Archive for month: April, 2020

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2020 Ramble Cancelled

The latest update from our Ramblemeisters, Dennis and Carol Friedman:

Hi Ramblers,

This would have been the 35th Annual Ramble, but the restrictions and uncertainty surrounding Covid-19 have made it impossible to safely provide you with a “proper” Ramble experience.

Everyone registered will receive their registration fees back in full, and The Otesaga will be issuing credit for all of your room deposits WITHOUT NEED FOR YOU TO DO ANYTHING except check your credit card account to ensure you receive your refund. In both cases, it may take more than 1 card cycle for these credits to appear in your credit card account.

But don’t despair, because on Wednesday January 20, 2021, we plan to open registration for the 2021 Ramble! Let’s hope we’ve put Covid-19 in our collective rear view mirrors by that time, so we can all enjoy our usual large, gregarious, driving, and sociable get-together in true Ramble fashion.

Until then, enjoy your Porsche, and stay safe,
Dennis and Carol Friedman
Ramblemeisters

A prior update from our Ramblemeisters, Dennis and Carol Friedman:

 I can now confirm that the 2020 Ramble has been re-scheduled at The Otesaga Resort Hotel for Sunday November 8 thru Tuesday November 10.

As you might expect, many organizations have been scrambling to re-schedule events at The Otesaga, and there was not a Friday thru Sunday, Thursday thru Saturday, or Saturday thru Monday where we could get more than 83 rooms for both nights. Since we already had nearly 140 rooms booked 2 months before the April event, it didn’t seem right to re-schedule to dates where we could only satisfy about 60% of those members already confirmed. As a result, our first November Ramble will also be the first to have us driving and banqueting on a Monday!

We have reserved the entire hotel on Sunday and Monday nights as well as 26 rooms in the Hotel for Saturday night. In addition there will be about 10 rooms available at the Cooper Inn on Friday and Saturday nights. If you decide to come early and stay at the Cooper Inn, you should be able to stay there for Sunday and Monday as well, or move to The Otesaga for the 2 nights of the Ramble. While there are no rooms available at this time before Friday, anyone wishing to stay beyond Tuesday breakfast can definitely book at our attractive rates for another 3 days.

All existing hotel reservations will be cancelled, and your deposits refunded. Refunds may take 2-3 billing cycles to appear on your credit card statement. To ensure that current confirmed registrants receive preference, UNTIL MAY 1, THE OTESAGA WILL ONLY ACCEPT NEW NOVEMBER RESERVATIONS FROM PEOPLE WITH AN EXISTING RESERVATION. As of Monday May 4, registration will re-open for the re-scheduled Ramble on ClubReg, and the NER website will announce the new dates to the complete club membership.

To take advantage of your booking priority, please call The Otesaga Resort Hotel promptly to reserve in our room block. There are no online reservations. YOU CAN ONLY BOOK YOUR ROOM BY CALLING 607-353-6906 ON WEEKDAYS (Monday thru Friday 9:00-5:00) identifying yourself as guests of the “Porsche Club of America – Northeast Region”. They will require a deposit of 1 night’s lodging which is fully refundable until 3 days before your check-in. AT THIS TIME, THE OTESAGA ONLY HAS 2 AGENTS ANSWERING PHONES, SO YOU MAY BE PLACED ON HOLD OR GET VOICE MAIL, AND IT MAY TAKE A LITTLE WHILE FOR YOU TO GET A RETURN CALL AFTER LEAVING A VOICE MAIL. We appreciate your understanding of the realities of the world as it is at the moment.

In regard to room rates, I’m pleased to report that pricing will be $15/night less than our original rates. So after months of travel restrictions and health concerns, feel free to extend your visit on the shores of Lake Otesaga.

The only bright side to this whole ordeal, is that after we complete our November Ramble, you’ll only have to wait 5 months to do it all over again on April 30 – May 2, 2021.

Contact me with any questions or concerns.

Stay safe, and we look forward to seeing you all in Cooperstown,
Dennis & Carol Friedman
Ramblemeisters

More details on the event page >

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NER DE Update

To our DE community from Adam Schwartz, NER Track Chair –

The season as a whole had been shaping up to be another great year. We were on target for our normal yearly opener, the Novice Event at Thompson Speedway. It is followed by the wonderful events at Palmer Motorsports Park, Watkins Glen (including our usual Dinosaur BBQ), and our new, great plans for Calabogie. Hopefully, you’ve had a chance to read my note in the April edition of the NOR’EASTER. If not, please check it out.

Then came COVID-19.

At this time, my main hope is that everyone is safe, healthy, and at home – and that this is not directly affecting you or your families.

I also wanted to provide an update on where we stand on the season. I have been watching carefully as our situation has changed with the goal of providing clear information about how it would ultimately affect our upcoming DE season. It’s now April and things are about as clear as mud. One thing is clear–the DE committee wants to get back on track as soon as possible. As of right now, no NER DE events have been cancelled. Currently, the state of Connecticut has its restrictions on gatherings through April 30th which allows us the potential that we will be able to hold our event at Thompson on May 22-24. That may change. I have been in regular contact with the tracks. I am also keeping a very close eye on the information published by the Governors of MA, CT, NY and even Quebec. My feeling is that we will eventually make it back on track–hopefully sooner rather than later.

Whatever we do, we are going to do it with safety in mind. We are going to need to work social distancing into the equation.

But I need your help.

If you intend to come to our events this season, PLEASE SIGN UP NOW.

I need to know who can plan to attend so we know what to try to plan for. This is not an obligation. If government regulations keep us from holding the events, you will get FULLY REFUNDED. You are incurring no risk by signing up. You will be lending us your support, so we can do our best to get us all on track this season.

We will share more, as more information becomes available.

Thank you for everyone’s support,
Adam Schwartz, NER Track Chair

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Local Business Update

A significant number of our sponsors and advertisers are open for business, both physically as well as virtually.   We will be updating this list as more information becomes available.  You can also find this information available on our Facebook page. 

  • Porsche Warwick (service open, new steam-cleaning & disinfecting service, sales is closed)
  • Porsche Norwell (service open 9-2 by appointment, sales is closed)
  • VR Motion Labs (open via phone only)
  • Kachel Motor Company (open for drop-off only)
  • European Performance Engineering (closed, free phone consultations available 10-4 M-F)
  • South Shore Autoworks (open)
  • Musante (open, door is locked and by appointment but open for business)
  • Aubobahn Performance (open)
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