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Points for originality: As a teenage competitor in America's Junior Miss pageants, MSNBC news anchor Deborah Norville offered neither arias nor baton-twirling nor Scarlett O'Hara's "I'll never be hungry again" speech. Sewing was her talent entry.
When times got tough after she replaced Jane Pauley on Today, then was replaced herself by Katie Couric, "small things like sewing and cross-stitching" helped her regain self-confidence.
Norville, speaking at the annual Women of Distinction Recognition Luncheon on Tuesday at A La Carte Event Pavilion in Tampa, said Scouting also has sustained her in the 28 years since she joined a troop in Dalton, Ga.
St. Petersburg Times executive vice president Marty Petty, Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio, state Rep. Sandra Murman and SunTrust Bank assistant vice president and trust officer Belinda F. Wilson received the 2004 Women of Distinction awards.
Pinellas attendees included Eckerd College president Don Eastman, Jana Jones, Alizza Punzalan-Hall, Mary Margaret Winning, Joyce Wilson, Katharine Ann Lake, Frances and Gus Stavros, Cam Van Noord, B.A. Safley, Patricia Buckley Moss and her sister, Mary Martin.
They are grown women now, but as girls growing up in St. Petersburg in the '40s, they flocked to the YWCA. Then, it was on Central Avenue, when "the thing to do in the afternoons," said Betty Jean Miller, was for girls and boys to walk over to the YW from Mirror Lake Junior High. "We'd have Cokes and dance," Mrs. Miller said Wednesday at a reunion of Y-Teens held in the St. Petersburg Woman's Club.
Here's how the party came to be. Dennison "Denny" Rusinow was fatally injured in January as he crossed 38th Avenue N in St. Petersburg. As people came to pay respects to his wife, Mary, they recalled his mother, Eulalie, who was the longtime executive director of the YWCA.
Peggy Sanchez-Mills, the current chief executive of YWCA Tampa Bay, said she and Harriett Strum struck up a conversation days later at a Super Bowl party held in the home of Mary Wyatt Allen. That's when the idea of a reunion sparked.
Lalie (pronounced LOLL-ee) Rusinow, as she was known, had brought the group together as teens, Sanchez-Mills said, and again "in the loss of her son."
YWCA memorabilia from throughout the years filled the room, and former members pored over brittle newspaper clippings, faded photographs and aging programs.
Jeanne Reeder, who was the Y-Teen director in 1947 and '48, was there, as were Esther Shaver, Joanne Fleece, Elinor McCormick, Barbara Heck, Betty Ann Rhodes and Pat Johns.
Bob Jeffrey, manager of urban design and historic preservation, gave a presentation that traced the YW's history in St. Petersburg back to the early 1900s and its forerunner, the Women's Town Improvement Association.
The group hopes to hear from other alumnae, organize mementos and have another reunion. Please contact Sanchez-Mills at YWCA Tampa Bay, 655 Second Ave. S, St. Petersburg 33701; 896-4629; pksm@ymcaoftampabay.org
Wednesday, the St. Petersburg Women's Chamber of Commerce and the Festival of States presented their annual luncheon, fashion show and card party at the St. Petersburg Yacht Club, where they honored the women's sailing team of the University of South Florida St. Petersburg.
Signature Bank was the primary sponsor of the event, whose theme was "The Great American Picnic." Karen Agnello of Stein Mart coordinated the fashions, and models listed in the program were Ann Foster, Joan Jaicks, Dot McCarthy, Debbie Pearson, Sally Poynter, Sheila Tempelmann, Connie Whitehead and Dianne Winning. Tina Douglass was mistress of ceremonies.
Nancy Biesinger is president of the women's chamber. Mary Wheeler chaired the event, and committee members included Irene Huber, Martha Metcalf, Pauline Brouillard, Teresa Wittstruck, Janet Raymond, Marguerite Dawson, Evelyn Wilty, Mary Jean Wall, Sharon Clayton, Nora Pearson, Lorraine Danna, Nancy Whitlock, Janice Graham, Bernice McCune and Frances Wilson.
Women who volunteer for a multitude of causes rarely get to relax in early spring, which is the very crest of a huge wave of charitable and social events. So it was a treat on Thursday for some of them to sip champagne, if they desired, to catch up on each other's news and to indulge in a luxurious lunch prepared by John Pivar, executive chef at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort. Mary Shuh was hostess for the event, providing the setting, flowers and beverages for the guests. Pivar donated the food and his time.
Charles Welsh, who assisted in the kitchen, passed hors d'oeuvres, seared tuna on wonton crisps. The first course was grouper satay with bok choy and peanut sauce. The second, a sumptuous "surf and turf," featured filet mignon with green peppercorn sauce atop a seafood paella risotto. Dessert, which Pivar calls Fred's Banana Split, was a rich portion of "everything that's in a banana split, minus the ice cream," Pivar said.
Pivar's cookbook, Taste the Vinoy "Without Reservations," went into the hotel's gift shop last week and sold 150 copies in the first four days, he said. It's lavishly illustrated and features recipes for favorite foods from the St. Petersburg landmark.
Partaking were Cam Van Noord, Catherine McGarry, Terry Ray, Ann Foster, Maritza Smith, Joann Barger, Maggi McQueen, Diane Winning, Andrea Winning, Sally Poynter, Hugh Ann Cason-Kelly and Priscilla Hobby.
Donations will go to the guild of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Suncoast.
Looking aheadApril 13
LUNCHEON, FASHION SHOW: Garden Club of St. Petersburg event. 11:30 a.m. Garden Center, 500 Park St. S. Reservations accepted until April 8; 360-7817.
April 15STAR POWER: Pinellas Auxiliary of the Children's Home event features Broadway-style fashion show, bay area celebrity models with clothing from Georgette's, Old Hyde Park Village, Tampa. 10:30 a.m. Renaissance Vinoy Resort, 501 Fifth Ave. NE, St. Petersburg. $60. 515-1212.
April 19FIRST LADIES PRAYER BRUNCH: 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Hilton St. Petersburg, 333 First St. S. $25. 867-2021; 522-5357.
- 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.