As planning and setup for the event this year took place the concern was over the effects of water, or rain. Hurricane Isaac was slamming Louisiana and some of the projected storm tracks showed it arriving in North Georgia on Friday and remaining into Saturday. Concours events do not like rain. However, fortunately the weather was never a negative factor but water did impact on preparation for the Concours. The course was marked out on Thursday, barriers were in place and the wash stand stood ready.

Upon rising on Friday morning this co chairs wife informed him there was no water available in the bathroom. My first response was not "How are we going to take a shower or brush or teeth?" but was "How are we going to wash our cars?". A phone call to the front desk at the hotel confirmed that water pressure to our whole section of the county was compromised, at first thought to be due to a line break but later found to be because of a pump failure. Whatever the reason as competitors arrived through the morning they had to be informed there was no water in the lines allowing them to wash their cars and there just wasn't enough bottled water to accomplish the task. Finally at noon time water pressure was restored and there was a rush on the hoses to initiate the delayed auto preparation. By the time registration opened Friday evening the crush at the washstand was relieved and more leisurely preparation was taking place.

The weather remained in our favor and Saturday morning dawned clear and there was even relief from the typical "mountain mist" that coats the vehicles early in the morning. Thirty-five vehicles were positioned for judging in their polished glory along with the latest and greatest in Porsches line-up; the 981 Boxster courtesy of Hennessy Porsche, our Concours trophy sponsor. Our judges went to work and quickly and efficiently accomplished their task. As this took place spectators were encouraged to complete their People's Choice ballots. Atlanta Auto Salon, another of our sponsors, had a display of products available for those who wished to try and achieve the level of perfection already on display by our participants.

Once the regular competitive judging was completed a special group of judges then toured the field and made their selection for the Judges' Choice. Scoring was completed and results then handed off for presentation at the banquet on Sunday. It would be accurate to state that the consensus opinion was that this was a spectacular kickoff to the competitive events at Rennfest 2012.

Thanks go out to all that assisted in the preparation and presentation of our event; it cannot take place without our volunteers who kindly give of their time and expertise.