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Gala to benefit USF
By Times Staff Writer
Published December 8, 2005
The Columbia Restaurant caps off the yearlong celebration of its 100th anniversary tonight with a gala dinner benefiting the University of South Florida.
For several years, the Columbia has given USF scholarships in the names of Cesar and Adela Gonzmart, who took over the restaurant from Adela's ailing father, Casimiro Hernandez Jr., in the 1950s. Now it is creating a second program, the Centanario Endowment Scholarship, to provide more scholarships.
Guests will get a chance to meet Elsie and Julio Rodriguez, the first scholarship recipients, and will see a video montage that reflects upon the Ybor City restaurant's first 100 years.
"It shows the difficulties each family has faced," said Columbia president Richard Gonzmart, who credited assistant and family friend Diana Ossi for producing the presentation. "We've been here for 100 years, but it hasn't always been easy. It's even been hard for me. It'll be an emotional day."
[Last modified December 8, 2005, 00:49:13]
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Fifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.
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