On the town

Wine enthusiasts sip, nibble for good cause

The Abilities Wine & Food Festival draws several thousand patrons to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg each year, and for good reason. Guests at Saturday's tasting sampled food from 50 bay area restaurants and more than 300 wines from throughout the world.

What's more, Abilities Foundation president and chief executive officer Frank De Lucia says, all the food, wine and auction items are donated.

Rays managing general partner Vince Naimoli offers use of the stadium, parking, housekeeping, security and other services free of charge. Dick Crippen, the Rays' executive director of community development, volunteers as master of ceremonies.

Foundation chairman Richard and Diane Winning greeted guests at the VIP tasting, which drew about 800 visitors. About 4,000 tickets were sold to the grand tasting afterward, and that crowd included an impressive number of Tampa residents, including Robert Stevenson, Christine Nicholson and Reggie Johnson.

De Lucia speculated that the foundation's February event across the bay, which featured Napa Valley vintners, teased the appetite for more.

Such a crowd is daunting, but there were sightings of George and Dorothy Locascio, Howard and Dina Sachs, sisters Lenda Naimoli and Glenda Young, Simone Bennett, Catherine McGarry, Trish Wichman, Mary Wyatt Allen, Tom Smith and Sue Hanna, Laurie Osborne, Rob Sumner, Joe Mazzara, Niel Allen, and Jim Carnahan and Jo Spear.

Man-about-town Sterling Powell was nothing short of resplendent in a purple satin suit. Bill and Michelle Barlow told me they had just returned from Lake Tahoe, where they celebrated their 14th wedding anniversary.

Brian Wellman, who owns Grand Finale, raced from the tasting to his restaurant, anticipating heavy traffic after the event; restaurateur Emmanuel Roux gave me a flier for Appeteasers at Redwoods, his newest venture, opening soon in the space formerly known as Haiku.

It will offer tapas, sushi and the only cheese bar in town, he said.

The Stuart Society's annual Art in Bloom celebration opened at the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg with Saturday's Gardenia: A Golden Era, a preview event that transformed the Marly Room into an elegant 1930s supper club.

Jean Irwin was chairwoman for the event and widely credited with creating a sultry mood in the museum, which is trying to draw a more eclectic group of supporters.

Those attending got the first views of the floral interpretations of works in the museum's current exhibits and its permanent collection.

The arrangements, created by professionals and talented amateurs, are extraordinary and not without challenges. No fresh flowers can be used near the fragile French drawings, for example: Moisture is a threat.

Patrons tasted food from Mattison's; a bar in the garden offered chocolate martinis (Vincent Van Gogh Dutch Chocolate vodka and creme de cacao).

Act III, which plays rhythm and blues, disco and other tunes, performed on a stage whose backdrop was a 20-foot, three-dimensional cityscape by Susan Supper and her husband, Kevin Brady, owners of East West Gallery and Framery.

Guests included Carol Upham, Starr and Dr. Rudy Weihe, Mary Perry, Kim O'Brien, Charlie and Laurie Lowe, Pete Crawford, Donna Painter, Bud and Fran Risser, David and Guna Carr, Dr. Al Davis, Jackie Brown, Frank Blandford, Fred and Mary Shuh, Bill Habermeyer, Dr. Bill and Janet Hunter, Steve and Dana Hansel, Sandy and Isabel Shoenberg, Margot and Stephen Woodrough, Betty and Carl Bowley, Phyllis Williams, Iris Salzer and Nancy and Richard McCrory.

Myrna Davis was auction chairwoman and Anne Shamas coordinated Bags in Bloom. Others on the gala committee are Cindy Allison, Charlotte Bacon, Pat Baldwin, Carol Barbosa, Jan Crawford, Fran Davis, Mary Evertz, Sally Habermeyer, Marlene Mock, Claire Raymond, Susan Savage, Susan Schiereck, Charol Sheahan, Carol Dameron Snitzer, Patti Steinberg, Cary Bond Thomas and Ruth Wood.

Carolyn Bond chaired the floral design committee, whose members included Lois Atkins, Babe Bucy, Judy Dickerson, Barbara Hennessy, Marta Kozlov, Fran Weaver-Nohren and Barbara Philips.

Alice Eachus is chairwoman of the weeklong Art in Bloom celebration, which continues with a luncheon Friday in the Sunset Vinoy Ballroom and a garden tour Saturday.

The Florida Orchestra Guild's 2003 Designers' Showhouse continues through March 30 at 2330 Pinellas Point Drive, the longtime home of Dr. Royce Hobby. Hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays, noon-4 p.m. Saturday.

LOOKING AHEAD

Thursday

AMADEUS: Florida Orchestra donor appreciation evening; Jon Kimura Parker, guest artist. 7 p.m. Safety Harbor Spa, 105 N Bayshore Drive, Safety Harbor. (813) 286-1170, ext. 318.

Friday

WOMEN'S SYMPOSIUM: Women's Council, St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce event. Madame Jehan Sadat, guest speaker. 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Coliseum, 535 Fourth Ave. N, St. Petersburg. $45. 821-4069.

Saturday

ALL-STAR CELEBRITY AND SPORTS AUCTION: 10th annual benefit for Children's Dream Fund. Cocktails, dinner, silent and live auctions. 6 p.m. Tropicana Field, 1 Tropicana Drive, St. Petersburg. 892-6736.

March 27

MUCH ADO ABOUT ART: Live art auction benefits American Stage's Shakespeare in the Park; works are inspired by the words of William Shakespeare. 6 p.m. Renaissance Vinoy Sunset Ballroom, 600 Snell Isle Blvd., St. Petersburg. $20 advance; $25 at door. 823-1600, ext. 201.

March 29

GRAND SLAM GALA: Third annual benefit, Rays of Hope Foundation. Silent auction, dinner, entertainment; all Rays team members present. 7 p.m. Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg. 825-3135.

March 30

A DAY AT THE RACES: Florida Gulf Coast Chapter, Eastern Airlines Silverliners International, onetime Eastern flight attendants, benefit for The Haven shelter for abused women in Clearwater. Noon. Tampa Bay Downs, Tampa.

-- Mary Jane Park can be reached at (727) 893-8267; fax (727) 893-8675; e-mail park@sptimes.com; P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright