The 2009 Drei Staaten Gruppe holiday party was held on Dec 5th, at Cincinnati's Mecklenburg Gardens German restaurant (circa 1865) in Corryville. About 35 members, wives and guests enjoyed the German themed historic restaurant, excellent food, and evening's activities.

After a great dinner, Carl kicked off the activities with three special awards. The annual "Car of the Year" trophy this year was awarded to Dick Weiss, for his splendid Carrera Speedster. Stan Yarrish was awarded the Tom Oerther Spirit Award for his work on the DSG website improvements, and participation in various other club activities.

Also recognized this year were John and Shelley Howe for their efforts in organizing and conducting one of the best East Coast holiday's in memory, this year's West Badin Springs East Coast Holiday. A special plaque with the DSG club badge was awarded to the Howe's.

This year again the club recognized the efforts of several members, with Porsche factory Club Trophies. Awardees this year are: 
Original Owner Car - Russell Clarke, 
Best Scenic Drives - Fred Uhlmann, 
Best After Car Show BBQ - Joe and Valerie Fee,  
Best Car Show Detailer - Joe Fee
Best new Outlaw 356 - Dave Raum
Newsletter Recognition - Steve Smith and Brian Schroeder
Best Holiday Lunch & Hospitality - Scott and Mary McCuskey
Newest 356 addition to the Club - Mark Yarrish

We presented the ladies with a special gift from the Bath and Body Works store.

Next up were door prizes. We were fortunate to have received gifts from these companies to provide to our members.
Porsche of the Village - Cincinnati
Stoddard Imported Cars - Willoughby, Ohio
Mainely by Design - Berwick, Maine
356 Goodie Store - Pacific Grove, Ca.
East Coast Holiday Planning Committee and
Mr. Tom Oerther

Thanks to all who contributed to this year's great gifts. Some winners can be seen in the photo file to the right.

We concluded the evening with our "White Elephant" gift exchange. Once again we had fun with this activity, although I did see some regifting of last year's famous gifts, e.g the famous jar of Porsche rust...

I believe everyone left having a great evening and we look forward to a larger gathering next year!

Check out the photo album to the right with pic's of this year's and last year's events...