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A Message from the 2026 President – May 2026

Board Updates & Governance

Below is a summary of the highlights of board meetings over the last few months.  While most of the time are discussing events for the membership, we also need to tackle administrative tasks of running a board:

  • Communication & Transparency: This is a focus of mine and I will continue to present these updates to the membership, so you all know the “happenings” at NER and the accomplishments of the 2026 Board.
  • Website Refresh and Document Storage: New website is live. Congrats to Ryan and his team for this needed refresh.  Please look for additional updates over the remainder of the year. We are also reviewing how NER documents are stored to ensure effective transitions to those boards in the years to come.
  • Policies, Procedures & Bylaws: Policies & Procedures drafts of these are in process and will ensure the Board operates efficiently and in accordance with our bylaws. Note we put the Bylaw update on hold to ensure when there is a “fix and clarify” we update everything needed once and we need to operate under the current version to fully understand all necessary tweets.
  • Email blasts: We are working to ensure future email blasts are consistent month to month so everyone will know when to expect them and looking to add some human interest stories from current members.

Upcoming Events & Activities

Springtime is here and cars are out of storage.  It is great to see Porsches out driving on the streets again.  Activities have been planned, some have already occurred and some are right around the corner.  The favorite events have stayed, and new concepts are being explored, especially in our Social events.

Driving & Track Events

  • Autocross (AX): The 2026 season kicked off with a well-attended Ground school event at Devins and welcomed some DE folks to work on car control. Pizza was had by all with an AX course in the afternoon.  If you have not tried AX, no time like the present – it’s an exciting way to see what you and your car can do.  All registration is on motorsportreg.com.  If you are curious what this is all about, check out a video here Welcome to AX
  • Driver Education (DE): Registration is open now at motorsportreg.com
    • HPDE Primer: May 22 at Thompson – a low-cost, half-day opportunity to try DE for the first time.
    • Tech Form: The 2026 tech form and process is available online at Tech form and happy to report NCR and NER have adopted the same process to make this easier for all. The DE tech team have established 2 tech sessions showing how to “self-tech” your car and videos for assistance at the link above.
  • The Ramble: As I write this, all are home from a great Ramble at the Sagamore Hotel and still wishing for more and looking forward to next year. I look forward to seeing the recap for 2026 and another fabulous event next year April 23-25, 2027, in Newport RI at Newport Harbor Island Hotel.

Rallies & Tours

We are delivering on your requests for more driving tours and working to spread them out across the region:

  • Spring Rally: Another rainy Sunday for the route which started at Billiards Café in Ayer MA. But you all showed up and the event was a huge success.
  • Summer Rally: Currently in the planning stages and should be announced soon.
  • Dow Fall Rally: Our annual tradition continues and look for details later in the spring/summer.

Social Events

The Social Committee is expanding our “Porsches & Coffee” locations and adding more tech sessions.

  • Porsches & Coffee: Starting this year, you will see Cars & Coffee in both the “North” and “South.” We will also be attending Larz Anderson for Porsche Day on Sunday July 26th.
  • Summer Outing: “Take me out to the ball game, take me out with the crowd.” Porsches are headed to the Lowell Spinners ballpark on Saturday August 1.  Look for details to come but let’s say I need to warm up my throwing arm, and the kids should wear their running sneakers.  Should be a great event for the full family.

Concours

The Concours Committee has been formed and is planning an exciting event for Sunday September 13th at Westport Rivers Winery in Westport, MA.

  • New Location: As Audrain has expanded their schedule, it was determined to move our event outside Motor Week.
  • While some things change, others do not: While the location has changed, we expect our Concours event to be another hit with a beautiful backdrop of the vineyards.  While cars are being shown, there will be wine will be available for tastings and purchase (by glass or bottle).

Events Around the Region

  • DER Porsches in the Park: Downeast Region is hosting their annual Porsches in the Park on Saturday July 25th at Bug Light Park, South Portland ME. This is a great charity event with proceeds going to the Dempsey Center which provides personalized and comprehensive cancer care.   See details on how to register at Porsches in the Park.  And who knows, maybe Patrick Dempsey will attend as he has in some prior years.
  • PCA Porsche Parade: The PCA Parade is at Lake Placid June 14-20, 2026, with registration open for all events. It is a great time to meet Porsche enthusiasts from around Zone 1 and the country.  It has not been in Zone 1 since Jay Peak, VT in 2016

Fun Facts

  • NER hosted the Porsche Parade in 1961 in Berkshires, MA and was gifted a sterling silver Porsche 356, autographed by Ferry Porsche. This has been passed down President to President since and currently sitting on my mantel.
  • Speaking of Parades, NER won the Membership award at the 1998 43rd Porsche Parade at Steamboat CO
  • While most of us have only heard of AX at Fort Devens because it is a GREAT location, we used to run autocrosses at a number of locations such as Mitre Corp in Reading, Burlington Mall, Needham Nike Site, Dighton Nike Site, Auburn Mall, Ft Devens (old course), Univ NH parking lot , Revere Greyhound track parking lot , Smith & Weston lot in Springfield MA, Bose parking lot and Convention Center in Boston

Get Involved

NER is fueled by the passion of our volunteers. If you have an interest in helping out, whether in a small way or by joining a committee, please reach out to us at [email protected].

