Amy Scherzer's Diary
Glitzy soiree with a cause
By AMY SCHERZER, Times Staff Writer
Published October 24, 2003
CHILLIN' WITH THE LIGHTNING: Glitz & Sticks says it all. Glitz as in caviar and foie gras for $1,000 and up patrons of Tampa Bay Lightning Foundation's casino night. Sticks as in the equipment guests used to hit slap shots at the $175-per ticket fundraiser Oct. 14 at the St. Pete Times Forum.
Tuxedoed hockey players dealt brisk blackjack on the Tampa Bay Storm's turf-covered rink. Sponsor Melitta USA poured flavored coffees near chilled stone crab and shrimp buffets. Wholly Cats band jazzed; sculptor J.J. Watts organized the art auction.
Waaay cool: Fountains and champagne buckets sculpted in ice; delicious chocolate hockey pucks; and satin evening bags to hold casino chips.
Auction baskets, filled with the players' favorite CDs, DVDs, wine, cigars and books, helped the party net about $75,000, said Lightning Foundation's Nancy Crane. The Lightning will keep $20,000 for community grants and give the rest to Tampa General's Child Life Room (where many of the players' wives volunteer).
TRICKS AND TREATS: Halloween came early for the 600 partiers at SMAsquerade, an annual costume contest benefit for Spinal Muscular Atrophy research. The event was organized by Hannah's Buddies, friends of Hannah Elliott, a second-grader at Gorrie Elementary born with SMA.
Hannah's neighbor, Mikio Kato, taught Hannah and her sister, Annie, 6, how to fold origami cranes, a Japanese symbol of long life and happiness. Kato made 250 white paper cranes to decorate the Twilight night club on Oct. 17.
Disco Inferno covered '70s standards for a packed dance floor. Then Full Circle rocked till after midnight. First place in the costume contest went to a wacky airport security team.
"We realized people had adopted our party and our cause when we sold twice as many patrons tickets ($125) as general tickets ($60)," said Duncan Elliott, Hannah's dad. Her mom , Laurie, expects to raise more than $40,000.
FIRST TIME WINNER: Barbara and former ABC TV exec Jim Major launched the inaugural Hearts of Fire gala benefit for the Muscular Dystrophy Association on Oct. 18. They called on MDA national board members Nadia Comaneci and Bart Conner, both Olympic medalists and superb dancers, to lend star appeal. During the live auction, boosted by Conner's handstands, guests raised enough money to send 36 kids to MDA summer camp for a week. By night's end, the first-time event raised $120,000 to help people affected by neuro-muscular diseases.
Many of the 300-plus guests took to the dance floor before dining on tenderloin and salmon at the $250-per ticket dinner at A La Carte Pavilion. Only the fiery drama of baked Alaska kept them at the tables. Jim Major thanked the New York Yankees for their $2,500 sponsorship, noting that he left the team's table empty in salute of their trip to the World Series.
SHE'S STILL GOT IT: Kick yourself if you missed the legendary Kitty Carlisle Hart last week. Sonny Everett and Sunjim Productions brought the 93-year-old star to the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center to share My Life on the Wicked Stage. Stunning in a tangerine sherbet wool suit and stole, Hart amused the audience with stories about working with Irving Berlin, the Gershwin boys and the Marx Brothers. Along with dear friend Anne Kaufman Schneider, daughter of playwright George S. Kaufman, Hart ended the evening with a duet: Mutual Admiration Society by Cole Porter. Earlier in the day, Schneider and musical director David Lewis shopped at the H.B. Plant Museum and rode the streetcar to Ybor City. Proceeds from the Oct. 18 show will benefit the Tampa Firefighters' Museum.
STRATASCOPIC SUCCESS: National Hispanic Scientist of the Year Dr. Mario Molina, the 1995 Nobel Prize for chemistry winner, mingled and mentored at the Museum of Science and Industry last week, ending his visit with an Oct. 18 gala honoring him. The MIT professor, an expert on the destruction of the ozone layer, spoke to 3,000 students, including 1,000 migrant workers' kids.
Chairwoman Maruchi Azorin, former chairwoman of the Mayor's Hispanic Advisory Council, started the gala in 2000 to raise money to pay Hispanic teens to teach at MOSI and explore science careers. She was thrilled to present $98,500 to the YES! (Youth Enriched by Science) Team. All eight Hispanic students on the payroll came to the party; two told the crowd how the YES! team changed their lives.
PUPELLO FAMILY ROCKS: The Hillsborough County Music Educators Orchestra joined the Fabulous Rockers (1957-64) Sunday in a tribute to Tony Garcia at the TBPAC. Garcia was organizing the concert to raise money for the county Arts Education Development Fund when he died Oct. 13.
"Tonight marks the end of an era," said emcee Tedd Webb of WFLA NewsRadio, asking the 1,000 fans to give Garcia a standing ovation.
Retired sheriff's spokesman Jack Espinsoa added his shtick to the two-hour concert. Dr. Dennis Pupello, chief of cardiac surgery at St. Joseph's Hospital and Fabulous Rockers band leader, got his four daughters involved. His oldest, Angela Pupello Cistone, sang and Ariel, Alexa and Alana danced. Guitarist Chuck Boris came from Idaho to reunite with Tampa's best-known band. The Unsinkable Krewe of Molly Brown supported the program.
- To pass along tips to Amy Scherzer, reach her at 226-3332 or scherzer@sptimes.com
datebook
TONIGHT: Nauti-Night for the Florida Aquarium; 8 p.m.; open bar, costume contest judged by Jerry Springer; $70; 273-4568.
NOV. 6: Tampa Gourmet Chefs' Auction, sampling from 33 restaurants benefits March of Dimes; 6:30 p.m.; $40; Raymond James Stadium; 287-2600.
NOV. 8: 13th Starlight Ball, Live From New York benefits University Community Hospital Foundation; 6:30 p.m.; Hyatt Regency Tampa; $200; 615-7661.
NOV. 8: Pavilion XVIII Revel in the Sensation - New York benefits Tampa Museum of Art; 6 p.m.: $350; 600 N Ashley Dr.; 274-8294.
NOV. 8: Zoofari benefits Lowry Park Zoo, tastings from 80 restaurants; 7-11 p.m.; $70 in advance, $80 at the door; 935-8552.
NOV. 13: Boys & Girls Club 22nd Steak Dinner; 6:30 p.m.; Desert Grill Busch Gardens; $200; 875-5771.
NOV. 13: Night of the Iguana benefits Make-A-Wish Foundation; 6:30 p.m.; A La Carte Pavilion; auction, casino, music; $125; 288-2600.
NOV. 14: Holiday Fashion show features Tampa Bay Buccaneer wives; benefits St. Joseph's Children's Hospital; 11 a.m.; Palma Ceia Country Club; $50; 254-1141.
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