Rome is setting for a regal toast to love

Ambassador and developer Mel Sembler and wife Betty ask about 300 friends to join them in the Eternal City for a one of a kind 50th wedding anniversary party.

The guests will feast at Villa Taverna, a 71/2-acre walled estate in Rome. The weekend will include games of bocce, a day trip to the medieval gardens of Ninfa, and tennis with the U.S. ambassador to Italy.

This will be no ordinary wedding anniversary.

Mel Sembler, ambassador and St. Petersburg developer, and his wife, Betty, have invited more than 300 family and friends to Rome next week to help them celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.

The guest list includes ambassadors from Australia, Colombia, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Great Britain and Belgium, plus U.S. representatives to Denmark, Slovakia and Mauritius.

In addition to the Semblers' three children, their spouses and 11 grandchildren, several Tampa Bay area residents, plan to make the trip.

"We're looking to celebrate with them," said Beverly Mitlin, who will attendwith her husband, commercial property broker Ira Mitlin. "Every time they've ever had a party (in the bay area), it's been the best. We just want to celebrate with them."

Jan Sher, who will be attending with her husband, Craig, president and chief executive officer of the Sembler Co., said she couldn't wait to get to Rome. "We wouldn't dream of missing this opportunity to celebrate their anniversary with them," she said. "What could be more special than to celebrate with them in Rome?"

A Web site that requires a password is helping guests plan for the fete.

Booking early meant they could get better rates. For example, a high-end five-star hotel could be had for $510 a night, compared with the normal price of $853. Less pricey accommodations are available.

The Semblers are celebrating their marriage of May 17, 1953, at the Peabody Hotel in the bride's hometown of Memphis, Tenn.

Soon after, Sembler volunteered for the U.S. Army during the Korean War, and the newlyweds moved to Fort Smith, Ark. After military service, the couple eventually moved to Tennessee.

"Betty's father wanted to teach me the retail business," Sembler said. The young entrepreneur had other ideas. He went into shopping center development, completing three between 1965 and 1967.

In 1968, the couple moved to Florida with their three sons, Greg, Brent and Steve.

The Semblers' affection for each other has not waned.

"We've had 50 years of happiness," Mrs. Sembler said in a telephone interview Thursday.

"More," the ambassador said. "We met in '49."

Mrs. Sembler said one issue for her was "finding a niche for myself. ... It was easy for me." She chairs the Drug Free America Foundation in St. Petersburg and is on the phone to the office nearly every day.

Mel Sembler founded the Sembler Co., which develops shopping centers throughout the Southeast and is a partner in St. Petersburg's highly successful BayWalk retail and entertainment complex. The firm now is building University Village, which will give downtown a new major supermarket.

Sembler has raised millions of dollars for the Republican Party. President George H.W. Bush appointed him ambassador to Australia and has visited the Semblers' in Italy, as have President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

One of the couple's greatest challenges, Mrs. Sembler said, has been living away from home. "All of our children live in Pinellas County, and we've moved halfway around the world, twice. But we have each other."

The Semblers' grandchildren range in age from 8 to 22. "One of the things we miss is that we don't get to see them as often."

On the other hand, the youngsters are seeing history first-hand. "We've tried to present the beauties of Rome and the history," she said.

Sembler, who served as U.S. ambassador to Australia from 1989 to 1993, sees considerable contrasts between the two posts.

"Australians are very egalitarian," the ambassador said, while Italians rely on centuries of hierarchical distinctions. "Most gentlemen still bend and almost kiss the hands of women."

The Semblers had fewer guests in Canberra, he said, "but as we all know, all roads lead to Rome."

The anniversary festivities begin at 5 p.m. Friday at a buffet dinner in Villa Taverna, the Semblers' official residence. Saturday morning will offer a tennis match with the ambassador, or a game of bocce. Both competitions will take place at the villa, which Mrs. Sembler calls "the Magic Kingdom," with its 71/2 acres of trimmed gardens.

It is the largest private garden in Rome, currently featuring wisteria, azaleas, peonies, tulips and roses.

In the afternoon, visitors will tour the Palazzo Margherita, site of the embassy. That evening, the couple will host the black-tie Nozze d'Oro, or golden anniversary.

The menu will feature "dishes starting in the north and going all the way to the south" of Italy, Mrs. Sembler said.

On Sunday, buses will transport guests to the gardens of Ninfa, where they may walk through the Medieval ruins.

Said Jan Sher: "It's an opportunity of a lifetime and not to be passed up."

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