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Amy Scherzer's diary
All around the town
A look at what's happening.
By AMY SCHERZER
Published May 19, 2006
Moments In Time GalaSUBURBAN COWGIRLS and city ranchers crossed a new frontier in fundraising for Tampa General Hospital at the 9th annual Moments in Time gala. The herd helped lasso more than $250,000, the most ever, for the hospital foundation's Fund for the Future. Dressed for a 1890s Gold Rush, the partying pioneers celebrated How the West was Fun at Saturday's roundup at the Hyatt Regency Tampa. Hospital chief executive Ron Hytoff pinned a sheriff's badge on his leather vest to lead his posse. Indian chief Jack Brock, chief of cardiovascular surgery, powwowed in feather headdress. Radiologist Tom Black came dressed to moo as a Holstein.Foundation trustee McIver Berner, chairing her third gala, enlisted her stepdaughter Lauren Berner of Soirees in Style to produce the chic hoedown. Some previous themes took guests to Ancient Egypt, the Roaring '20s, a 1950s bowling night and "we've already got ideas for next year,'' said McIver, who agreed to take on her fourth gala for the foundation. Patrons and sponsors ($1,500 and up) started early with cocktails in the University Club where a bird's-eye view of the expanding hospital reminded them why they were there. "Wanted, Dead or Alive" posters - actually snapshots of board members - hung from the ceiling. The piano player sang and a dealer taught the rules of Texas Hold 'em until a cast of Western characters directed guests to join the others. In the ballroom-turned-hacienda, saloon doors swung open to a 30-foot bar where a couple of Diamond Lills dangled on swings overhead. Gamblers found blackjack, roulette and craps. In the cantina corner, gunslingers helped themselves to a 55-foot salad and antipasto bar while caballero waiters served beef, chicken and shrimp speared on sabers, grilled Brazilian barbecue-style. At the barn dance, trustees Pat Sullivan, Carter McCain and Gene McNichols learned square dance steps. Reverse raffles sold for $50 and the last 10 numbers drawn won great prizes. Cowpokes who found a nugget when they panned for gold at $10 a pan were entered in a drawing for a 1-carat diamond donated by Continental Jewelry. In the saddle as auctioneer, Laura York sold TGH Foundation vice chair Bryan Guyton and Tampa Bay Buc Shelton Quarles a party for 10 donated by Don and Erika Wallace featuring a tour of their classic car collection in their 1911 firehouse followed by dinner at Mise en Place. Annual Junior League Dinner SHOCK AND AWE: Outgoing President Kathleen Lopez passed the gavel to Pam Divers at the annual Junior League dinner May 9 at the Marriott Waterside. That was no surprise. But there were two gotchas.Mary Frost Feingold was stunned to hear sustainer president Helen Brown call her name as "Sustainer of the Year.'' She couldn't believe people had suckered her into thinking her pal Liz Kennedy, who isn't even a League member, was getting an award. Feingold, past president and longtime board member of the Child Abuse Council, fell for the ruse cooked up by Mindy Murphy. She thought her husband, Mark Feingold, Child Abuse Council Director Paul Agostino and members of the Kennedy family joined them for dinner to honor Liz. Joanne Frazier, Junior League president in 1975-76, was nearly speechless when she heard her name called to receive the fourth annual Lifetime Commitment Award. "First time in my life I was totally surprised,'' said Frazier, whose friends teased that she is rarely speechless. Emerald City Ball OVER THE RAINBOW and into the Emerald City Ball danced about 270 Academy Prep supporters at the Hyatt Regency Tampa on May 6. The polite munchkins greeting them were students at the nonprofit middle school for fifth- to eighth-graders in need. The kids attend school 11 hours a day, six days a week, 11 months a year at the Ybor City campus led by Lincoln Tamayo. Board member Sister Anne Dougherty gave the invocation, then it was showtime. Students performed a scene from the Wizard of Oz. Their Spoken Word readings drew standing ovations before the Mo' Betta band members, Mike Cripe, Ben Older, Derek Womack, and brothers Roger and Bryan Sullins, took over the stage. WFLA-Ch. 8 anchor Gayle Sierens ran the live auction, which offered a concert by school music teacher and local favorite Belinda Womack. John Schueler bid $4,200 to bring 50 friends for a musical party at the school catered by Alfredo's. Earlier in the evening, Keller Williams Realty pre-bid $3,500 to have Womack sing at their office party. Raising $7,700 thrilled Womack and helped the gala bring in more than $100,000, or eight student scholarships. To pass along tips to Amy Scherzer, blog her at www.sptimes.com/party where you'll find more pictures, events and links, or call 226-3332. DATEBOOK SATURDAY: Storybook Ball Sleeping Beauty benefits Ronald McDonald House Foundation; 6 p.m.; A La Carte Pavilion; $300; 258-6430. SATURDAY: Cattle Baron's Ball benefits American Cancer Society with auction, casino, dinner; 7 p.m.; Port of Tampa Cruise Terminal No. 3; $250; 254-3630, ext. 304. SATURDAY: It's a Small World gala benefits Kid City - The Children's Museum of Tampa; 6:30 p.m.; TBPAC's Carol Morsani Hall; $200; 935-8441. MAY 25: Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's 2006 Man & Woman of the Year Gala; 6 p.m.; Marriott Waterside; $100; 963-6461. MAY 26: BAMOM's Casino Night benefits Tampa Bay Area Mothers of Multiples and the March of Dimes; 7:30 p.m.; Tampa Palms Golf & Country Club; cash bar; $50 or $80 per couple; 250-0042.
[Last modified May 18, 2006, 12:17:49]
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