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On the town

Chief officer of PARC to retire in mid January

By MARY JANE PARK
Published June 22, 2005

Curt Thomas, president and chief executive of the Pinellas Association for Retarded Children for the past 13 years, last week told the board of directors he plans to retire in January.

On Monday, Thomas said his last day will be Jan. 15, a Sunday. "I'm not going to retire on Friday the 13th," he said.

Thomas, 67, and his wife, Peggy, plan to move to the Villages, a retirement community near Wildwood.

While leading PARC, Thomas also has been an active community volunteer. He was president of Civitan International during the 2002-03 term.

PARC got a financial boost from last month's Raymond James Golf Tournament at the Bayou Club in Largo, raising more than $71,000 for programs that serve developmentally disabled people of all ages.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers receiver Michael Clayton was the host for the three-day event; tournament chairman Chuck Burkett has been a part of the tournament for all of its 32 years. Other celebrities at the May 19 pairing party included Ron Middleton, Fred McGriff, Lyle Mouton Jr., Wayne Fontes, Jerry Burns and Danny Sullivan.

A party at the TradeWinds Island Grand Resort in St. Pete Beach the next evening featured Las Vegas-style entertainment and special appearances by Bucs head coach Jon Gruden and general manager Bruce Allen. Guests included Tom and Mary James, Curt and Peggy Thomas, Bobbie Burkett, Mark and Patty LaPrade, John Stross, Fazal Fazlin, Bruce an d Jerri Crawford, Ted and Liesel Sonnenschein, Bob an d Cathy Spoto, Steve and Nancy Burkett, Carol Zappala, Michele Shatz, Jeff Julien and Maury an d Betty Youmans.

First-place champions in the tournament were Phil Powell, Phil Apple, P.J. Penrose, Braden Ulrich and John Brunner. Bucs teeing off for the charity included Derrick Deese, Edell Shepherd, Marquis Cooper, Will Allen and Will Heller.

It has become a tradition for the Spanish ambassador to the United States to join the board of trustees at St. Petersburg's Salvador Dali Museum. Carlos Westendorp, the most recent appointee to both posts, made his first trip to the museum last Tuesday, where he was guest of honor at a reception.

Executive director Hank Hine and curators Joan Kropf and William Jeffett were hosts for a private tour for the ambassador and a coterie of other select guests including E.J. Salcines, the appellate court judge who is an honorary consul to Spain; Carlos Iglesias, a Spanish NATO representative stationed at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa; Brig. Gen. Antonio Valderrabano, Spain's defense attache to the United States; and Jose Vivero, president of Century Bank of Florida.

Additional museum supporters and community leaders on the guest list were Nestor Cano and Cristina Sostre Martinez, Bud Risser, Bill and Hazel Hough, Marshall Rousseau, Alain and Elisabeth Cerf, Tina Douglass, Donald Eastman, Royce Haiman, Jim Martin, Jeannine Hascall, Bob Stackhouse and Carol Mickett, Bob and Barbara Ulrich, Janet Root, Yann Weymouth, John and Diane Weatherell, Judy Genshaft, Karen White, Corinne Freeman, Don Shea, Peter Sherman, Chris Fraser, Connie Kone, Cedar Hames, retired Senior Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Robert Beach, state Reps. Kim Berfield and Frank Farkas, St. Petersburg City Council member Earnest Williams and Tampa City Council member Linda Saul-Sena.

Those attending sampled an array of tapas, and Hine led a toast featuring Perelada Rosado Cava, the sparkling wine that was favored by Salvador Dali's wife, Gala.

Kanika Tomalin and the group of women who joined her in New York to celebrate her 30th birthday this month called their Southern-themed trip "St. Pete in the City," gathering at Bar 10 at the Westin New York at Times Square for a champagne reception June 9, then savoring Mexican food at Hell's Kitchen.

Tomalin credits Sally Willis for making the connections that got them into that hot spot, which is near the theater district. Then it was off to 40/40, the chic hip-hop and sports bar in the Flatiron/Gramercy/Union Square neighborhood. Grammy-winning rapper Jay-Z, who owns the place, stopped by to say hello.

The crowd of 23 also included Tomalin's family, friends and college buddies: Yvonne Jelks, Laterika Jelks, Joan Livingston, Antwan Lane, Delores George, Kontonia George, Georgia Mattern, Murray Beairsto, Kathy Nelsen, Beth Hornstrom, Angela Livingston an d Carrie Johnson, all from the Tampa Bay area; Joy Oglesby of Milwaukee; Terri Wellmaker of Atlanta; and Susan Sarandon, Eva Amurri, Bonnie Lyons, Christine Tomalin, Sonya Holley, Anita Johnson and Deanna George, all from New York.

On Friday, June 10, weather and schedule changes ruled out a couple of trips to TV show tapings.

The birthday bunch shopped along Fifth Avenue, ate lunch at Suspenders in the financial district, then visited the site of the former World Trade Center before returning to their own ground zero at the Westin.

Wearing pearls, gloves and hats, they "set off to show the city how girls in the South do it," Kanika Tomalin reported.

They hired a limousine for the ride to Justin's, Sean Combs' restaurant, which "specializes in Southern cuisine with a Caribbean kick," she said. There was champagne, too, and Red Velvet cake, before everybody headed out to dance "until our legs would hold us no longer."

Marseille, a Southern French restaurant at the edge of the theater district, was Saturday's brunch destination, partly because Tomalin already is planning a Paris celebration for 2015. Then the women divided into groups and headed to matinee productions of Lion King, The Producers and Wicked.

"We had a lot of fun," said Tomalin, the public affairs manager for Bayfront Health System.

Her birth date is June 13.

Thursday

WINE, CHEESE AND HISTORY: St. Petersburg Museum of History event features Mayor Rick Baker. 7 p.m. 335 Second Ave. NE. $5 museum members; $10, nonmembers. 894-1052.

Saturday

MIDTOWN ROTARY BOWL-A-THON: Bowling, snacks, door prizes, silent auction benefit club scholarships, community projects. 1-4 p.m. Sunrise Lanes, 6393 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St., St. Petersburg. Minimum pledge: $30. 224-0758.

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.

[Last modified June 22, 2005, 12:50:49]