Bed Race Captain's Meeting at Coconut Grove Bank

It's getting down to the wire, or should I say the starting line for Sunday's Great Grove Bed Race. Last night was the final meeing, which was the Captain's Meeting, where all bed captains came to get all the finals rules and regulations and game plan for racing day.

Above are reps from the Boys & Girls Clubs, the beneficiary of this year's Bed Race, from left: Lou Esquerdo, Astrid Ehrenstein and Jessica Guttierrez. Astrid has been at all Bed Race meetings with the committee and has a been a big help for the past six months of planning.


Coconut Grove Bank was the host for the evening and they set up quite a nice meeting area, along with a fine buffet for everyone to enjoy. Above Daisy Lewis-Salazar has everyone's attention as she explains the rules and regulations of Bed Racing. There are actually quite a bit of rules to adhere to in the name of safety and fairness for everyone racing.


Pollo Tropical are quite the vets in the Great Grove Bed Race, they are back again for another year of racing, here, representing Pollo, are Ashley Wojnar, Loli Navarrro and Karelyn Blanco.


At left are Adam Dunshee (one of the racers of the Coconut Grove Bank bed) and Lynn Cambest, Executive VP of the bank. Lynn asked if the the winners of the most money raised would get a trophy because he wanted to place it right next to the trophy he would receive for winning. Winners do get trophies and Coconut Grove Bank has been living for this event for quite awhile, they are quite proud of the money they raised and are really excited to be out on the track on Sunday.

At right is Olav Smit, owner of The Grove Spot, he hopes to keep the title of Fastest Bed this year in the Men's Divison. Here are last year's winners.


The fun all starts tomorrow, Saturday night, with the Pajama Pub Crawl. This starts at 8 pm at Mr. Moe's (3131 Commodore Plaza), where you can sign up on the spot. It's $25 for the nine bar crawl, if you get your tix ahead of time, you can pay only $20, those may be purchased today at The Bookstore and at Barracuda Bar and Grill.

Pajama crawlers get into your fuzzy slippers, bathrobes and sleep wear out and dress in pajama theme (pajamas not birthday suits!) and “crawl” to various locations across the village, and a bonus pit stop for coffee at the Bookstore. All proceeds from the Pub Crawl goes to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Miami-Dade.

Sunday is the big day -- The Great Grove Bed Race. I'll post the schedule of events tomorrow. It's a full day, starting at 11 am, with lots to see and do.

Photos by Barbara Ferenczi