers, but once they got into the swing of things it was hard to round them up for the lunch.

The Museum provided exhibits of various cars, including open wheel Indy cars, that had or could have raced at Riverside raceway, as well as continuous movies of events there. The Regional display included old RSR Apparel, Gedankens going back to 1968 when the newsletter was called Porsche Eros, and a continuous slide show of RSR events.

As usual, the displays served as triggers for Porsche talk among the members. The turnout was good, though many of the old timers were notably absent. Time marches on, and as the club evolves, it's past character becomes less important than it's present and future.