On the town

Helpers orchestrate Hands Across the Bay

Ecumenism is a principle more often preached than practiced, so an example such as Hands Across the Bay is a welcome annual exception. The luncheon, held Friday, was an opportunity for three auxiliaries that usually go their own ways to get together for a show of shared support for the Florida Orchestra.

Hands Across the Bay was a joint venture between the Florida Orchestra's Tampa and St. Petersburg guilds and Florida Orchestra North Suncoast Associates. They take turns as hosts, and this year it was St. Petersburg's turn. (The north county group is not called a guild because it has members of both genders, unlike its Tampa Bay area brethren. Or sistren. Or whatever.)

The layout of the venue, the first-floor ballroom at the Don CeSar Beach Resort, created a thematic reiteration that I will call Feet Across the Floor for Hands Across the Bay, wherein tables were placed in the upper part of the room. To get from one side to the other, one descended steps to the dance floor, wafted across and ascended a second flight. But maybe I am stretching a thematic point.

The party favors were definitely appropriate to the theme. Betty Bowley and Jeanne Nelson baked more than 200 shortbread cookies in the shapes of hands, then used icing and silver dragees to simulate big diamond rings, a concept not without veracity in this crowd. Case in point was Priscilla Young's multicarat stunner, an engagement ring from Dr. Royce Hobby. The couple have not yet set a date but have met with an architect to plan an addition to her lovely house in the Pink Streets neighborhood that will add an office for Dr. Hobby and, of course, more closet space.

Party chairwoman Edie Spies -- very chic in a fringed wool plaid skirt and cranberry-colored sweater by Worth -- and her committee of Mrs. Bowley, Mrs. Nelson, Sheila Tempelmann, Pat Howells, Greta Myers, Maritza Smith and Evelyn Wilty, fashioned centerpieces from sheet music and red roses. The chicken piccata brought to my mind the musical term pizzicato, so our reason for being there was reinforced on a number of levels.

St. Petersburg Guild president Charlotte Krizek welcomed the group and introduced the orchestra's executive director Leonard Stone, who told us that the fall benefit concert the orchestra performed on behalf of the families of the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks raised more than $140,000, which he believes is more than any other single performing arts organization has raised to date.

Juliet Miller sang God Bless America in her beautiful soprano, wearing a jacket covered in a sequined version of our flag. Then we settled down to the business of visiting. I enjoyed seeing, among others, Eleanor Morse; Celma Mastry and her daughter Claudette Carlan; Helga Andrews and her daughter Mary Andrews; Connie Kone; Terry Ray; Ann Foster; Louise Chapin, Zeta Bobbitt; Julia Sorba; Carol Sjolund; Tampa Guild president Gayle Bertelstein; Anne Lauder; Jean Sellers, a charter member of the North Suncoast group; its president Joan Nix Gutierrez; Ruth Gray; and Mary Shuh, who wants to remind us all to get our reservations in for the Stuart Society gala, Jan. 26 at the Museum of Fine Arts, because she promises it will be a terrific party.

To my regret, I could not stay for the postluncheon performance by Roger Zare, a 16-year-old junior at Pine View High School and winner of the orchestra's Young Artist Competition. He told me he was to play both a Bach prelude and one of his own compositions called the Schizo Suite. It is a work in three movements that he said is so named because it suggests schizophrenia and paranoia musically.

"And is this a personal statement about you?" I asked.

"Oh, no, I'm fine," he said.

A calendar change you need to make: The Queen's Court has moved the date of the Queen of Hearts Ball to March 2. As you On the Towners know, the black-tie party was scheduled for Feb. 23 at the TradeWinds Island Resort. In a letter from chairwoman Joann Barger, she explains that after Sept. 11, a major client of the TradeWinds canceled a seminar. In good faith, the TradeWinds allowed the client to reschedule, and the only date available was the date of the Heart Ball. In the spirit of community cooperation, and with some nice incentives from the hotel, the Queen's Court agreed to change the date.

Another calendar change: The St. Petersburg Florida Orchestra Guild Designer Showhouse will open March 9, a week later than previously printed, and run through March 30. The opening party will be March 8. The change is the result of the construction schedule of Villas del Verde, new townhomes being built in Gulfport and the site of the showhouse.

LOOKING AHEAD

Saturday

RESOURCE CENTER FOR WOMEN GALA: The silver anniversary of the agency includes dinner, entertainment and silent auction. 6:30 p.m. Largo Cultural Center, 105 Central Park Drive. $35. 550-0096.

Feb. 4

EBONY FASHION FAIR: The Zeta Upsilon Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha hosts the local appearance of this glamorous event that brings haute couture to town. This year, the event moves to the Coliseum, a venue that will allow for it to be a runway show, a first for the area. In the past, it was held at the Mahaffey Theater without a runway, so the clothes should be more visible this time around. Proceeds benefit a variety of national and local causes, $25. 892-5202.

Feb. 7

DINNER WITH THE ARTS: A benefit for the Gulf Coast Museum of Art with guest speaker Glenn D. Lowry, director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. 7 p.m. Sheraton Sand Key Resort, Clearwater. Cocktail attire. $150. 518-6833.

Feb. 9

CHRISTIAN WOMEN'S CLUB LUNCHEON: Annual event this year features guest speaker Alan Winfield of Bay News 9 and baritone soloist Todd Donovan. Noon. Treasure Island Yacht Club, 400 Island Causeway. $17. 360-9179.

WSL CELEBRATE AMERICA: the 52nd annual fashion promenade presents the best groomed men and women of St. Petersburg. Hosted by the Women's Service League, the luncheon show benefits Hospice of the Florida Suncoast. 11 a.m. St. Petersburg Yacht Club, 11 Central Ave. $40. 576-4221.

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