Seize the day

By KATHLEEN LANG

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 25, 2000

Pay tribute to Korean War veterans on the 50th anniversary of the war's beginning when the Sunshine State Chapter of the Korean War Veterans Association and the Forgotten Korean War Veterans hold a vigil at the Military Court of Honor in Largo Central Park beginning at 8 a.m. today with the colors being lowered to half-staff. The vigil lasts until 8 p.m. The names of the 25 Pinellas County residents who died in Korea will be on display. Call (727) 584-7143.

The last day of third annual Pepper Extravaganza is from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. today at Beckett Lake Nursery, 2251 Montclair Road, Clearwater. Sample 25 varieties of locally grown plants (mild to hot) or indulge in seminars on the history and use of pepper plants, growing instructions, cooking demonstrations and live music. A hot sauce contest will sizzle at 2:30 p.m. today. Entries must be registered by 1:30 p.m. (maximum two entries in each category per household). Call (727) 796-7950.

The Tampa Museum of Art dusts off many of its items for the recently opened exhibition "Two Decades of Acquisitions: Selections from the Permanent Collection," open from 1 to 5 p.m. today at 600 N Ashley Drive. Works on display each represent a gift, purchase or bequest made between 1979 and 1999 and are drawn from all areas of the museum's permanent collection. Includes antiquities from ancient Greece and Rome, European 19th-century photography, contemporary American paintings and Studio Glass sculpture from the late 1990s. Admission is $5 adults, $4 seniors, $3 students and children older than 6, free for children younger than 6. Call (813) 274-8130.

Things to view...

Learn Lessons of the Forgotten War that took 33,000 American lives when the world premiere special airs at 7 p.m. today on the History Channel. Followed at 8 p.m. by an encore presentation of Fire and Ice: The Korean War.

A child's accidental death threatens to destroy a marriage until the real story behind the tragedy is told in an unexpected way in To Dance with Olivia at 9 p.m. today on CBS. The 1997 made-for-TV movie is set in 1961 and stars Louis Gossett Jr.

- Compiled by Times staff writer Kathleen Lang. She can be reached at lang@sptimes.com.