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Car show coming to Miami in September

Mike Sosh and his wife with his 1972 Chevy pickup. The truck has been in Sosh’s family since it was new. Photos by David Abbott

The Town of Miami is revving up for a car show this September, and downtown will be lively with music, food, and activities – culminating in a show that will whet everyone’s appetite for Miami’s Second Saturdays to follow.

“We just figured it’s about time to bring another car show back to the Globe-Miami area,” says Miami Councilman Michael Sosh. “We’ll have music, street merchants, and great food trucks, so nobody will go away hungry.”

Sosh, a lifelong Miami resident, born and raised, is leading the effort for the Town, along with newcomer Phil Stewart, who opened an antiques shop last year that specializes in refurbished classic radios.

Sosh wants to resurrect car shows in Miami, a tradition he says goes back to the days when local car aficionados would pile into their hot rods and head to Globe for street cruising. In 1991 or ’92, Sosh joined the Golden Oldies car club and was “bit by the bug.” He says car shows back then were more like informal social gatherings.

“Back then, there were a whole lot of cool cars. I just don’t think we had car shows,” he says. “They had get-togethers and cruises. My memory of that is probably since ’72. That’s when I got my first vehicle and went to cruise the streets of Globe.”

His current pride and joy is a 1972 Chevy pickup that’s been in his family since it was hot off the showroom floor.

For about four years, the Angel Perez Wings of Hope Show ’N Shine was an annual fixture in Miami, raising money for scholarships through the Pinal Mountain Foundation for Higher Education and suicide prevention awareness. But after the pandemic, the show moved to Globe.

Other than that, Sosh says it’s been at least seven years since there was a car show in his hometown.

Show to run Friday evening and all day Saturday

The festivities will begin Friday, Sept. 9, with a “burger burn” from 5 to 7 p.m. at Miami Veterans Park. The burger burn will feature hamburgers, hot dogs, and all the fixin’s, provided by the Miami Senior Center, for anyone entered in the show. In addition to food, paid participants will receive a commemorative t-shirt, dashboard plaque, and a goody bag.

The car show begins Saturday morning at 8 a.m. and runs until 2 p.m., taking over Sullivan Street in Miami with plenty of music, food vendors, and art displays throughout downtown. Merchants will throw open their businesses so visitors can get a taste of what Miami has to offer.

The Miami Senior Center will host a pancake breakfast beginning at 8:30 a.m. to get everyone charged for a day of activities.

One of the feature events of the weekend will be a “poker walk” for women. Participants will get a wristband qualifying them for discounts in shops throughout downtown. At the shops, players will pick up cards and try to put together a winning hand.

“We’re going to make it for the ladies only,” Sosh says. “If they buy something, they can get a card. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Live music will be performed by Doc Fletcher at Veterans Memorial Park, in addition to oldies and a mix of music from Dacite Audio of Miami, which will provide a DJ.

There will also be a 50/50 raffle, plenty of door prizes, and a popup bar at Miami Mercantile, featuring tours of the former 1917 YMCA building. The iconic building, located at 155 Miami Ave., has been refurbished into a performance and event venue.

Throughout the day, a shuttle will run every hour to take attendees to the Bullion Plaza Museum to experience Miami’s past and its place in the mining history of Arizona.

An awards ceremony is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. to recognize the best entrants in at least 20 different categories.

Proceeds to benefit civics education

Phil Stewart and his wife, Katie, opened their antiques shop in August 2021 and recently sold their home in Mesa to move to the Copper Corridor.

“I’m the new kid in town,” Stewart says. “We survived the fire, survived the mud, survived all that. We mucked it all out and have been hooked ever since.”

Phil Stewart in his antiques shop. Stewart, who recently came to Miami for his business, but hopes to move here soon, refurbishes old radios—even jukeboxes—by replacing the insides with modern, Bluetoothed and WiFi-friendly equipment.

He says he volunteered for the car show to help get better integrated into the community and to help Miami High School kids learn about civics. Proceeds from the show will go to help Miami High students attend the annual Arizona Cities and Towns Conference in 2023.

“The big driver here is to help these kids who are interested in civics excel,” Stewart says. “That’s where the next generation of town leadership is going to come from, so we need to foster that and make sure they have a great understanding of government civics.”

He’s putting energy into the event, but says he will probably not enter “Bluebell” – the couple’s 1963 Ford Falcon – or “the Moose,” a 1953 Chevy two-ton farm truck, into the competition. He prefers to leave space for more entrants.

Students encouraged to enter

Sosh is encouraging students to enter with whatever vehicle they drive.

“I don’t care if it’s got a gun rack on the back end or it’s a big old four-wheel-drive that doesn’t have any paint,” he says. “If a student drives it, bring it. We want to get the students involved.”

The show is open to classic cars, trucks, and motorcycles. 

The entry fee and the fee for vendor space or a sponsorship are all the same, at $30. Entry fees include the t-shirt, dash plaque, goody bag, and burger burn.

To enter, contact Sosh at (928) 200-0909, or email mcsosh@yahoo.com. Information is available on the Town of Miami website, at miamiaz.gov/events/ and at the event Facebook page at www.facebook.com/Miami-AZ-Car-Show.

The show has a lot of community support, including sponsorships from Capstone Mining, Source One, the Town of Miami, Stewart’s Antique Nook, Michael and Patti Sosh, Miami Mercantile, Dave’s Fast Stop, Micah Gaudet, Allstate in Safford, Trophies and Tees in Safford, BHP Mining, Resolution Copper, and Dominion Firearms.

Sosh also recognized contributions of the Miami High School band, choir, and students, as well as Angel Medina.

Sosh hopes to make the car show an annual event. At the very least, it gives the Town of Miami a chance to strut its stuff.

“For newcomers that come up, it gives us a chance to sell the town. There’s a lot to be seen here,” Sosh says. “Just to show the diversity, we’ve got retail, we’ve got restaurants, we’ve got diverse manufacturing, anything from growing some wacky tabacky, to banjos that get shipped all over the world.”

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