Step on It.(The Talk of the Town)(Valera Global)

How about a little appreciation, in this strike-altered season, for those awards ceremonies that are proceeding as planned, guilt-free and full of glitz? The limousine company Valera Global's eighth annual banquet, for instance, took place recently at Terrace on the Park, in the World's Fair grounds, in Flushing Meadows. It was the night before the abbreviated, joyless Golden Globes, and there, beneath a giant crystal chandelier in Queens, was Souleymane Bah, 2005's Chauffeur of the Year, looking dapper in a tan suit and a derby, with his pocket square arranged just so. Bah lives in Blakeslee, Pennsylvania, which, according to MapQuest, is more than two hours away; he said he usually makes the trip in an hour and a half. He needed to log only fifty-two more miles in order to eclipse the million-mile mark for his career. Bah's last moving violation? November, 1986: right on red at the corner of 145th Street and Lenox Avenue. He seemed confident about the prospect of a repeat win, although he acknowledged, "I'm not sure what the criteria are."

The Valera drivers in attendance represented nearly forty countries. In the summer, they assemble for an international cook-off--the Filipinos stuff a pig, the Haitians prepare a fish platter, the Egyptians roast a lamb. On this night, the dinner was a more standard buffet, and the guests, while waiting in line, exchanged black-car-centric anecdotes ("Remember, the person who turned in Phil Spector was his chauffeur"). Then came the ceremony: "Luis Mora, Car 46, come on up!" Mora was Rookie of the Year, although he looked to be past the retirement age of most professional athletes. Most Improved Chauffeur, for the driver "who never really gave up," went to Abd Elsakhawy, Car 54--which prompted a round of "Car 54, Where Are You?" jokes. Best-Kept Vehicles were followed in turn by Best-Dressed Chauffeurs--Souleymane Bah, surprisingly, not among them. A first-timer, scanning the evening's program, could get dizzy over the variety of names: Babacar Seck, Jaroslaw Jaroszynski, Michel-Ange Malebranche, Ngock-Ming Cheung, ...