words: Roger Labas. photos: Audi Club Carolinas members
Editor’s note: This article originally ran in the q1_2020 issue of quattro Magazine. If you would like to subscribe to quattro Magazine, join Audi Club here.
The 5th annual Audi Treffen was held in October at the Etowah Valley Resort in Etowah, North Carolina, amidst low rolling hills and named for the valley and river of the ancient Mesoamerican Native Americans.
This year’s gathering of 45 cars and 75 attendees proved to be the largest and most diverse to date. Enthusiasts came from nine states, as far as Florida, representing six chapters of the Audi Club. Participants brought three R8s, five RS models, 12 S models, and 3 youngtimers including an ’82 Coupe GT, ’84 quattro, and ’87 4000 CS.
There were 14 drives over three days, each named for Audi Sport drivers, such as Lehto, McNish, Kristensen, Capello, di Grassi, etc. and set to Scenic, Sporty and Spirited paces.
Major sponsors for the weekend included Audi Greenville, Michelin, Protech Motorsports, Extreme Colors, and Triangle Imports. Several contributed auction items. A large queen-size handmade quilt from Heidi Blow with stitched A6s of various colors was an auction hit.
After pre-event drives Friday afternoon, the group gathered in the resort pavilion with a steak and chicken BBQ sponsored by Protech Motorsports. Saturday morning, drivers and navigators headed out on their respective memorable Carolina drives. Saturday evening’s event included a German Buffet, announcement of silent auction winners, and keynote speaker from Michelin North America, Steve Calder. Steve gave a well-received presentation about Michelin tires, past and present, and provided some interesting information about future products including the soon-to-be-released one g plus all season tire.
As in past years, the generous participants more than matched the Audi Club Carolinas’ contribution to a local charity. This year, a contribution of $1500 was made to the Henderson County Meals-on-Wheels.
On the last day, final drives of the weekend all converged on the Lake Lure Inn for a traditional farewell brunch accompanied by an RS 5 Sportback and new e-tron hosted by Audi Greenville.
Large well-run events like Audi Treffen are only possible with a dedicated staff of volunteers. A giant shout-out goes to the event planning team of Pat and Carol Monnot, Heidi and Gerry Blow, Mark and Karen Lieberman, John Gonter, and Dale Whitney. Also a big thanks to the rest of our supporters/volunteers and all of the leads and tails for the drives. It was a great fall experience in the mountainous hills of western North Carolina and another fabulous Audi Treffen. Be sure to join Audi Club Carolinas October 2nd through 4th for Audi Treffen 2020 in Blowing Rock, NC.
