Sun Riders Miata Club of Tampa Bay
2021 Board of Directors
President
Gerald Blum
Originally from New York, I moved to Palm Beach when I was two in 1954. My lovely wife Michelle of 35 years, daughter Carrera and son Keiran all moved to South Pasadena in 2002. I have been involved with cars all my life. I have owned an auto restoration/paint & body shop, racing safety equipment & auto accessory business and later an automotive art gallery. I have raced in amateur racing with SCCA, HSR and SVRA and professionally with IMSA in the Firehawk series. I have been President of car clubs in South Florida and heavily involved in many others.
My first Mazda was a 1978 RX-7, #249 off the assembly line. I have owned a 323, 626, 929 and a B-2000 pickup. I always wanted a Miata but didn’t get around to until 2017 with a Soul Red Club Edition.
Currently I drive a 30th Anniversary Edition number #47, which is a dream.
Contact me: 727-385-0713 Email: sunriderpresident@gmail.com
Vice President
Jim
I am originally from Allentown, PA. After enlisting in the Air Force in 1977, I spent several years in Utah, California and Colorado where I met and married my wife, Kim, in 1985. A few months later we moved to Tampa, Florida. We just celebrated our 35th anniversary in December, 2020. Between the two of us, we have 5 children and 8 grandchildren.
I am an avid sports enthusiast. My favorite sports teams are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Lightning, Rays and the University of Florida Gators.
My first Miata was a 2016, soul red Grand Touring Roadster, however it was an automatic. The following year, when the RFs rolled out, we traded in our 2016 for a 2017 Soul Red RF GT, with standard transmission, which we continue to customize. We joined Sun Riders in 2016 and it was the best decision we ever made. We have met so many wonderful people, seen so many sights in Florida and enjoyed so many miles in our little car.
Secretary/Event Coordinator
Judy
Dean and I joined the Sun Riders in 2004, when we purchased our first Miata. It was a beautiful, red 1990, which we just recently sold. In 2017, we got our current Miata a 2015 Meteor Gray GT edition.
I'm originally from Ohio and moved to Florida in 1975. I first lived in Tampa, where I met Dean. We will be celebrating our 40th Anniversary in April. We lived in St Petersburg and just recently retired to Inverness.
We both love attending Indy car and IMSA racing events, boating and fishing and, of course, the Sun Rider's events.
My personal passion is working with stained glass.
Treasurer
Ray
My wife Pegi and I moved to Palm Harbor in 2014 from New Jersey. We were married in 2013. We decided on Florida after Pegi took me on a birthday trip where I drove a NASCAR racecar 8 laps on the Mick Yard track at Disney with the Richard Petty Experience.
Prior to moving, Pegi worked as a medical biller and I was an information technology (IT) staff member at a large public utility company. I earned a CPA in the 80's and worked in large corporations performing corporate accounting. I then got into IT auditing in the late 90's. I also taught accounting as an adjunct professor at night for several years. We're now totally retired and looking forward to more travelling.
We joined Sun Riders in 2015 and have enjoyed meeting our fellow Miata owners and touring Florida and elsewhere. I bought my first Miata in 2004 after talking about it often. It was a beautiful 2004 NB - wild cherry, tan top, tan leather interior, plus six speed. In 2013 I upgraded to a new red NC, black top and interior, plus more HP. We shipped the Miata to Florida from NJ and have enjoyed exploring the state and the South. We've driven as far west as Houston, TX and north to NC for Tail of the Dragon. We now have 61K+ miles on the car, and counting on more!
Contact me: 727-910-6819 Email: sunridertreasurer@gmail.com
Member at Large
Bill
Originally both my wife Deb of 31 years and I are from South Jersey. Over the years we moved around. Our daughter Amanda and son Andrew were born in Columbus Oh. We moved from Columbus to Ellicott City MD which is between Baltimore and DC. Our daughter went to Eckerd College here in St Pete which attracted us to Tampa Bay. Once our son graduated from high school and decided he also was going to attend college in Fl we made the move here. We bought our 1st Miata in Md. a Copper-Red 2010 Grand Touring PRHT due to winters in Md. We also owned a 2014 Mazda3 Grand Touring. We are now the proud owners of the 2019 30th Anniversary Edition #269 soft top.
Mike and Machell - Merchandise
I was born in Pensacola, Fla. at the Naval Air Station and moved to the St. Pete/Tampa area at a young age. Machell was born in Anaheim California and moved here by way of Indiana. We met through a local Radio station show called Desperate & Dateless .
I have one daughter by a previous marriage and two grandchildren. Both grown, one is a teacher in Orlando and the other is an inhalation therapist in Lakeland.
I retired in 2018 after 49 years in the dental lab. Machell still works part time in home healthcare.
I've had two Miata's. The first was a red 2006. I put 164,000 miles on it and decided to trade for a 2015 Retractable Hard top, also Red.
We joined Sun Riders in 2009 and started doing the merchandise about 6 years ago. Catch us at an event or give us a call we're happy to help !
Eileen and Marc - Membership
Originally from Pittsburgh, we moved to Florida in 1986. We settled in Oldsmar and have been here ever since. Both of us retired in 2012 and haven’t looked back!
We have a daughter, Megan, who had a pandemic wedding last year. It was originally scheduled for the same weekend as Tail of the Dragon but neither happened. Megan and Matt did get married on August 1, 2020 in a small ceremony (19 people) outside. Not the wedding we had planned, but we weren’t the only ones who were impacted by the pandemic. We joined Sun Riders in 2013 after purchasing our 2012 Brilliant Black PRHT Grand Touring.
Marc was on the BOD for approximately 3 years before deciding to let somebody else have some fun.
I am still doing the membership and e-mail correspondence for the Club.
The Staff
Kim and Jim -
Jim and I have been members of Sun Riders since 2017 when we purchased our first Miata, a 2017 Soul Red Grand Touring Roadster.
In 2018, we traded it in for a Soul Red RF, which I use as my daily driver.
I was born and raised in Denver, Colorado and moved to Florida in 1986, 5 months after Jim and I married. I am currently working as the Office Manager for a land surveying company and have been in their employ for 31 years.
I have been running the Sun Riders Face Book page for a couple of years. I decided to create it so we could share pictures, comments, websites, events, and general love for our little cars.
Dean and Judy -
Web site
Judy and I bought our first Miata in 2004. It was a beautiful 1990 first year model.
We also joined the Sun Riders that year and have enjoyed this club ever since.
In 2017, I bought a Gray 2015 retractable HT GT edition.
We did merchandise for the club many years ago and took over the web site after that.
I retired in 2019 after 37 years with the same company. I enjoy boating, fishing, gardening and playing bass guitar in our local blues band. Having the Sun Riders come to our gigs has always been a fun time.
