Anyone going to Ferrari's at St Armand's?

The St. Armands show is an event put on by the Florida Region, FOC. I do not think that you must be a member to show your Ferrari. You can contact the Regional Director through the web site at http://www.focfloridaregion.com/. The entry for 2004 is not posted yet. This is a very nice event with over 60 cars displayed in the circle. Hope to see you there.

 

Thanks for the nice comment on the 348. I was in Pinellas for the tampa bay area FOC dinners in Clearwater and at the Ferraris at the Pier show in the rain. I will probably drive it to the FOC holiday dinner at the St Pete Yacht Club on Dec. 7th.

 

See you there, At St Armands, I missed it last year. I do not thinkj Ill be able to make the st pete yacht club this time as we have some friends comeing in from out of town,Mick

 

Just be careful not to trip over all the Fords on the lawn there.

BHW

 

My understanding is the show is not yet confirmed. They have not paid them yet and it may very well not happen this year.

I guess if they hook up with the Ford and GM dealers they can fill the lawn.

Strange things happening at the FOC Florida. Very strange things!

 

Martin,

The St. Armand's Circle show is on the FOC schedule for January 10th. There is no reason to believe that the show will not happen. I do not know what your problem is, but the negative comments about the FCA and FOC are not productive. Both groups have had problems, but so have almost every other volunteer club. They will overcome the problems and the members can get involved to help.

 

I've not seen any criticism of the FCA anywhere. In fact, they had an
absolutely outstanding event at Moroso last weekend where over 50
cars took part on Saturday and everyone reports a great time.

All this after 9/11, the devaluation of the stockmarket the war in Irak,
Rush Limbaugh addicted to oxycontin, etc, etc.

BHW

 

BRM,

last notice I had was they have not paid for the Circle and I believe the time to pay is up. You could find Moroso track events and Homestead track events and all kinds of other thigns on the FOC schedule and they did not happen last minute becasue nobody signed up.

Now let me ask you:

Were you asked if you wanted to run for office at the FOC?
Did you receive a ballot with actual candidates running for office?

See I was neither asked, nor made aware that an election will be held, nor did I receive names of people that wanted to run. All I got was a blank piece of paper saying ballot. Put in the names (of whom I asked myself).
Since this way nobody will return ballots those that know the names (the chosen few) will elect who they want in there in the first place.

Sounds like Free Elections in Cuba to me.
Your Choice: Castro or Castro or prison!

The FCA has had a lot of problems and I did not like how things were run. They have admitted to their mistakes and elected a new president. He is running the club right now in excellent form. No complaints sofar.

 

Having just visited the FOC website (will shower soon) and there
is mention of the date but no downloadable PDF version of an
entry form or any details such as schedule, etc.

Perhaps, like the FOC "elections", entry to this event will be done
by telepathy.

BHW

 

Scuderia Sarasota has never had any problems in its two years of existence with the exception of the FOC trying to take control of it.

We have had 24 consecutive monthly Monday dinners with attendence of 25 to 45 every month, we run monthly rallies in the winter months that are better attended then FOC track events and we do it all with no phoney board or dues.

When the FL FOC dies which it will (acording to the National FOC Publication the FL FOC has been holding a monthly dinner in Sarasota at a local ristorante that is actually closed on the night of the supposed dinners) Scuderia Sarasota will be happy to step in and continue the Sarasota Show. It was Scuderia Sarasota that did all the grunt work for the 1st St. Armands show.

The FOC in Florida is taking peoples monies and not providing what is promised in return and I would hope that the State Attorney would get involve and investigate the National Board.

Scuderia Sarasota has never had a problem with the FCA in Florida as they have always been very respectful of our independence it was unfortunate that the FOC Board could not have the same respect or integrity.

 

Squideria Calamari will certainly attend the Scuderia Sarasota St. Armands Show if held in 2004.

 

I was a member of FCA and participated in a couple of their events, but none were in the West Coast area. When the FOC Florida Region formed and they had events on the West Coast, it was a better choice for me. I attended a couple of the first Sarasota dinners and they were fine, but a problem for me to attend. The FOC Clearwater dinners are better for me. I expect the election in FOC will bring new energy to their activities as it did for the FCA. By the way the blank election form that was sent was not a ballot but rather a nomination form. If you know someone with better ideas, please nominate them. The more activities by formal or informal groups the better for those of us that enjoy our cars.

