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SAM SETS SAILNot everyone is glad to see him goGoods ye, sam... Lastweekend they towed Sam’s barge away. The blgtoat has gone to join Its owner in Florida. The newspaper said the boat’s departure apparently all but severs therelationship with the Annapolis area.I guess Annapolis wasn’t real good for Sam. His restaurant, Sardinia’s Club International, went belly up; his wife split and the County Council chased his boat, S.S. Sardinia, from one mooring site to another.I like Sam Sardinia. I only know him on a social basis, but I like him. There I said it! People will be miffed at me. Sam has lots of critics. Maybe it's that big boat, or his pretty young wife (the ex-Playboy bunny), or his penchant for naming everything after himself. Most of the people who didn’t like Sam never met him.The newspaper is right. He is flamboyant. The first time I met Sam was at a 19S7 black tie fundraiser for the Society For The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. He let the SPCA use his boat and the mayoAt it moor at the City Dock for the evening.The S.S. Sardinia — with its' pool, hot tub, movie theater, bar (named Play It Again Sam, naturally), and little tugboats to push this converted ferry around — is not everyone's cup of tea ItCAPITAL AFFAIRSr'J.N*.By FRAN DENMAN COUN1HA8Iis... well, flamboyant. OK. OK! There were a lot of other words used too, like tacky and eyesore, and I wouldn't want to look at it every day if I owned waterfront property either. But you’ve got to grant Sam one thing, that was agreat party. It was a little bit of magic, just for the night, and it produced some big bucks for our furry friends.Sam is a soft touch tor things like that. I remember his Hawaiian luau at Sardinia’s Club International to benefit Parents Against Child Abuse. He hired a calypso band for the evening.Now steel drums are not generally thought of as a Hawaiian art form, but what the heck — in the spirit of international sharing we all had fun! Sam was a partyin’ kind of guy for the two years he lived in Annapolis.You've got to remember thatAnnapolis has, as the Johnnies would say, a vertically stratified social life. That means the pols party with one set of people, boaters with another, the academy with another, the , townies with yet another and sotfcr--*-millionaire party couple, went everywhere. Hey, you got a cause to promote or an event to celebrate; Sam will buy a couple of tickets - guaranteed'I'm sure Sam Sardinia bas a serious side, everyone does. I just never saw it. I remember when The Capital printed a lot of really angry letters to the editor about Sam; they appeared on the same page with an editorial cartoon making fun of the S.S. Sardinia.I saw Sam that day. Don’t worry, I said, I still like you. Yeah, he said, then wear this to the next event you cover at the Annapolis Yacht Club. He gave me a Sardinia's Club International T-shirt and sailor's hat“Sam, there are limits!” I said. He had a big grin on his face Let’s face it, Sam is bizarre — megabuck floating pleasure dome bizarre! But mean-spirited and nasty bizarre? I don’t believe itWell, Annapolis is now sans Sam and the community associations along the scenic Severn are having block parties to celebrate. I hope they're having fun; you know, I think Sam would like thatP.S. Somewhere in south Florida — I’ll bet it's on the intercoastal waterway near Miami Beach — a little community is waking up this morning. The denizens of this sea sidetown will look out at a 200-foot barge silhouetted against the bright orange of a rising sun. What's that1’ they'll say.THSS6 ftftfifllMlATo reach Ms. Coumhao withmumUMmm*
Newspaper Details
Capital Gazette
Annapolis, Maryland, US
Sun, Aug 06, 1989
Page 54
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 31 Mar 2021
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