 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Chamber honors board member, school chief
By JULIANNE WU, Times Staff Writer
SEMINOLE -- While Trina Watkins attended to last-minute details Saturday at the installation banquet of the Greater Seminole Area Chamber of Commerce, she had no idea what was coming. Watkins, the community relations director for the Freedom Square retirement complex, was named the chamber's Merit Award winner. Seminole High School principal Rick Misenti was honored as area Boss of the Year. Watkins, in her second year on the chamber board, is also the organization's president-elect. In 2004, she will become the first female president in the Seminole chamber's 41-year history. "We have had women executive directors before," said Jimmy Johnson, "but never a woman president." Said Watkins: "This is really an honor. I'm overwhelmed and almost speechless." Watkins, 57, was born in New Jersey but moved to Pinellas County as a youngster. She attended Gulf Beaches Elementary, Madeira Beach Junior High and Dixie Hollins High School. She has a business degree from Eckerd College. Watkins and her husband, John, a fellow chamber member with Health Screening Service, have three children and three stepchildren, along with nine grandchildren. Misenti, 48, Seminole High's principal since August 2001 and an educator for more than 25 years, also was surprised. "It's a tremendous honor ... and it's a pleasure to serve in your high school," he said. "But you're only as good as your staff. I have a wonderful staff." He attended the banquet with his fiancee, Kathy Bush. In submitting Misenti's name for consideration, Seminole High choral director Nancy Fannon said of him: "Rick Misenti hit the school like a small tornado . . . and has not slowed down yet." Seminole High football coach Sam Roper said: "No person in this community has a more positive effect on so many people in his short term at Seminole High." Misenti, born and raised near Hartford, Conn., earned a bachelor's degree in English from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg. He tried to get a teaching job back home, but there was none. Misenti returned to Pinellas County in 1976 and began teaching English at Northeast High School. He taught English at Countryside High School in Clearwater and was the school's first baseball coach. He was assistant principal of Northeast High before becoming Osceola High School's principal in 1989. In 1994, he moved to East Lake High School, where he was principal for seven years. Lawyer Paul Cavonis, 34, was installed as president for 2003. He is with DeLoach & Hofstra in Seminole, specializing in personal injury and civil litigation. Other officers installed are: Dr. Claude McMullen, Seminole optometrist, as corporate secretary. Dr. Jim Olliver, provost of the Seminole campus of St. Petersburg College, as treasurer. Lawyer John Elias, also Seminole's city attorney, is the immediate past president. New directors are Doug Anderson of First National Bank; Vivian Lurie of Oakhurst Realty; and Steve Zazzaro of PBS Computers.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From the Times South Pinellas desks |
