As I finish packing my family’s life into boxes and prepare to board a plane with a one-way ticket, I wanted to take a moment to simply say, thank you.
That’s not directed at one specific individual, group, or organization, but to all of you. The Portland car community at large.
My wife and I moved here six weeks after getting married, and knew almost no one in Portland. A few months after moving I ran into a long-time Portland Cars & Coffee attendee at the Audi dealership. It was so nice to meet a friendly car enthusiast in a place where I had nearly no friends. He told me about Portland Cars & Coffee.
My first time attending the gathering was at our previous location at the Starbucks in Tigard on Sequoia Parkway. Everyone was so friendly and the gathering was diverse. It was low-key and laid back. Maybe 25-50 enthusiasts in a parking lot on a cool winter day.
Among the long-time Portland Cars & Coffee attendees I met that first day was Mark Scholz. At the time he was one of the two gentlemen managing the gathering. When we started chatting and he learned about my background his eyes lit up. You could see the gears turning. As they say, the rest is history.
We’ve grown, a lot. What was once a group of 25-50 enthusiasts has grown into over 300 cars and 600 people on a weekly basis.
A good chunk of my closest PNW friends are because of Portland Cars & Coffee. What’s more, you aren’t just my friends, but friends that my wife and I are now close with as well. As we started a family the community supported us. The friendships I have, the things people have done to help us, I can’t begin to give thanks for.
Thank you for rallying behind Mark and I as we guided Portland Cars & Coffee through its growth and evolution.
As I transition from co-leader to more of an leadership advisor role, a special thank you to the members of Ground Control is necessary. Without this group of people, Portland Cars & Coffee would simply not exist anymore. They are the ones that make this run.
More than that, thank you all for taking my family in and making us part of yours. I will forever be grateful to this car community.
While I might not be here locally on site, you can bet I’m not gone.
Please, keep in touch.
– Joel