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© St. Petersburg Times, published February 15, 2002
Normally, the cavalcade of lead soldiers from the Coronation of Her Majesty Elizabeth II parades across Sylvia and Ben Corey's mantle, but for the next four months it will be on display at the Florida International Museum.
The Coreys' collection of royal memorabilia is in the museum lobby to mark the golden jubilee of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. It's fitting that the museum is the venue for the collection; Ben Corey worked for most of his career in the building, the former home of Maas Bros. department store. His positions within the company varied from department head to buyer. As a buyer, Corey made 18 trips around the world.
The eight museum cases are filled with Corey collectibles, including his ticket to the coronation on June 2, 1952. The couple's collection also includes letters, photographs, newspaper articles, porcelain, stamps and coins.
"I have always been an Anglophile. In 1937 I got up at 2 a.m. to listen to the coronation of George VI on the radio," Ben Corey recalls.
He acquired the first piece of his collection while stationed with the Army in Italy after the war. It is a small vase from the celebration of Queen Victoria's golden jubilee. It is displayed with other items from the era.
Corey was unable to buy anything of value when he attended the coronation. Harrod's, Selfridges and the other stores had sold out of Royal Doulton and Wedgwood items, so most of the things displayed he has picked up through the years in antique stores across America, he says.
The lobby exhibit is free and open to the public. Admission is charged for the museum's other exhibits.
One of England's leading actors, Sir Donald Sinden, has been in the Tampa Bay area the past two weeks as part of the University of South Florida's "Brit Program."
Sinden taught a master class in Oliver Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer and lectured on his life in the theater.
Sinden's roles have been many and varied -- from the English butler in the TV series Two's Company, to Othello and King Lear with the Royal Shakespeare Company, to the portrayal of Sir Harcourt Courtly in Boucicault's comedy London Assurance.
He also has authored two books -- A Touch of the Memoirs and Laughter in the Second Act.
On Saturday, Sinden left for California to do research at UCLA on Lord Alfred Douglas. He will then join actors Diana Rigg, Ian Richardson and Derek Jacobi on an Australian tour.
Adele Smithers-Fornaci of Tampa has been helping substance abusers for years, and for her many contributions she was to be honored Thursday by the International Council of Caring Communities at the United Nations. Smithers-Fornaci was hoping her Tampa neighbor and friend, New York Yankee superstar Derek Jeter, could be there when she received her honor, but spring training preparations promised to keep him away. Jeter's doctor dad Charles, who runs his son's Turn 2 Foundation, was scheduled to pinch-hit. Smithers-Fornaci is a board member of the foundation.
One of the many passengers randomly checked at Tampa International Airport recently was former Redington Beach Mayor Ramona Updegraff. Updegraff, wife and mother to well-known physicians in the Tampa Bay area and grandmother of 11, was to have flown at a little past 7 a.m. for Salt Lake City. When she was detained for the routine search, she missed her flight. The next several flights were overbooked, so she didn't get out of Tampa till after 6 p.m. Upon arrival in Utah she learned her luggage (which held her fur coat) had gone to San Salvador instead. The airline's explanation: "They both began with S."