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Digest

Life at the docks

An old-time sponger will talk about the old days in the Tarpon Springs sponge trade.

By TIMES WIRES
Published January 7, 2007

07 TODAY

Happy Birthday Elvis: Celebrate the King's birthday with a number of tribute artists as they Shake, Rattle and Roll, 2 p.m., Largo Cultural Center, 105 Central Park Drive. Pay tribute to the man, the music and the memories at this evening of entertainment. $12 advance, $15 day of show. Call 587-6793.

09 TUESDAY

Broadway Spoofs: Tony award-winning Forbidden Broadway: Special Victims Unit will be at 7:30 p.m., Largo Cultural Center. The show takes a riotous swipe at some of your favorite shows and stars, from Annie to Avenue Q, from Ethel Merman to Liza Minnelli, and is loaded with two dozen musical parodies. Also at 2 p.m. Wednesday . $15-$32. Call 587-6793.

11 THURSDAY

Meet the Composers: Would you like to meet the talented composers chosen for the Encore Series? Get to know them at this special event, 7:30 p.m., Side Door lounge of the Palladium Theater, 253 Fifth Ave. N, St. Petersburg. They'll talk about what inspires them and how they turn that into music. Also, get a preview of coming shows. The $50 cost will benefit a special fund to support chamber music at the Palladium. For information and reservations, call 822-3590.

12 FRIDAY

Gems, Jewelry and Minerals: Pinellas Geological Society's 31st annual show and sale, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday and Saturday and noon-5 p.m. Jan. 14, Largo Cultural Center Parkside Room. Includes cut gems, silver and gold jewelry, inlay work, intarsia, wire wrap, beading, cabochons, ornamental mineral eggs and more. Also features Russian art. Donation for door prize. Call 894-2440.

Big Easy Boogie: Get ready to jump and boogie with piano superstar Mitch Woods and his Rocket 88's, along with New Orleans musicians from his Big Easy Boogie project, 9 p.m.-1 a.m., with swing dance instruction (no partner needed) from 8-9 p.m., Gulfport Casino, 5500 Shore Blvd. S., Gulfport. $12 advance, $15 day of event. Call (813) 274-4950.

Sunshine City Antiques and Collectibles: For three days, the Coliseum, 535 Fourth Ave. N, St. Petersburg, will be filled with nearly 100 exhibit booths of antique furniture, fine art, jewelry, glass, toys, pottery, vintage clothing and Florida memorabilia, 5-9 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Jan. 14. An antiques appraisal fair is 5-9 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday and Jan. 14. Appraisals are $5 per item. The cost is $10 for Friday's early buying event and $6 Saturday and Jan. 14. Children 12 and younger free. Free parking. Call 823-4130 or check out www.sunshinecityantique show.com.

13 SATURDAY

Winged Wonders of Weedon: Watch wildlife artist and naturalist Ernest C. Simmons as he spends the day creating on canvas his interpretation of nature, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Weedon Island Preserve, 1800 Weedon Drive NE, St. Petersburg. Young artists are encouraged to come and set up shop with this master artist to learn his techniques. An exhibit of his works, "Wildlife Exhibit - Winged Wonders of Weedon Island," will be on display through Jan. 28. Free. Call 453-6500.

Let Freedom Sing: Celebrate history in this performance about our nation from 1776 through the days of the Civil War and into this millennium, 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., Largo Cultural Center. Kids learn and review American history through this multimedia event that is filled with colorful songs and characters like Betsy Ross and Abraham Lincoln. $7, $5 children and $20 family four-pack. Call 587-6793.

Masterworks: The Florida Orchestra performs Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6, Pathetique, 8 p.m., Mahaffey Theater, 400 First St. S, St. Petersburg. Also Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. Stefan Sanderling conducts. $24-$52. Call toll-free, 1-800-662-7286, or check the Web at www.floridaorchestra.org.

Perceptions of Paradise: The visual mythology of Florida as Eden is presented by Mallory McCane O'Connor of Santa Fe Community College, 2 p.m., Weedon Island Preserve. Since the first Europeans arrived in the 16th century, Florida has been viewed as a mythic place, an earthly Garden of Eden. What are the historical and cultural assumptions behind the myth of Florida-as-Eden? And what role have artists played in perpetuating the image? Preregistration required. Recommended for adults, suitable for children 12 and older. Free. Call 453-6500.

The Gardens and Daylilies of Tim Bell: Tim Bell is a daylily hybridizer from Georgia who also maintains an official American Hemerocallis Society Display Garden. He shows slides of his garden and also his daylily hybrids, 10 a.m., Pinellas County Extension Service, 12520 Ulmerton Road, Largo. Daylilies for Florida are auctioned at the end of the program. Call 582-2673 to preregister.

Free Family Flicks: Bring the whole family for a screening of the music- and dance-filled Disney movie Jump In, 7 p.m., YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg, 3200 First Ave. S. The evening includes interactive games and activities for all ages. Preregistration required. Call 328-9622.

Art in Black and White: Two-day beginning black and white photography workshop, inspired by the Clyde Butcher exhibit at the Gulfcoast Museum of Art, noon-4 p.m. Saturday and Jan. 14, Heritage Village. Photographer and instructor Ric Savid introduces the basic and most fundamental aspects of black and white image making with a manual 35mm camera. The wet process darkroom, learning about aperture, shutter speed and light variations also will be covered. Cameras provided. $115. Call 582-2426 to register.

14 SUNDAY

Gary Lewis and the Playboys: Celebrated '60s pop classics, 7:30 p.m., Largo Cultural Center. $29-$34. Call 587-6793.

Philip G. Fatolitis is the last of the Tarpon Springs hard hat sponge divers. Monday he will talk about what life was like on and off the boat when Tarpon Springs was known as the "sponge capital of the world."

Born in Indiana in 1923, he moved with his family to Tarpon Springs during the Depression and started working on Demetra, his Uncle Petros Fatolitis' sponge boat, at age 12. He wore the classic heavy gear, the iron boots, the old-fashioned helmet, equipment most frequently found today in maritime museums.

Divers moved on to lighter, cheaper equipment, like face masks and breathing hoses. There are now about a half-dozen boats, compared to a high of about 300. This Speaking of History presentation is at 10 a.m. Monday in the Pinellas Room of Heritage Village, 11909 125th St. N, Largo. Free. Call 582-2123.

[Last modified January 7, 2007, 02:25:21]