We began a busy month of March with our pre-season dinner, which we hope many members were happy to see making a welcome return. With around 40 members in attendance it made for an enjoyable evening. Our thanks go to the staff of the Dunsilly Hotel in Antrim for hosting us on the evening together with our DJ Alan who both provided the entertainment on the night, along with very kindly compering (and provided some of the questions for) our quiz section. Many thinking caps were seen between the dinner and the dancing. I am pleased to say that none of the teams disgraced themselves in the Porsche/Porsche Club GB round of questioning!
Geoff Moore collecting the winning prize on behalf on his team at the pre-season dinner
Lagan Valley Island
Hot on the heels of the dinner we visited Lagan Valley Island in Lisburn where we were very kindly hosted by Andrew Gowan, the Mayor of Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council, for our first cars and coffee event of the year. Around 60 members braved the weather to provide a strong display of cars to mark the event. While this was essentially a free event, we had asked members to make voluntary a charitable donation when booking, which many of you did. This raised an impressive total of £605, which was presented to the Mayor in aid of their chosen charity, ‘The Cancer Fund For Children’.
A strong display of cars at Lagan Valley Island in Lisburn for R27’s first cars and coffee event
Special trophies
As part of the Lagan event event we also took the opportunity to present two very special trophies to members - ‘New Member of the Year’ and ‘Member of the Year’. It’s never an easy decision to make when selecting winners for these awards each year, however, between the team some names stuck out on this occasion.
'New Member of the Year' Thomas Beckett with his award
Our new member ‘2016 Trophy’ was awarded to a member who made an impact at their very first event, namely Thomas Beckett. Thomas was instrumental in assisting the team in making arrangements at the aforementioned cars and coffee event and his early input into the Region has been very welcome.
'Member(s) of the Year' Charlie McCloskey (L) and Jackie Dowie (R)
I am very happy to announce that the ‘Member of the Year’ trophy was awarded to Charlie McCloskey and Jackie Dowie who are amongst the longest serving R27 members of and are past committee members. They regularly attend Region events and their support is always greatly appreciated. Myself, together with Ken and Tina would sincerely congratulate them on receipt of this well-deserved recognition.
Events cards
As mentioned last month we now have a revised version of our 2024 events cards. Some of you may already have received them at time of reading, however, if not these will be available to you at any Club event – just speak to a member of the team to obtain your copy.
That is about it for this month and it just leaves me to say that both myself and the team look forward to seeing you all at your next R27 event and in the meantime - safe driving!
Paul McAleer - Team R27