SAMA members dine at world-famous  Joe’s in October

By John Kiskinis, Photos by Pepe Forte

   More than 50 SAMA members and guests gathered at Joe’s Stone Crabs on South Beach in late October for the annual pre-auto show luncheon, sponsored by the South Florida Auto Dealers Association, the four-county group of 220 dealerships that sponsors the South Florida International Auto Show. The show is in its 38th year and runs from Nov. 7-16 at the Miami Beach Convention Center .

    Before and during lunch at the legendary Joe’s, members enjoyed Louis Latour Chablis from Burgundy and Mark West Pinot Noir from Northern California . For good eats, most guests chose the famous stone crabs and sampled from family-style servings of hash browns, grilled tomatoes, creamed spinach and fried sweet potatoes.

   Rick Baker, executive vice president of the South Florida Auto Dealers Association, welcomed everyone and reviewed arrangements for press coverage at the auto show. Guest speaker was Auto Show Chairman, Gary Feil of Ocean Cadillac, who reviewed highlights of the vehicles and events at this year’s new-model exhibits.

   I also was pleased to welcome Debra Koebel and Marissa Osborne of the dealer group, Chuck Schumacher of Schumacher Automotive, Gary Feil of of Ocean Cadillac and Ed Williamson of the Williamson Group.

   SAMA executive board member Teresa Bravo reminded us that on Friday morning Nov. 7, SAMA hosts its annual kickoff breakfast for the auto show. That important event is sponsored this year by On-Star. SAMA will present three awards for cars in the show: Star of the Show, Best Concept Vehicleof the Show, and -- a new category for us -- Best “Green” Vehicle in the Show. Teresa has done a great job pulling the award breakfast together.
   Bill Adam brought us “up to speed” on the high-revs plans for the Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday, November 1. ((Note: The Ride ‘n Smiles event with Baptist Children’s Hospital turned out a terrific crowd in gorgeous weather and members agree that it was one of our most memorable activities. This was Bill’s obsession, rightfully so, and the interest and support turned out to be championship quality.))

   A holiday update: Once again our holiday party is aboard The Celebration motor yacht on Biscayne Bay . Set your calendar for Dec. 7. All SAMA members will get email invitations mid-November. Let’s acknowledge the long list of sponsors—Chrysler, General Motors, Hyundai, Nissan, Infiniti, Jaguar and Land Rover.

   For the New Year, we’ll probably hold our annual January business meeting back at Bernie’s Steak House in South Miami . For February, Mazda has already offered to sponsor our luncheon at a location as yet undetermined.