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By LENNIE BENNETT
© St. Petersburg Times, published July 8, 2001
So, how did you spend your Fourth of July? I hope you had the good fortune to be invited to a party as fun as the one I attended.
Ed and Betty Shamas' annual get-together has the feel of a backyard picnic without a lot of the irritations (bugs, oppressive heat ... you know). It actually is a backyard party, except their "back yard" is Tampa Bay, and the breeze on their terrace eliminates the bugs and oppressive heat, even on an early July evening.
And in the time-honored tradition of Independence Day parties, it is a covered-dish supper, though this group rarely brings the folksy food of covered dishes of our past. (Remember those casseroles with at least one can of Campbell's cream of mushroom soup and other caloric stuff like Velveeta and sour cream and, oh, by the way, some vegetables?)
My favorite was Bob Hearn's sashimi-style tuna, for which he is well known. This is his secret: He buys it frozen at Albertsons (yes, really, and make sure it is frozen, he said), then sears it in its rock-hard state so that it is still raw inside and easy to slice. He recommends the wasabi sauce from Publix to go with it. He told me all this as Ron and Pat Mason and I ate the last remaining slices on the platter, so I didn't write the recipe down and I hope my memory is correct.
The Masons came with her parents, Bill and Gwen Clark. The Clarks took most of their family members, ranging in age from 12 to 80, on a trip to the Far East in June to places where he was stationed 30 years ago in the military. In addition to the foursome, Mrs. Mason's twin sister, Sandy Bogner, her husband, Jim Bogner, and daughter Elizabeth went, as did their younger sister, Susan Joy, and her daughter, Annabel.
"I never had any desire to go to the Far East," Mrs. Mason said. "Now I'm telling everyone to go. It was just beautiful."
Their stops included Tokyo and Hong Kong, but she said Bangkok was her favorite.
Also back from that part of the world are Buzzy and Anne Nelson, who recently traveled to China. And speaking of, but not traveling to, the Far East was Ruth Chadwick, a pianist who told me that she and her late husband, Edwin, performed for the first group of delegates from Takamatsu, Japan, 40 years ago when they came to inaugurate the sister city relationship still being celebrated by both cities.
Fran and Bud Risser have been closer to home, touring on the Skip Barber racing circuit, which sounds like a cool set-up. For those who cannot or do not choose to invest millions in a car and team, Barber provides all the vehicles and service to serious amateurs or beginning professionals. It's also a good way to level the playing field since everyone has the same quality of race car, and if it crashes it's not your problem. Unless you're injured, of course.
Ed Shamas' daughters, Shelby Shamas and Sandal Aronson, were at the party -- Mrs. Aronson with husband Bob and 1-year-old daughter Taylor. Also there were Ed Shamas' mother, Rose Shamas, and brother Dr. Gil Shamas with wife Anne. Shamas, an obstetrician with the most seniority among his peers here, told me he was no longer delivering babies, restricting his practice to gynecology. He said he made the decision for a number of reasons. The hours will certainly be less grueling. Still, as one who enjoyed his excellent care in delivering my two children, I was sad to hear the news.
Also nice to see were Elaine Hearn; John and Dona Mullaney and their son, Jack, who enters seminary in a few weeks to study for the Methodist ministry; Frank and Vicki Fox; Jim and Jeannine Hascall; Bill and Margaret Dawson; Jim and Donna Nannen; Mark and Linda Berset; Royce Haiman; Mack and Susan Hicks; Phil and Stephanie Graham; Robert and Donna Berman; and Jim and Cathy Martin.
I left before the fireworks, which were delayed about 45 minutes because of rain. But my dog and I watched them from our sidewalk in a light drizzle with lightning and thunder all around us. George, to my surprise, was not the neurotic bundle of barking nerves he usually is during storms. Above the tree line, we saw the rockets' red glare and bombs bursting in air and all the other razzle-dazzle bought with our tax dollars.
The scene reminded me of a description in David McCullough's biography, John Adams, in which Abigail Adams stands on a hill watching the bombardment of the British fleet in Boston Harbor.
If you enjoy history, I recommend the book to you. I used to get annoyed with stories that always appear around this time of year that talk about what slugs we are compared with the people who lived in Revolutionary times, but then I read this book and realized we are slugs. Some of us are, anyway. Okay, I am a slug.
Abigail Adams, for example, got up at 5 a.m. to spin, weave, sew, bake, churn butter and care for children and livestock. Then she read voraciously and wrote lots of letters to her husband, John, who was off creating the United States. After several hundred pages of that, I did not mind putting plates in the dishwasher and clothes in the dryer.
While we are on the subject of those who get up early, let us consider the 27th annual Sunrise Sale on Wednesday, sponsored by the Beach Drive and Downtown Business Association in St. Petersburg. This is the one that begins at 6:43 a.m. (though by that hour, Abigail Adams had probably hand-mowed the back 40) with lots of bargains at dozens of shops and businesses. Many years ago, the sale was restricted to a few Beach Drive shops; now the net has been cast wider. But Beach Drive is a good place to start, and all the businesses there will have a list of participants. This year, raffle tickets will be sold for gift baskets with values of about $500 each. Proceeds from the raffle will benefit the Center Against Spouse Abuse.