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Amy Scherzer's diary

Ball corrals hefty total

By AMY SCHERZER
Published May 27, 2005

American Cancer Society supporters are bursting their britches over a bronco-busting $400,000 raised at Saturday's Cattle Barons' Ball.

Sponsors branded nearly everything at the Tampa Port Authority Cruise Terminal No. 3, from Jaguar of Tampa's flashing plastic ice cubes to Giunta Enterprises' swizzle sticks.

Guests bid at the Gray Robinson law firm's silent auction. They cheered BECK construction's stick horse races and tossed rings at the Fishman Mortgage Wine Corral. They won prizes at Publix Charities' human slot machine and roped the Doctors Pain Management's mechanical calf. Media emcees Jack Harris and Kelly Ring wrangled $100,000 in Humana's live auction, including $8,500 from Eli Rose for the Vagabond Gourmet trip to Europe.

Dressed down in denim, boots and Stetsons, 600 guests kicked back to music by Hank Shaw's Cactus Creek band, bought casino chips and grazed Rita Carlino's buffet, which included amazing quesadillas filled with crab and brie, smoked duck and goat cheese or salmon and creme fraiche. With Gloria Giunta at the reins, cancer society's local board chairma n Ron Weisser and his wife, Deborah, helped rustle $1,000 donors to pay for a week at R.O.C.K. Camp for children with cancer. In a rodeo minute, 48 guests stepped up, including next year's honorary chairwoman, Naida Ramil. The Weissers kicked in an extra $10,000, enough to send 58 kids to camp.

YBOR OF YESTERYEAR: Asked to dress in "Edwardian or Latin club" fashion, men chose guayabera and women draped lacy shawls for Tampa General Hospital Foundation's eighth-annual Moments in Time gala at the 100-year-old Columbia Restaurant on May 20.

TGH board member Rick Kouwe dressed as a matador. Dr. Jack Brock donned a Panama hat with pin stripe suit. Chairwoman McIver Berner's stunning gown was designed by Linda Quisenberry, who is selling her shop on MacDill Avenue. The 300 patrons with $1,500-and-up tickets arrived first at the adjacent Columbia Centennial Museum for tapas, mojitos and sangria. Soon, the party spilled over to the restaurant where guests got maps of the food and fun. Flamenco dancers in the Don Quixote room. Silent auction, paella, flan and dancing in the Siboney Room. Picture-taking in the Sancho Room. Casino games in the Red Room. Cigars in the Kings Room.

Pediatric surgeon Charles Paidas, newly arrived from Johns Hopkins, had the last number drawn in the reverse raffle. He won box seats to next year's Little Everglades Steeplechase.

Foundation director Stacey Packer expects the event to raise $165,000 for the expansion of the emergency and trauma center. She is leaving TGH after 10 years to move to Boca Raton. Her Moments in Time galas have raised more than $1-million for the foundation.

SWINGING WITH RONALD: A dancing flamingo, baby alligator and squirrel monkey mingled with 450 guests at the Jungle Book, the sixth Storybook Ball benefit for Ronald McDonald House Charities. Big Cat Rescue added a tiger, bear and leopard to the scene Saturday at A La Carte Pavilion. Vickii Block of Spellbound Inc. captured the jungle theme by hanging vines and moss above leopard print tablecloths. Busch Gardens delivered its brassy Sheiks band and many of the animals, which shared the spotlight with the Stanley Cup, courtesy of honoree Tampa Bay Lightning coac h John Tortorella.

Emcee Dick Crippen of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays introduced Tortorella, who chose two charities to receive $25,000 community grants: Child Abuse Council's Rainbow Program and the Children's Home residential treatment program.

The three area Ronald McDonald Houses provide a temporary home away from home to families of pediatric patients at All Children's, Tampa General, St. Joseph's and Shriners' hospitals for $10 a night. A fourth Ronald McDonald House is planned and it also will serve young patients at All Children's Hospital.

Executive director Janice Davis expects the $300-ticket ball to raise $200,000, topping previous events. And just wait till next year's Sleeping Beauty gala, she says.

PATEL PARTY: The University of South Florida threw a party May 20 to honor Drs. Kiran C. and Pallavi Patel for their single largest donation, $34.5-million. The gift, which includes a state match, will help create the K.C. Patel Center for Global Solutions.

The 600 guests dining at the USF Special Events Center received their invitations three weeks ago but didn't know what they would be celebrating until the day of the party. The Patels, and many friends and family members, dressed in Indian party attire. Students from the College of Visual and Performing arts danced. The hall was draped in shimmering fabric and globes, frozen in ice, topped each table.

CAUSE & EFFECT: Have you noticed Joseph Proctor's new Movado watch? It was a steal at $170 when he bought it at Night of a Thousand Thieves, a benefit that raised $34,000 for DACCO (Drug Abuse Comprehensive Coordinating Office). The May 13 auction at the Tampa Club, a first for the drug treatment and prevention agency, featured jewelry seized during drug raids by Hillsborough County Sheriff's deputies and Tampa police officers. Anthony and Debbie Pelaez bid $80 to spend a day in the life of a Hillsborough County Sheriff's deputy.

JUNE 4: White Party, poolside entertainment and fashion show is a benefit for the 13 Ugly Men Foundation; 7 p.m. to 2 a.m.; Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, 5223 Orient Road; $35 online or $45 at door for women, $50 online or $60 at door for men; www.13uglymen.com 866 530-5705.

[Last modified May 26, 2005, 08:26:10]