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Amy Scherzer's diary

Gasparilla 2007

By AMY SCHERZER
Published February 2, 2007

Ye Mystic Krewe Capt. Preston Farrior handed out hugs and glow necklaces as the host of the annual Captain's Ball on Jan. 25.

Many multigenerational pirateers dining at the Tampa Yacht Club before the party remembered 36 years ago when his late father, J. Rex Farrior Jr., was krewe captain and stood at the same door.

About 10 p.m., a crush of pirates and mates swaggered in. Immediately, dancing dentists, doctors and developers in ruffles, bandanas and boots - about 1,400 or so, krewe director Jim Tarbet guessed - packed an enormous tent so tightly that they could barely twist and shout to the Skycoasters.

Gasparilla Day dawned and partying continued. The thirsty pirates returned to the yacht club Saturday for breakfast, bloody scars and Bloody Marys, ringing up $17,000 in bar sales before noon.

Meanwhile, out in the G-Zone, a corporate tent city lined the South Bank for the lucky invitees nabbing beads from comfy canvas cubicles with full bars and private Port-O-Lets.

Other Bayshore neighbors, among them Rodger King, Ann Thal, Betsy and Steve Chambers, Jeff Tedder and Anna Gervait, seized the excuse to entertain heartily.

Saturday: Sojourn black-tie dinner and auction benefits WEDU; 6 p.m.; Hilton Carillon Park Hotel, St. Petersburg; $200; toll-free 1-800-354-9338, ext. 2241.

Saturday: Ruby Jubilee Gala black-tie dinner and auction on the stage benefits Tampa Theatre; 6 p.m; 711 N Franklin St.; $400 and up; after-hours speakeasy, $40; 963-6832.

Saturday: Einstein on Wine: Decanting Relativity wine-tasting and auction benefits MOSI; 6-9 p.m. 4801 E Fowler Ave.; $60; 987-6000.

Tuesday: Johnnie B. Byrd Sr. Alzheimer's Center and Research Institute "Lifetime of Memories" dinner; 6:30 p.m. Wyndham Westshore; $200; guest speaker, Michael Reagan; 866-1610, ext. 4126.

Thursday: Florida State Fair Opening Day Luncheon; noon; $15; Charles M. Davis Special Events Center; 621-7821, ext. 216.

Tinika, Jeena, Dwanna, Sharmelle and the other traveling Ebony models twirled and swirled, danced and pranced to a rap beat through the magazine-backed, two-hour fashion fantasy, Stylishly Hot.

Haute couture by Christian Lacroix, Oscar de la Renta, Issaye Miyake and dozens of famous designers make the annual Ebony Fashion Fair more fun than any local fashion show fundraiser.

The just-as-stylish audience nearly sold out Tampa Theatre with 1,000 guests on Sunday.

Impressed in the front row: Carol and Derrick Brooks, the Tampa Bay Buccaneer whose foundation received the event when it took over the original beneficiary, the Tampa-Hillsborough Urban League Guild.

Each $30 ticket came with a magazine subscription and chance to win 18 door prizes, announced by Brooks, looking like a model himself in cream-colored suit, chocolate shirt and saffron tie.

"Next prize, a Cadillac Williams jersey, but no Cadillac," he joked.

The women shrieked for two male models; the men flipped for foxy furs dyed red, purple and pink.

Everyone cheered the outrageous peacock feather hat and bold backless poncho. The sequin sequence in front of a curtain of swirling lights was almost blinding.

Civic organizations in 180 cities host the touring show and share the proceeds.

Chairwoman Tresa Boykin, watching with some of the wide-eyed Rites of Passage students she mentors, expects to raise more than $10,000 for Derrick Brooks Charities Auxiliary.

[Last modified February 1, 2007, 07:59:14]