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Thanks to those of you who were able to come out for the Poker Run on Sunday. Miguel and his staff put together a fantastic event and a great time was had by all. We had 49 smarts!!!! Pictures are now up at our website compliments of our own Dayna Murakami.
Also, welcome to all of our new members. It was great to meet so many new faces and I look forward to seeing you at future events…. And we have A LOT of events coming up!!!
Saturday, March 14th - The Sarasota smart center is hosting their first anniversary event from 9am to noon at their dealership. A continental breakfast will be served so if you’re planning to attend please email the manager, Phillip Thrapp at phillip_thrapp@wildecars.net. This event is open to everyone.
Saturday, March 21st – From 7 to 9am we’ll be attending Cars and Coffee in St. Petersburg. This is an amazing monthly car show that we've been invited to attend. Some of the most amazing cars in the area come to this show. It's totally worth the early start!! Check our website for directions.
Saturday, March 21st - The Ruskin Family Drive In is hosting smart Night at the Movies!! Join us for a double feature at the oldest drive in theater in the area. Admission is only $5 per person and we'll be able to park together. Movies and times should be announced next week. Stay tuned!!
Sunday, March 22nd – Our club has been invited to attend the 11th Annual Chasco Fiesta Car Show in New Port Richey. I’ve attached the registration form. We’ll be meeting at the Suntrust Bank at the corner of Main Street and US 19 in New Port Richey and will leave at 8:00am to enter as a group so we can park together. The organizers would like to have an idea of how many smarts will be there so please let me know you are planning to attend. This is one of the biggest car shows in Florida so I hope you can join us. Food and drinks will be available but feel free to bring a chair and cooler (no alcohol please). If anyone has a canopy they can bring please do so we have some shade. Registration is $12 to pre-register and $15 on the day of the show. For further information please visit the festival’s website at www.chascofiesta.com. This will be a great conclusion to a busy weekend.
Saturday, April 18th – From 7 to 9am we’ll be attending Cars and Coffee in St. Petersburg. This is an amazing monthly car show that we've been invited to attend. Some of the most amazing cars in the area come to this show. It's totally worth the early start!! Check our website for directions.
Sunday, April 19th - Smart Car Tour of Florida Part 1
I thought it would be fun to schedule a few road trips to explore Florida and spend a day enjoying our cars. In the upcoming months I'm going to try to break up different areas of Florida into one day trips. With stops at local restaurants and attractions as well as off the beaten path roads that a lot of people don't see too often my hope is that we can spend a relaxing day enjoying our cars. The only costs will be gas and any food or souvenirs you might pickup along the way.
There will be a need for registration for these events. I'm going to try to setup discounts at restaurants we may stop at and I'll also need to advise them of the size of the group we have coming so they can be prepared. Registration is as easy as emailing me to let me know your coming and if you'll have a passenger.
Part 1 - East Central Florida April 19th - 230 miles (drive time with stops about 7 hours)
Our first day trip will start in Temple Terrace. We'll meet for an optional breakfast at the IHOP at Fowler Avenue and Morris Bridge Road starting at 8:30. At 10:00am we'll head out in a group up 301 toward Zephyrhills. The route will then cut through the south side of Zephyrhills and over to US 98. We'll jog east to one of the more interesting roads in Florida, State Route 471. Route 471 is known by local truck drivers as "The Run". It's has almost no curves and is minimal traffic lights as it provides the quickest route from Lakeland to northbound Interstate 75. Wildlife is abundant on this road. Deer, bobcat and armadillos are commonly seen. At the north end of 471 we'll pickup Interstate 75 north to exit 356. We'll cut over to US 301 and take a nice ride through horse country. Our next stop will be The Orange Shop in Citra, FL. This is a neat little place that's been around for years and is actually located in an orange grove. From Citra, well head west to Williston, FL and pickup US 41 South. We'll head south on 41 passing through small town Florida including Dunnellon, Inverness and Brooksville (which isn't so small anymore). Our day will end with dinner at Hungry Harry's Famous BBQ in Land O Lakes, FL. Harry's is a local landmark and is routinely voted as some of the best BBQ in Florida. The owners are also heavily involved in local charity work such as Habitat for Humanity.
The current plan is to stop about every hour for restrooms and fuel if needed. We will also stop for lunch at some point along the way. I'll be running the route in the next couple of weeks to plan locations for these stops and I'll have maps available on the day of the run. I look forward to seeing everyone and enjoying the ride.