I look forward to seeing you all on the road and at our events very soon!

Kristin Larson

2026 NER President

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2026 Spring Rally Recap

The Fall 2024 Dow Rally used a beautiful course that started in Ayer MA and explored lovely towns in Southern New Hampshire. We expected some great scenery and leaf peeping, but instead got rain and lousy weather. So for this year’s Spring Rally, we decided to use most of that same course and have some great Spring views. And what did we get? Rain and lousy weather again! But it was still a great drive that featured 31 challenging gimmick questions and ended with a nice buffet lunch at the Billiards Café.

We had a record 41 signups (but a number of no shows who I guess didn’t like the weather!) that included Ellen Beck (and husband Bob Gutjahr). Ellen will be running the Gimmick Rally for the 2026 Porsche Parade and has 251 entrants to deal with. Good luck with that!

The mix of 31 questions included quite a few “gimmies” but some that we feared no one would get right. But we were wrong – there were at least some correct answers to all questions. The scoring was very close – there were 3 teams with only 2 wrong and the winner missed only one question. And the winner is…of course it was Team Black Sheep Tower Racing (Ellen and Bob)! Runner up (winning on the tiebreaker) was Team Dailey.

We usually have a “story contest” – entrants tell a short story as they await the start. The three best stories are presented to the crowd at lunch and a vote is taken to declare a winner. This event’s “story” was “Tell us about your first car.” The three finalists were Arno Mueller, Jessica Levesque and Yvette Viard. Yvette told her story of how she made a bet with her Dad that she would pass her license test on the first try (which is reputedly very difficult in France). If she won she would get his car (a Renault 4L) which he would have to paint Lilac. (Note that in her story there was no mention of what her Dad would get if she failed the test. The answer is probably nothing which is why we Dad’s are such suckers for our kids.) Needless to say she passed and even had pictures of the Lilac colored car as proof. Arno and Jessica could not top this tale so Yvette won.

Thanks to Anker Berg-Sonne and Tony Miniscalco for setting up and managing this event! Look for a summer rally (location not yet determined) and the traditional Fall Dow Rally (we think on the Cape).

Anyone who wants to help with these please contact Bill Seymour.

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2026 Autocross School Recap

NER held its Autocross School early this year – on April 11th. The event was sponsored once again by Conway Autoworks in Hanover, MA. (Thank you, Kenny!) At this year’s event, we mixed things up a bit by inviting a group of drivers and instructors from NER’s HPDE Team led by Tim Canfield to host a car clinic in conjunction with our event. The two groups ran their respective exercises separately during the morning sessions followed by a Pizza lunch provided by the Club. In the afternoon, both groups combined to run a full Autocross Course – putting into practice some of what they had seen during their morning exercises.

This year’s event attracted 32 students at the Autocross School and 16 drivers for the HPDE car control clinic. Both groups had a number of their own experienced drivers on hand to instruct the students.

The Autocross Students had been advised (prior to the event) to watch the 3-part NER Autocross Video produced by Richard Viard (who was one of the instructors attending) to get acquainted with what to expect at an invent and pick up a few tips on driving technique, safety issues, and more. After a brief morning driver’s meeting to cover a few basics on Autocross and Safety, instructors and their students were turned loose to drive the morning exercises.

This year, we set up two comprehensive exercises – a “Figure 8” exercise to help with turning and following a course, a “Clamshell” exercise to practice more braking with turning. A “Slalom” element introducing students to a frequently used autocross element was also integrated into the Figure 8. Students were broken into groups of drivers and course workers and had 45 minutes of driving each exercise allowing plenty of repetitions for each student.

Following a Pizza lunch provided by the Club, we held a brief driver’s meeting before running an actual autocross event for the afternoon.

Students were driven around the course in their own cars by their instructor at a moderate pace to get familiarized with the course and a driving approach. Then, each student was given a chance to do 4 timed runs with their instructor riding along. By the end of the day, there were a lot of smiling faces and a number of students saying they were looking forward to signing up for our first regular event for the season on May 17th.

A look at the posted times for the day shows most of the students managing to improve their times considerably over the course of their four runs showing that they learned something during the day’s activities. Once posted, full results can be seen by going to NER’s Live Timing site at https://porschenet.com/ax, scrolling down to the date of the Autocross School (April 11, 2026), then selecting “Results”.

