One thing we noticed in the great story by Lynn Taylor in The Gabber: wonderful community involvement. First of all, the happy fellow in the photo is Phil Rivenbark, head chef at Isabelle's, a fine restaurant in The Historic Peninsula Inn in Gulfport. Phil buys locally. He gets fresh veggies from Gulfport Produce and fish from Gulf Coast Seafood. Buying locally is such an important part of a vibrant community.
But there's more: Phil is joining with eight other Gulfport restaurants for a special event on Monday, October 3. Gulfport Chef's Table is a fine dining experience that will be staged along Beach Boulevard. Here's the thing: it's an event to help raise money for Community Action Stops Abuse (CASA), an organization that provides shelter and help for victims of domestic violence, a worthwhile cause indeed.
And then there's this: Veronica Champion became the owner of The Historic Peninsula Inn earlier this year and is settling in as a booster of the Gulfport community, not only in joining the team that put together the first Gulfport Chef's Table but also in noting the truth that Gulfport is a gastronome's paradise. She told The Gabber: "Someone could come to Gulfport seven days a week and not have the same
experience because there is such a variety of wonderful restaurants.”
How delightful to be part of such a fine community.
On New Year's Day in 1962, Guy Lombardo's Port O' Call Resort opened in Tierra Verde, and for a few years big-name stars performed in the nightclub. At any given time you might have seen Mel Torme, Liberace, or Frank Sinatra. Almost two decades later artist Carolyn Jackson Gruber was commissioned to paint a magnificent mural depicting not only the Lombardo era but all of the history of the island community. For years, the mural hung in the lobby of the Tierra Verde Resort and Marina, which is what Port O' Call became. Fast-forward to 2007, when the resort was being torn down and the painting was nearly lost. Debbie Wolfe has the remarkable story of its rescue, plus word on where you can view this amazing piece in person, in The Gabber.
Here's a youngster doing good in the community. He's only 9 but he has been at it for four years. His name is Alan Landers and that's him in the yellow shirt surrounded by folks who participated in a bowling fundraiser on Patriot Sunday at Ten Pin Lanes in Pasadena. The event was to raise money for the Honor Flight project that sends military veterans to the nation's capital to see the memorials for the wars in which they served.
Alan's quest began as a community service assignment from his teacher. You can get all the details in this terrific story in The Gabber. By the way, you should know that there's more to come from this young man. He's planning another fundraiser for the same Honor Flight project. It's a Superhero Fun Run on Saturday, October 8. Click the link for all the details.
Thrift Shop cashier Evelyn Kurz (left) and shopper Jane Sheppard.
If you've ever been to The Thrift Shop of Pass-a-Grille Beach Community Church, you know what a treasure it is in the community. It's a shoppers' paradise, full of an eclectic collection of castoffs that is certain to delight anyone who loves to shop, and especially anyone who loves to discover hidden treasures. If you love garage sales and flea markets, this is your place. The Gabber had an article about the shop opening this season, it's 58th year. It's a good read and if you haven't been it's a good introduction. But you should go. You can visit the Thrift Shop website here.
Our community is nothing if not creative. We've had items recently about poets and music appreciation. So, it's not surprising we read with fascination the article in The Gabber the other day about Gulfport short story writer Claire Kemp, whose work appears in a textbook on writing. Claire doesn't type. She writes her stories out in longhand on a yellow legal pad and then sends them to her sister in New Hampshire to type them. Claire's story that appeared in a writing textbook is called Keeping Company. It is online at the Chicago Tribune. You'd do yourself a favor to read it.
People in our community give back. It's just what they do. It's how they're put together. Helping people is just part and parcel of who they are. It's ingrained in every fiber of their being. So it's no wonder that folks from our Broadwater community are among people, companies, and churches all over the Tampa Bay area who are planning to join CareFest again this year. This is probably the sixth or seventh year, and it's always so rewarding because so many people get help.
Volunteers help fix up houses for people who can't do it themselves. They deliver food and clothing and in general make things better for the less fortunate in our community. The big day is Saturday, September 24, and the local folks are gathering at Lake Vista Park, though people are meeting for this event all over Tampa Bay. You can get all the information you need from the poster above.
CareFest started as an effort of Clearwater author and speaker Daniel Bernard, who founded a group called Somebody Cares Tampa Bay, an organization designed to spur residents and businesses to give for the good of the community. Here's an interesting article about him.
Our community might be breaking out all over in poetry, and wouldn't that be a lovely thing? We were talking the other day about the poetry contest the Eckerd College OLLI program is putting on. Now we see in The Gabber where they're looking for the second poet laureate of Gulfport. The first poet laureate of Gulfport is the ever-fascinating Peter Hargitai who is always a delight to hear. Peter is a retired college professor and a fixture at the Ink Tank Talks at The Blueberry Patch Retreat Center. The Hungarian-born writer came to the United States as a child when his family fled the revolution in their country. To get in a poetic frame of mind, we thought we'd share a video of Peter reading Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky. Peter's wife, Dianne, did the illustrations and made the video.
There's a terrific feature story about Kristy Moody, the new principal at Fairmont Park Elementary School, in The Weekly Challenger. She's setting about to build a school community and is seeking the community's help in building a fine and vibrant school. "I like to know every student's name, I like to know the building, I like to know who the kids are and who their siblings are. The challenge is building that community and connecting them all together," she told The Challenger. Makes sense to us. And there's this: "Schools belong to the community. I want people to feel like this is their school. They are welcome here." Great schools are essential elements to great communities. We're looking forward to seeing great things from Kristy Moody and Fairmont Park Elementary.
