 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Tampa Bay club's 'Beach Bash' tall on fun, high jinks
By JULIANNE WU © St. Petersburg Times, published September 5, 2000
The corporate attorney is 6 feet 7. "If I had a dollar for every time someone has asked me, "Are you a basketball player?' I'd be a millionaire . . . like them," he said, winking. And Kelly, 51, said he is used to questions like "How tall are you?" and "How's the weather up there?" "It gets old, though," said Kelly, a member of the Atlanta Sky-Hi Club who attended the Tampa Bay Tall and Terrific Club's "Annual Beach Bash" at the Adam's Mark Resort on Clearwater Beach during the Labor Day weekend. "I enjoy the "Tall Club' (Tall Clubs International) because I feel normal." Alice Hudson, a 5-foot-11 Tampa legal assistant, agreed with Kelly. "I get lots of compliments for being tall, but the question I get the most is: "Can you reach that?' -- particularly in a grocery store. Sometimes, I'll even help some little old ladies without being asked." Kelly and Hudson were among the 100-plus people attending the annual "Beach Bash," sponsored by the Tampa Bay Tall and Terrific Club, Friday through Monday at the resort. Participants came from as far away as California, New York and Texas for the event, which featured dinners, dances, swimming, parasailing and even "night spiker volleyball," played under neon lights by participants decorated with bright, fluorescent paint. Hudson, 50, got the prize for the best body painting job. "I was thrilled and I'd do it again," she said. To be eligible for the beach bash or membership in the Tampa Bay club, you must be 5-10 or taller if you are a woman; 6-2 or taller if you are a man. Prospective members actually are measured for height before they are voted into the club, with full bragging rights. There are also about 70 other clubs in the United States and Canada, all part of Tall Clubs International. Although they may vary slightly, all the clubs have height requirements. And many states also have clubs for tall teenagers. "Our club is not a dating service, but it's definitely a social group," said Debra Hall, 45, Tall and Terrific club president and a Tall Clubs International executive vice president. She said she knows of quite a few couples who met through tall clubs and are now married. "What I like about it is we share a commonality of height. It's nice to be able to dance with someone and see eye to eye," said Hall, who calls herself a "squeaker" -- just over the club's height requirement, at 5-103/4 tall. Hall of Palm Harbor is an achievement specialist for Pinellas County Schools, in charge of high schools from Clearwater to Tarpon Springs. "We have the sand, the water and the beach," said Clark Boggs, president of the Florida Skyliners of Miami Inc. "But I'm here because of the camaraderie of the people. I've been to these "beach bashes' about a half-dozen times." Clubs for tall people have been around for years. The first one, the California Tip Toppers Club, was formed in 1938. The Tampa Bay Tall and Terrific Club was formed in the early 1980s, Hall said. Besides the fun and games during the weekend, the tall partygoers had charity in mind, raising about $200 for scholarships and another $500 for Marfan syndrome research. Marfan syndrome, a inherited connective-tissue disorder, is found among, but not limited to, tall people, Hall said. Boggs, an officer of the Tall Clubs International Foundation, said the scholarships are "for tall kids." Then he joked, "We are becoming the world's highest society." Jane Beley said she felt a little embarrassed by her size at the weekend event, but not for being tall. "I've never felt shorter than in this club and at this event. But I've also never had more friends." Beley, an administrative assistant for a Tampa bank, is 5 feet 11. She has been in the Tampa Bay Tall and Terrific club since 1983. For information on the local club, Tall Clubs International, or Marfan syndrome, call (888) 222-TALL (8255) or consult the Internet: www.tall.org.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From the Times North Pinellas desks |