Thanks again to Kenny Conway at Conway Autoworks for sponsoring the event and hopefully helping to generate some new autocross regulars …

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Newcomers Recap at Archive Framingham

Hi everyone,


If you couldn’t make it to our Newcomers Event on March 15th in Framingham, you definitely missed out on more than baked tasty treats and Ferraris in the back corner .
We had an incredible turnout of new and longtime members who came together to connect, share stories, and celebrate what makes our club so special. From the moment people arrived, the energy was high—great conversations, new friendships forming, and plenty of Porsche passion in the room. It was exactly the kind of welcoming, engaging atmosphere we want every member to experience.
What stood out most was how quickly strangers became part of the community. That’s what this club is all about—not just the cars, but the people behind them.
If you weren’t there, consider this your official nudge: you don’t want to miss the next one.

 

We have more events coming up, and they’re only getting better. Make sure you’re staying in the loop:

  • Check out our new website for event updates and announcements

  • Follow us on social media to stay connected between events

  • And most importantly, come introduce yourself in person next time

As Membership Chair, I’m here to help you get the most out of the club. Think of me as your concierge—whether you’re new, returning, or just looking to get more involved, I’d love to connect and help you plug in.

Feel free to reach out anytime, and I hope to see you at our next event.

 

Best regards,
Kevin Moran
Membership Chair
Porsche Club of America – Northeast Region
[email protected]

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2026 HPDE Ground School Recap

On Saturday, March 7th, nearly 40 attendees, plus Track Committee members, gathered at HMS Motorsport in Danvers, MA to shake off the winter doldrums and talk about a couple of our favorite things: cars and driving them on the track!

After coffee and breakfast treats generously provided by David Peterman of Panera Bread, members of the High-Performance Drivers Education team, plus leaders from the NER Board, were present to discuss NER’s 2026 on-track activities.  The punchline is that there is a lot planned with something for everyone…even those who may opt not to drive.  This event, coined “The Ground School,” is the official kickoff to the upcoming NER driving season.

The Ground School focuses on the many opportunities available for new drivers in the Drivers Education program.

Led by Co-Chief Instructor, Tim Canfield, a lively conversation followed as each member of the Track Committee talked a little about their role and how they got “hooked” (addicted?! LOL.) on high-performance driving.  Thereafter, Cody McLean and Evan Polisky of HMS covered the all-important topic of driver safety equipment.

The group then broke for lunch and the rich discussions continued in a less-structured format, with lots of one-on-one conversations and dedicated Q&A.  Tasty pizza and soft drinks were furnished courtesy of HMS.  HMS hosts Cody and Evan provided personal attention for those looking to try on helmets or find the right size and style of equipment.

Many thanks to HMS for hosting the group and for their generous support of our High-Performance Drivers Education programming.

And for those who need a fast and “colorful” visual of the objective of the program, here you go!

Article and pictures courtesy of Michelle Wang and Darin Smith.

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NER 2026 Autocross Event #1

NER’s 2026 Autocross Season kicks off on Sunday  May 17th at Moore Airfield in Ayer and will be sponsored by Kachel Motor Company in Lawrence. As always, we welcome newcomers to the sport as well as veteran Autocrossers, Porsches and non-Porsches are welcome.

For those new to Autocross, it is a safe and accessible introduction to motor sports and a fantastic way to improve on your driving skills both for motorsports and street driving.  It is also a competitive event: the runs are timed and you compete against similar cars in your class at each event. Participants at our autocross events are a dynamic mix of veterans and novices, enjoying what is both a Club social event as well as a friendly competition. Novices can always count on help from the autocross veterans and no one takes it so seriously that it interferes with the spirit of camaraderie. To give you a first-hand look at what to expect, we have a series of excellent “Introduction to Autocross” videos on our website, produced by one of our long-time members Richard Viard. They can be seen on the Autocross page of our website at www.porschenet.com. Registration is open for all 2026 events on motorsportreg.com; click here for event info and registration. For the May 17th event, you must register online by midnight, Friday May 15th .

Gates will open at 7:00 am. Please do not arrive before that time unless you are part of the setup crew. When you arrive, the check-in crew will ask to see your driver’s license and e-waiver badge on your phone.

Park in the paddock area and empty your car, put your assigned numbers on your car, and get in the tech line with your helmet in the car.

Tech lines will be open from 7:15 to 8:15; Plan to arrive no later than 8:00 to get through Tech before it closes.

You should bring a helmet (Snell 2015 or newer), sunscreen, water and lunch if you did not order it. A limited amount of loaner helmets are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

The Drivers Meeting will take place near the Control Tent around 8:30 am. 

