The following article was written by Debbie Cooper from a conversation with Charlie and Helen Beidler:

As with all of us Porsche enthusiasts, Charlie became involved with Porsche because he was infatuated with the car. He lacked the funds to buy a car originally, so he went over to Holbert's, copied down a serial number of the car and sent in his registration form, and he was a member of PCA. Others in the area learned that Charlie had an interest in Porsches, so he was asked if he would like to attend a meeting to discuss chartering a region. Now this was a little unexpected and he realized that he couldn't be a "founding father" without a Porsche, so he sold his Volkswagen, took out a loan and became the proud owner of a 1957 1600 Normal Coupe, the price being $3745. According to his recollection, the initial discussions about forming a region took place at Jack and Ginny Case's house in Levittown, will Bill Sacks and his wife along with Charlie and Helen. (As documented history goes, the official start of Eastern Pennsylvania Region took place at the Bull Tavern.) The first president of the region was Jack Case and Charlie was the vice president. At that time Der Gasser was not even a thought. (The first publication went to press a couple of years later). The beginnings of Eastern Pennsylvania really centered around technical issues. Everyone got together to help each other tune and fix their cars. The social aspects of the club developed later.

The first annual banquet was held in November of 1957 and was attended by "the big guys" from national and Porsche. Bill Scholar ("the father of PCA"), John Holmes, Herbert Drumm, and Eric Killis were in attendance.

In 1958, Charlie became the editor of Panorama, since Bill Scholar thought that at 28, Charlie was a little too young to become National President. Earl Kirschbaum was elected president that year. Charlie wrote most of the articles, with a few submitted by the membership at large. Helen's job was to type all the articles (into the wee hours of the morning), which were then sent to Bill Scholar for layout and final production. After two years in charge of Panorma, Charlie has paid his dues and was considered age eligible to assume the national helm. He served as national president from 1961-1962.

One of his important responsibilities as a member of the executive committee was to attend the national Parade. In 1960, the Parade was held in Aspen, CO. At first blush that sounds terrific, but Helen added a different perspective. Helen's "mission" (and she didn't have a choice about accepting or rejecting it) was to figure out how stop pack the car with three children aged 2, 5, and 7, along with the necessary gear for a week of Porsche festivities and transit to and from Colorado. She realized that she would be successful, but the ride would be less than comfortable for the two oldest children sandwiched in the back and for her, with the youngest child on her lap. (Note: I think she deserves a first place trophy for her efforts!)

At this time, there was no competition between the East (PCA) and West (Porsche Owners' Club) to determine which club would dominate at the national level. The East coast (PCA) "won", although the enthusiasm from the West coast was strong then and still is today. Charlie had great things to say about Bert Propp who was "the first to show how to put a Parade convention together and to do it right". The location was Carmel, CA.

In 1963, Charlie found himself "with nothing to do", so he met with the other region members to discuss hosting the 8th Annual Porsche Parade. Given that the region was so small, he insisted that there be "no free loaders" and everyone would have to pour heart, soul, and many long hours to put on the most successful Parade to date. They agreed to give it their all and they were awarded the Parade. Their organizational meetings were held in the homes of the members. (Remember this was a small group.) As we all know, the dedicated enthusiasts from Eastern Pennsylvania Region invited PCA to share the fun and festivities of Split Rock Lodge, located in the Poconos. Charlie designed the Parade logo, based on a conversation with a real estate agent who told him that the best colors to combine were black, red and white. The logo was found on the patches of the parade jackets, on the red blazers worn by gracious hostesses from our region and on the car decals. George Begs, the head of Leeds and Northrup was in charge of the rallye and he informed Charlie that he should keep his nose out of it. Charlie agreed and left it all up to George, who put on a very successful rally. In case you didn't know, it was a drag race. (Although Charlie didn't mention one way or the other if this was his idea, it wouldn't surprise me if it was.)