Ferraris on the Circle This Weekend

What better way to spend a beautiful day in Sarasota than strolling amidst dozens of Ferraris in lovely St. Armands Circle? That’s just when exotic car lovers can do on Saturday, November 2, 2019, when the Sarasota Ferrari Drivers Group hosts Ferraris on the Circle, an event to benefit Flight to the North Pole (https://www.flighttothenorthpole.org/), a charity with deep roots in the greater Sarasota area. A percentage of the proceeds gathered from the event will go to help terminally ill children and their families, not only during the Christmas holidays but also year-round. The event is free and open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For additional information, contact Joe Brielmann (941) 544-3130 or Jurgen Otto (941) 356-4626.

“Ferraris on the Circle promises to be a wonderful event,” says co-organizer Joe Brielmann. “We anticipate a terrific turnout and the venue—the lovely St. Armands Circle—couldn’t be better. The show is free and open to the public and benefits a great cause, Flight to the North Pole, a local charity that does wonderful things for terminally ill children and their families. We encourage people to come out and enjoy a day on the Circle with these beautiful cars.”

“Flight to the North Pole” is an all-volunteer organization that provides financial and emotional support to terminally ill children and their families in Sarasota and Manatee Counties. It is organized by volunteers from the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office and the Sarasota/Bradenton Airport Fire Department—led by Manatee County Sheriff’s office member Sidney Ettedgui—and supported by generous individuals and organizations throughout the community.

Realizing that each Christmas could be a child’s last, “Flight to the North Pole” hosts an annual ‘once-in-a-lifetime Christmas’ party. In the second week of December, a Sarasota airport hangar

becomes Santa’s workshop. Kris Kringle flies in by helicopter to present every sick child with an ‘everything on your wish list’ bag of gifts and host a day of food and fun for the entire family. But Christmas is just one day. The other 364, ‘Flight to the North Pole’ supports these children with life-sustaining items such as wheelchairs, oxygen tanks and prosthetics and provides gas and lodging for parents who seek to stay near their children when they are hospitalized.

In the 2018-19 season, the Ferrari Drivers Group of Sarasota raised over $160,000 for the charity through its September 2018 car show on St. Armands Circle and its February 2019 Gala Weekend, a three-day event that included a Friday night gala dinner, the annual Exotic Car Festival on Main Street in Lakewood Ranch, and a Sunday brunch and country roads drive. Next year’s Gala will take place in Lakewood Ranch the weekend of February 28th, 2020.