There will be a course walk after the driver’s meeting; Following the course walk go immediately to your assigned work stations. We will begin runs at about 9:30 am.

We’ll take a short lunch break between the morning and afternoon run sessions. If you ordered lunch when you registered, it will be available for pickup. Soft drinks, snacks, and water will be provided by the Club.

The cost for the day is $55 for members, $65 for non-members. Lunch can be pre-ordered online when registering.

We look forward to seeing you at this event.  Questions:  contact AX Chair Chris Ryan ([email protected]).  For registration information, contact the AX Registrar Alan Davis ([email protected]).    

 

Directions:  The event will be at Moore Airfield on Route 2A which is separate from the main (former) Army base. The Google maps address is 90 Fitchburg Rd. Ayer MA.     From Rte128 or I-495: Take Route 2 West. Take Exit 38B (Route 111 North) for 2 miles. At the rotary, take Route 2A West toward Ayer. Stay on 2A as it turns right in downtown Ayer.  Follow Route 2A bearing left at the fork by Tiny’s Restaurant. Continue past the Shop & Save market on your left – the entrance gate will be on your left just after the railroad tracks with a sign reading “Welcome to Moore Field”. Enter through the main gate, then look for the “Autocross” sign and bear left up the hill to get to the airfield. Everyone should have signed the e-waivers prior to arriving. At the top of the hill there will be someone to check you in. Please be prepared to show your driver’s license and PCA Membership card if asked.

 

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A New NER Website Arrives The Week of 2/23!

Hello NER Members!

As we approach the 2026 driving season, club staff have been working hard to modernize, simplify, and improve our digital and social media experience.

As part of this initiative, we are starting the gradual rollout of a new NER website the week of 2/23/26. To help you stay informed, please refer to the information below.

What You Can Expect:

  • A more modern design, with improved readability and vibrant colors
  • Reworked page layouts that are more responsive, and better showcase content on all devices
  • Easier page navigation, with quicker access to key club information
  • And more!

As We Transition To Our New Look, Please Be Advised That:

  • The website will remain available for use
  • Some pages will undergo a larger transformation than others
  • At times, the content on certain pages may appear to be under construction
  • We kindly ask for your patience as we work through these changes to deliver an improved club experience

Regards,

Ryan Kitlinski (Website Manager)

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2025 PCA NER Gala Recap & Thank You

Despite Boston Mayor, Michelle Wu, declaring a “Cold Emergency” due to arctic wind blasts and unusually cold weather, Mother Nature could not chill the festive and celebratory vibes of the 2025 PCA NER Annual Gala held on January 24, 2026 in the Blue Wing at the Museum of Science, Cambridge, MA.

The Blue Wing delivered a genuine “Night at the Museum” experience with three levels of exhibits that enveloped a magnificent open atrium. Guests were treated to an assortment of displays that created a unique and dynamic atmosphere, while towering ceilings and expansive spaces provided a hint of opulence befitting our Annual Gala.

Club members and their companions, many of whom were fashionably attired in high-octane gowns and formal wear worthy of a Grammy Award red carpet, enjoyed top-shelf cocktails, delicious hors d’oeuvres, a multi-course plated dinner, a rocking playlist curated by our very own Greg Gervais, and riveting conversation.

Guests were invited to savor the dance floor, many interactive displays, photo opportunities, and more.

The 2025 Annual Gala was made possible thanks to the generosity of:  the Museum of Science, our gracious host; Porsche Boston, our Gold Event Sponsor; and SSA – European Auto Repair, our Silver Event Sponsor.  Additionally, the Club would like to extend a sincere and heartfelt thank you to our incredible event organizers Mark Shane and Ashley Flynn, PCA NER leadership, and everyone – seen and unseen — who helped make our 2025 Annual Gala a success.  Vielen Dank (“Thank you very much” in German)!

Driver Of The Year (Jim Freiman)
Enthusiast Of The Year (Rick Archambault – Accepted By Dennis Friedman)
Instructor Of The Year (Patrick Bodden)
Michael Hardin (SOC-F Care Coordinator)

Charity of Choice – Special Operations Care-Fund (SOC-F), a not-for-profit organization founded in 2014 that fills critical gaps in healthcare, mental health, and family support for Special Operations Veterans and their families. SOC-F’s programs save lives and give an opportunity for elite military members and their families to experience life changing, transformative care. The award was accepted by Michael Hardin, SOC-F Care Coordinator. In addition to his role as Care Coordinator, Michael is also the project manager for a groundbreaking research study focused on effective treatments for special forces veterans struggling with PTSD. Micheal joined the Navy in 2008 to become a Navy SEAL. He served for nine years.

NER Members Enjoying The Gala Festivities
Delicious Food!
Music And Dancing!

Photography By Perfectly Distinct

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