A Book and a Movie project returns again to the historic Royal Theater on 22nd Street South in Midtown with a hilarious comedy hit from 2002, Barbershop, starring Ice Cube, Cedric the Entertainer, and Anthony Anderson.
It is set in a failing barbershop on the South Side of Chicago, and features a great collection of memorable characters. One of the things we like about it is that it shows the value of community. Take a look at the preview above.
Barbershop will be shown at the historic Royal Theater on Saturday, September 10. Doors open at 2 p.m. Movie starts at 2:22 p.m. There is no admission charge.
If you've got a rhyming couplet or an epic in iambic pentameter in you yearning to be free, we've got the opportunity for you. We've been browsing the catalog for the Eckerd OLLI program and this struck us: On page 11 of the program catalog there is an announcement about the 1st Annual OLLI at Eckerd College Poetry Contest. It's open to any OLLI member and it'll be judged by OLLI Poetry Circle members. So join OLLI, send in your entry. The deadline is October 1.
(NOTE: Hope you're having an enjoyable Labor Day. We're publishing this item today instead of waiting because, as you'll see, time is of the essence and we wanted you to know about this in case you wanted to go.)
Here's the thing. There is a whole lot happening at Eckerd College that might not otherwise be apparent unless you happen to be in the know. Case in point: Beginning Wednesday and for the next four Wednesdays there'll be a program that if you play the video above and it speaks to you then you ought to be attending this program. Do it now and you'll see what we mean.
Paul Robeson singing Ol' Man River in the 1936 film Showboat isn't for everyone but it sure is a favorite of a lot of people. If you're one of them (or if you just played this, never heard it before, and want more like it) then you're probably a Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II fan. This kind of music spans generations. It's classic.
The program we're talking about is Great Lyricists and Lyrics of 20th Century Popular Music. It's part of the Eckerd OLLI program. (That stands for Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, and it's a program designed for people over 50 who think there's more to life than binge watching The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt or The Carmichael Show; people who yearn for something intellectually stimulating.) There's a whole catalog of interesting OLLI programs and you can download a PDF version here.
This program is a tribute to the great lyricists in popular music and Oscar Hammerstein II was one of the greatest. Some think that lyricists are often forgotten, though it's hard to imagine Oscar being one of them. The story is told of Oscar's wife, Dorothy, upon overhearing a man praising Jerome Kern for writing Ol' Man River, remarked: "Jerome Kern wrote 'dum, dum dum-dum.' My husband wrote Ol' Man River.
Now this program is not only a lecture but it's also a concert. It'll be presented by Tampa Bay composer/lyricist Joy Katzen-Guthrie, a virtuoso performer who is guaranteed to delight. You can find out more about her here. Rest assured she'll play plenty of the items from her 4,000-song repertorie.
Of course, there are a lot of other programs (on into the end of September, October, November, and December -- plus more after the first of the year), and we're going to go on talking about some of them but if you're really interested we suggest you get a copy of the catalog and browse or go to the Eckerd OLLI website and take a look around.
That song's stuck in our head now. "But ol' man river, he just keeps rollin' along."
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It's time for GeckoFest, the wacky celebration of madness that takes over Gulfport each year. This is the weekend of the big event, with activities all day Saturday on Beach Boulevard in downtown Gulfport.
There'll be live music on three stages, more than 200 food and beverages, street performers, artisans and craftsmen showing off their wares, a costume contest, and an audience participation walking parade.
It's fun for the whole family. Preceding this big weekend have already been the Gecko Ball and the Gecko Crawl. A portion of the proceeds from these events go to local charities. Watch the video above for information about the Gecko Ball and GeckoFest.
You may remember the big bike ride project back in July. The Skyway Marina District teamed up with ShiftStPete, a non-profit group of activists pushing for bicyclist and pedestrian infrastructure, to produce the event. About 50 people participated and there was a nice write-up in The Gabber. The bike ride was generally considered a great success.
Well, an email from Keri Melshenker, executive director of the district, showed up in the inbox yesterday afternoon announcing that the district is part of the new St. Petersburg Bike Wayfinding Pilot Study designed to gather people's ideas about where a bike path around the community should go, what kinds of signage would be helpful, and so forth.
Keri said the Skyway Marina District's Improvement Team had offered some ideas, including Wayfinding signs to Eckerd College, the beaches, and various parks, such as Fort Desoto, Maximo Park, Clam Bayou, and Boyd Hill Nature Preserve. There also were thoughts about solving lighting, fencing, trash, sediment deposition, and drainage issues for a Lakewood Trail Connector, and crosswalk safety issues for various places.
So, there's this online survey you can take to offer your ideas. If you click on the link, you'll be taken to the survey. Be aware, though, you'll be asked for your email address. If you put it in, you'll be able to log in and fill out the survey. You can also return to add to your answers. You also can log in anonymously but if you do you won't be able to return. There's a built-in control to limit repeated access to the survey unless you put in your email address.
The map above shows the proposed route for the bike trail. The map comes with the survey. Click on it to get a better look at it before you take the survey.
This is a great opportunity to contribute your ideas about a bike path for South St. Petersburg so we urge you to participate. And thank you to Keri and the Skyway Marina District for pursuing this worthwhile endeavor.