 

Let's not kid ourselves here, the best decision would be to let it die a slow death. There has been too much damage done to the FOC name and the club is drowning in debt.

Rebuilding this club would be tantamount to chasing one's tail as we
all know, there will be no changes made election or not.

BHW

 

Bruce,

The FOC in Florida was simply started as revenge on the FL FCA and that is no reason to form a club. The State has no ability to support two seperate clubs and there truly is no reason for two.

The FOC National Board is a disgrace and they contiue to take Florida residents money all the while knowning that there is no legitimate operation in Florida. Look at the FOC and you will see that there regional presence is fading away throughout the US and all under Cannizzo's watch.

The FL FOC is history as far as i am concerned, dicatorships never survive so save your money.

 

I somewhat disagree here with Paul. There is enough presence in FL that can support both clubs. FCA has done not a whole lot on the west coast. Bruce's frustration is well taken.
I also agree though that forming a club as revenge is not a good reason. I joined because I was disappointed with then FCA handlings. They have changed. Still offer no west coast events other than the Naples Chapter, which is not an option for Tampa guys like Bruce.

Unfortunately the FOC leadership has not done their job properly and has ruined the finances of the club. Who to "nominate"? I would only nominate my worst enemy into this position. I think a new group of people could have made a difference. I even asked that group if they were interested as a group to step in but feelings are so deeply hurt that there is no way this will happen.

Bruce,
at the end of the day we are all doing it for one reason only. Ferrari. If you take the fun out of a hobby you do not have a hobby left. If you have dishonest people who betray their friends and lie why should you stay or do anything with them? $14,000 may not be much to the guy that drives and Enzo but he does not deserve to be exploited for being wealthy by people proclaiming to be his friend. Those "friends" have to date not made ONE attempt for repayment.
I am owed advertising money or the ads to be published. That has not happened. Neither those for my wife.
There is many more.

Tifosi has not been published since Barton was ousted for coming to a Scuderia Sarasota Dinner. DB hates Paul for not allowing DB to call the successful Scuderia Sarasota Dinners FOC events. When Bart showes up at a dinner he gets the "fired" notice a day later. Coincidence?
In the meantime the paid advertisers are disinfranchised of advertising they have paid for. And just in case you were wondering, the last issue of Tifosi was put together by Bart and was more or less ready to be published when it was taken off his hands.

Not the kind of business dealings I like to part take in. Not the kind of people I like to "hang out" with.

Feel free to call me and I will clue you in a little more of what was going on there.

 

Just to be clear, I wasnt "fired" but rather resigned two days after the
board of directors as finalizing arrangements and notifying advertisers
took some time.

It is true however that TIFOSI 7 was about 80% complete at the time
of my resignation. I had no involvement with the last publication which came out last spring and seriously doubt whomever did the layout would
admit to it now.

BHW

 

I must say I have been disapointed with both FOC and FCA national organizations. The only thing we get is a poor magazine. I get much better value with SCCA. Maybe it is time to start FFA (Florida Ferrari Association). We could all share the work and fun without the national costs. It could be a contact point to see what is going on with the various groups, but not have to put on events. Each group would put on the events that it likes and make them available to everyone at a fee that would pay the costs and not break anyones bank account.

 

Oh no not yet another Ferrari club! In our neck of the woods the FFA stands for "Future Farmers of America" - you must remember I am the "hick from the sticks". The reality is that you have to be somewhat willing to travel to events. Yes that's right you must get in your car and actually drive it somewhere. We just finished back to back weekends in Hilton Head (7 hours one way) and Jupiter (2 hours one way). I guess due to the fact that I live in central Florida, I do not expect club events to be delivered to my door. The FCA is working to have regional chapters like the one in Naples and the newest one Orlando. Perhaps someone in the Tampa area would like to step-up to the plate and offer their services.

 

The Wachula Chapter of The FOC could have a PRANCING PIG as a logo.

Just Kidding....sort of.

 

FLO-FLU, the Florida Fiat-Lancia Unlimited Club, was invited and was told that the registration forms were to be available the week after Thanksgiving. We plan on attending the event in St Armand's.

Evan J Statman
FLO-FLU
84 Pininfarina

 

Fords are horses to

 

hm, how did my post slip in there.

 

ah,
rob has someting screwed up with the time posts were posted.
bart and paul posted today but a few hours from now.

gremlins....