‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’, said Friedrich Nietzsche, which perfectly sums up the fortunes of the club’s Dorset region. Formed by current PCGB chairman Peter Bull twenty-five years ago, for years the region thrived but then fell on hard times and the membership was amalgamated into a Hants & Wilts & Dorset region. Fortunately, a group of determined Dorset-based members continued to meet privately and came up with a plan of action to reinstate the regions autonomy, which the board accepted. This was ten years ago and the rest, as they say, is history.
To celebrate this auspicious occasion, a gala dinner was planned and the first requirement was a suitable location. The George Albert Hotel has looked after us extremely well for the past six years, growing with the region and pulling out all the stops to ensure we enjoy every event we stage there. From a slow start after a major refit, the food, service and ambiance has improved beyond recognition, so the venue chose itself really and once that was booked, we could get cracking on the details of the event.
We agreed that we should have a Porsche in the room (of course), a prize raffle (naturally) and a complementary drink on arrival (very popular), but these are expected at an R26 dinner - we needed something to mark this out as a special occasion. We decided a souvenir goody-bag would be a nice touch – and an after-dinner speaker would round things off nicely. Karl and Geoff took on the task of filling the bag and in a moment of madness, I volunteered to enlist a speaker.
With everybody now clear as to what they needed to do, remarkably all the plans seamlessly fell into place. I contacted racing driver Nick Faure who agreed to give an after-dinner speech despite never having done so before. Club Shop and Porsche Centre Bournemouth donated gifts for the goody bags and raffle respectively. We had planned to display the club’s 356, but late on it became clear that this wasn’t going to happen and we needed an alternative. There were several options, but Geoff played the trump card and sourced Alan Matthews’ Porsche Junior tractor, which on the night looked perfect. Well, it would, wouldn’t it? We were in Dorset, after all!
On arrival in the evening, we were greeted by hotel staff in a beautifully laid out room, with Alan’s tractor taking pride of place. Pre-dinner drinks (for which we have to thank our RO, Tref) contributed to a convivial atmosphere and then it was time to sit down to a three-course meal cooked and served to the hotels usual high standards. Tref opened the speeches, welcoming everybody to the event and offering a potted-history of the region and its achievements, before he handed the microphone to Peter Bull whose encouraging words were well received. Everyone appreciated the fact that the club chairman and originator of the region had taken the time to attend and it was good to see him and Ann-Marie catching up with old acquaintances and forging new ones during the evening.
Finally, we got to Nick Faure’s speech and as this surprisingly quiet, modest and unassuming man hit his stride, he captured the audience with some enthralling tales of a very successful racing and motoring career, most of it seemingly spent cornering 911’s with the inside front wheel cocked high in the air!
Then finally another well stocked raffle. We raised £310 in support of the Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance. Our total now exceeds £4000 so well done everyone.
Someone once said ‘all good things must come to an end’ (probably not Nietzsche this time), but I beg to differ. Yes, all too soon our anniversary dinner was over, but the Dorset region has gone from strength to strength over the years and will continue to thrive, fuelled by the drive and enthusiasm of its members, past, present and future. So here’s looking forward to our next anniversary!
Thanks to the following for helping to make the event such a success:-
Amy Brine (Porsche Bournemouth), Jen Doran, Nick Faure, Alan Matthews
The management and staff at the George Albert Hotel