First of all, many thanks to our sponsors, Harold Zeigler BMW of Kalamazoo, Delta Porsche of Grand Rapids and Orrin B. Hayes Mercedes-Benz of Kalamazoo for being so generous with their beautiful new automobiles and for spending time with us on such a very hot Saturday, July 7 at the Gilmore Car Museum.
Thanks, too, to our supporting vendors, Claudio Kaempf of Foreign Car Services and Bob & Kay's Car Wash. Without our sponsors, DeutscheMarques would never have come to be.
Thank you, everyone, for bringing your incredible German machines to the show field on such a hot day. Many of you told me that it was great for them to meet other gearheads and to find the excellent local car clubs that each marque, or brand, brings to the our motoring community. For me to see so many people enjoying each other’s company, sharing their passion for their cars, gave us a meaningful reward for the hard work and time our crew put in to bring DeutscheMarques to life.
My special thanks go to the members of my own club, the Michiana Chapter of the BMW Car Club of America, for their help and support from the day I brought up the idea of an all-German car show back in February. Thank you especially to Harvey Nuttall, chapter president, Lindsay Draime, past president and membership chair, and Gary Apps, attorney-at-law. Gary gave away bags full of Hot Wheels and other miniature diecast cars, just so that our participants could say "I got a new (Porsche, BMW, M-B) free at DeutscheMarques!"
Other clubs were also very much a part of the creation of the first DeutscheMarques event. Michael Betz, the webmaster at the West Michigan Region of the Porsche Club of America not only volunteered to serve as a judge, jumped right in to help get registration packages ready before our event began. Marv Berkowitz, president of the Western Michigan Section of the Mercedes-Benz Club of America, also served as a volunteer judge. They, along with many other local car club members, like the Michigan Vintage VW Club, brought beautiful examples of their favorite car to display on the DeutscheMarques show field. Check back here soon for pictures and stories.
We owe another great big "thank you" to the hosts of our inaugural event, The Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners. David Hatfield of the museum's staff braved the triple-digit temperatures to conduct a series of VIP tours of the museum's treasures. Michael Spezia was invaluable behind the scenes in helping launch our gathering. Other members of the staff brought us everything we needed to welcome almost a hundred cars and their owners.
Another unseen hero was Nate Bailey, our account executive at Promotion Concepts in Kalamazoo. Nate took our custom-designed logo and put it, along with the appropriate sponsor logos, on The Delta Porsche Cup, The Harold Zeigler BMW Trophy and The Orrin B. Hayes Mercedes-Benz Cup. He guided us in the selection of those new annual awards and suggested spectacular crystal trophies which would accept our Best in Show design.
Other clubs were also very much a part of the creation of the first DeutscheMarques event. Michael Betz, the webmaster at the West Michigan Region of the Porsche Club of America not only volunteered to serve as a judge, jumped right in to help get registration packages ready before our event began. Marv Berkowitz, president of the Western Michigan Section of the Mercedes-Benz Club of America, also served as a volunteer judge. They, along with many other local car club members, like the Michigan Vintage VW Club, brought beautiful examples of their favorite car to display on the DeutscheMarques show field. Check back here soon for pictures and stories.
We owe another great big "thank you" to the hosts of our inaugural event, The Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners. David Hatfield of the museum's staff braved the triple-digit temperatures to conduct a series of VIP tours of the museum's treasures. Michael Spezia was invaluable behind the scenes in helping launch our gathering. Other members of the staff brought us everything we needed to welcome almost a hundred cars and their owners.
Another unseen hero was Nate Bailey, our account executive at Promotion Concepts in Kalamazoo. Nate took our custom-designed logo and put it, along with the appropriate sponsor logos, on The Delta Porsche Cup, The Harold Zeigler BMW Trophy and The Orrin B. Hayes Mercedes-Benz Cup. He guided us in the selection of those new annual awards and suggested spectacular crystal trophies which would accept our Best in Show design.
The man who saw this vision like no other, and ran with it like no one I have ever seen, was Brad Pines. The name, DeutscheMarques, a pun, was his suggestion. Brad's background as a journalist was the key for him to build a website, write the content, design the DeutscheMarques logo, create the Inaugural event poster, design the trophies, awards, window cards, forms and dash plaques and the list goes on. He has incredible drive and even served as the event’s master of ceremonies.
My last thank you goes to my wonderful, supportive family, Margaret, my wife, our daughters, Monica and Corinn Hamlett Wooster and Lewis Wooster, my new son-in-law. You were there when I needed you the most.
I am truly blessed by the people who make me strong.
Please hit the "Follow us by email" button on the right side of this screen because we've got lots more good stuff coming soon on an improved website. You won't want to miss it. Tell your gearhead buddies about www.DeutscheMarquesAG.com.
Thank you again everyone,
Thank you again everyone,
"PJ"
Peter J. Hamlett,
Peter J. Hamlett,
Founder
Deutsche Marques Auto Group
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| The Hamlett clan, from left, Monica, Margaret, Pete "PJ" Corrin Hamlett Wooster & Lewis Wooster, look chic in their DeutscheMarques Auto Group black t-shirts, available online here soon. |
