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Beaches notebook
By AMY WIMMER and RYAN MALDONADO St. Pete BeachBlind Pass Park is getting a new name: Ron McKenney Park. The former mayor and commissioner, who died in October, helped obtain for the city the land that became Blind Pass Park. McKenney focused on several parks and recreation during his tenure as an elected official, which began in 1970. McKenney was a city commissioner from 1970 to 1976 and from 1982 to 1984. He was mayor from 1986 to 1989 and 1998 to 2000. The Presidents' Council, a group of civic leaders that meets monthly to discuss citywide issues, proposed naming the park after McKenney during the final weeks of his last term as mayor. McKenney quickly quieted discussion of the renaming, calling the suggestion "embarrassing." Mayor Ward Friszolowski said he discussed the posthumous renaming with McKenney's son Jeff, who agreed that Blind Pass Park, with its relevancy to McKenney's work for the city, would be appropriate. "We have a lot of people who provided a lot of good service to the city, but his is exceptional," Friszolowski said of McKenney. The Third Annual Island Festival, a daylong event featuring live music, book signings by local authors and art vendors and exhibits, will take place March 2 in Pass-a-Grille Park. Island Festival III is sponsored by the Suntan Art Center, Gulf Beaches Historical Museum and the Island Community Theatre. The Island Festival Community Theatre will present miniplays throughout the day, the Gulf Beaches Historical Museum consumed docents will lead historical tours through Pass-a-Grille streets, local musicians will perform live, and local authors will sign books. Also, the Suntan Art Center will provide arts and crafts projects for children. Artists, crafters and other vendors are invited to participate. All work must be original to the artist, and 65 spaces are available in the park or the street. Entry fee is $50 or $25 for Suntan members. Artists should register to participate by Feb. 20. For applications or information, call 526-2013. The city of St. Pete Beach invites local artists to display their work at the new City Hall on a consignment basis. The artist's name, artwork title and sale price will be displayed with the work. The artwork will go through a jury process conducted by the interior design firm Contract Design Group Inc. To have work considered, contact Lynne Hawthorne, an interior designer with the company, who is leading the design jury team. She can be reached at 523-1488; the firm's e-mail address is contdesgp@aol.com. GulfportCity Council approved a proposal Tuesday to look at the possibility of creating a city-owned telecommunications network. The proposal called for Icon Broadband Technologies to conduct a citywide feasibility study, worth more than $30,000. The outcome of the study will determine what kind of infrastructure Gulfport residents will be able to use to receive Internet and cable television. Members of the Icon group were present at the meeting to answer questions for the Council and residents. The study will take 12 weeks to complete, officials said. "One Night of Comedy," an evening of adult comedy, will be presented at 8:30 p.m. Friday at the Hickman Theater. Ben "Mr. Personality" Sanez, who appeared in the recent film Oceans 11, will be the featured act, and guest comedian will be Trish Keating. The comedy special will be filmed and shown to American troops overseas. Lobby doors will open at 7:30 p.m. Tickets may be purchased at the door. Admission is $5, or $2 for college students. Indian Rocks BeachApplications are out for the Beach Art Center's Annual Spring Fling Arts and Crafts Show. The Spring Fling will be held in conjunction with Indian Rocks Beach's music and food festival, Beauty and the Beach, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 6. Artists and crafters may obtain applications by calling the Beach Art Center, 596-4331. The center is at 1515 Bay Palm Blvd. The art center is hosting a 6-week series focusing on all aspects of drawing. The course of study will include a thorough discussion of drawing materials and how they are used. Students will work on drawing skills and techniques such as continuous line drawing, shadow shape drawing, negative drawing and scratch board techniques. There also will be lessons in portraiture and figure drawing. Live models and still life setups will be used. The course runs Thursday through March 7. The hours are 9 a.m. to noon. The fee for the six-week class is $72 for members and $84 for nonmembers. Madeira BeachThe annual citywide garage sale is scheduled for March 16-17. Residents are invited to plan their own sales and do not need to register with the city to participate. Treasure IslandThe Boca Ciega Sail & Power Squadron will split its eight-hour safe boating course into two four-hour sessions on consecutive Saturdays. The classes are 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday and Feb. 2 at the Boca Ciega Sail & Power Squadron Headquarters, 130 126th Ave. E. Registration is required and will be at 6-7 p.m. Tuesday at the squadron building. The course manual and reading assignments will be provided at that time. The course is restricted to the first 50 people who register. Boat ownership is not required. Classroom lecture and self-study lessons cover the techniques of safe handling of sail and power craft, anchoring, tying basic knots, chart reading, plotting courses, radio use, emergency procedures and general safety. Navigation aids such as buoys and range markers will be explained. Students pay $30 for the course manual and materials, and fees are due at registration. Additional students in the same family pay $5. Graduates may be eligible for a discount on marine insurance. A unit of the U.S. Power Squadrons, the Boca Ciega Sail & Power Squadron conducts classes to teach boaters and those interested in boating. More than 4-million people have taken the safe boating course. For information, call course chairman Don Rife, 397-0572. -- Compiled by Times staff writers Amy Wimmer and Ryan Maldonado. To submit information for the Beaches Notebook, e-mail wimmer@sptimes.com.
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