Saturday May 2nd - Central Florida Smart Car Club and Suncoast Smarts will be hosting A Night at Old Town in Orlando.
Old Town if you are unfamiliar with it is a large entertainment complex with many shops, restaurants, bars, music, rides and games including the Human Slingshot for those that want a real thrill and car cruise-ins. It is located a little south of I-4 in the Southwest corner of Metro Orlando. On every Friday and Saturday night they hold massive car shows and do a late evening cruise up and down the streets of the complex where all of the people line the streets to look at the cars and cheer for their favorite Hot Rods, Classics, etc. There is a lot to do and see and for the Saturday show and cruise they generally attract around 325 cars.
We had a local meet and great there on a Friday evening in the fall with about 30 smart cars and had a great time. We currently have over 60 cars registered for this event!!!
Old Town will promote us on their Web Site which you can review at: http://www.old-town.com/index.html I am also promoting the event through e-mail, Evite.com, SCOA, smartUSAinsider and Smart Space. I am asking smart car dealers to promote the event for us and it is being jointly organized and promoted with Suncoast Smarts. We will also seek promotion with other smart car clubs around the state.
The car show begins at 1:00 PM on Saturday.
1. We will stage the cars somewhere nearby and then enter the property as a group right at 1:00 PM. This would give everyone time to drive down from their various areas.
2. There is no charge normally to participate in the show but we have initiated a $10.00 per smart car registration fee to be paid at the entrance to the show. We will use 100% of this money for Cash Door Prizes and Smart Car Show Awards. So if we get 30 smarts we would have $300 to give away, 50 cars = $500 and if we could get 100 cars we would have $1000 in which case we could have 4 or 5 car show awards of $100 plus 10 or 12 door prizes of $50 each!
3. At 2:00 PM after staging the cars in the provided area we will have a group lunch at one of the dining venues. Everyone would order off the menu and pay for their own meal but we would pretty much take over the place for an hour and have a meal and beverages.
4. From 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM we would mingle with the smart cars and each other and vote on best smart cars in a variety of classifications such as Best Custom Paint, Best Custom Interior, Best Overall Modifications, Best Use of Custom Graphics and Overall Best of Show which will be the highest overall vote getter from the other classifications. You must let me know if you want to be in the car show and what classification you are entering. Only one classification can be entered by any single smart car.
5. At 5:00 PM we will go to an indoor area on the complex where we would have access to a microphone, speakers and beverage service and we would present the Cash Car Show Awards and have the Cash Door Prize Drawings.
6. From 5:30 to 7:00 everyone will be on their own to enjoy the Classic cars and Hot Rods that will be there for the cruise in and to shop or eat again if they so wish.
7. At 7:00 PM we will assemble in front of the outdoor main stage to listen to a Rock and Roll band play 50's and 60's hits. 8. At 8:00 we will move to our cars and prepare for the street cruise which takes place at 8:30PM.
9. After the cruise everyone will be on their own to enjoy all of the complex which stays open until 11:00 with some of the bars staying open until 2:00AM.
10. For those coming some distance I will arrange for a block of rooms in a few of the many hotels close by.
11. For those that spend the night and are interested I thought I would set up a group breakfast at a nearby restaurant for Sunday morning after which everyone could get on the road and head home.
Old Town includes a custom embroidery shop, a custom window graphics shop, a Tattoo parlor and an old-time Photo studio, among other shops. I am going to try to arrange for some discounts for our group and maybe have some embroidery arranged in advance and some window graphics arranged in advance that could be event commemoratives of the night. I also think it could be cool to arrange for some Old Time Group photo's for those interested.
We want to generate as big a crowd as possible, so tell everyone you know and encourage all smart owners to come out for a night of fun.
We need to maintain a registration list by actual name as well as e-mail addresses for updates and information and to ensure a correct count without duplications. So please e-mail Ken Wagar at kwagar@tampabay.rr.com or call me at 863-585-5606 to get your name and the name of a guest on the list as well as to let me know if you want to enter your car in the judging for awards.
Suncoast Smarts members will be caravanning as a group to this event. Please plan on meeting at the Shell gas station at the corner of CR579 and US92 in Seffner at 11am.
Directions would be to take Interstate 4 to Exit 10 (This is the first exit to the east of Interstate 75). Once you exit off the interstate go south to the first traffic light and the shell will be on your left. The location of this gas station will allow us to get back on the interstate without getting caught at a traffic light. The caravan will leave for Old Town at 11:30am.
That's everything for now. I look forward to seeing you at the upcoming events!! If you have any questions please let me know!
Today
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