E A R TO TA M PA B AY
Festival, which featured 4th and 5th
graders performing on stage at the Straz
Center in Tampa...Nick Dukas of Palm
Harbor was one of the featured crooners
at the Wesley Chapel Jazz Festival held in
Wesley Chapel District Park in Wesley
Chapel...Simone Schuster, high
school sophomore of Palm Harbor, is
attending voice and theater camp in
Oklahoma City, thanks to the generosity
of her grandfather Jim Smith of
Clearwater...Sydney Puckett, daughter
of Lorrie and Gary Puckett of Palm
Harbor, and granddaughter of Dr. Allen
and Judith Haimes of Clearwater, joined
her father on stage to sing his hit “Young
Girl” with him during three sold-out
shows in Las Vegas...Tracey Swade
held a special dinner at her Currents
Restaurant in Tarpon Springs, which
featured pairings of wines from the
Boisset Collection...Toni Lydecker,
author of several cookbooks, and Elise
Minkoff, her co-chair, are putting the
final touches on the Stuart Society of the
Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg’s
Food and Art: Cooking Around Tampa Bay
benefit cookbook, which features 120
recipes from 100 Tampa Bay area cooks
and chefs...Dr. Paul and Debbie
Kudelko of Belleair, the grandparents of
Caroline Kole, who was known as
“Suite Caroline” earlier in her career and
is now living in Nashville, Tennessee,
were proud of Caroline’s performance at
the “Defying Gravity Gala” to benefit
Clearwater Central Catholic High School
academic and tuition assistance
programs...John William Barger, III is
chairing Swanky Soirée VI to benefit
Brookwood Florida on September 17th,
and Joyce and Walter Larson are
hosting the event’s Sponsor Dinner
on September 18th in St. Petersburg...
Sandra Nesbit and her husband Greg
Wilsey, the principals of GFS Private
Wealth in Clearwater, are co-chairing
“You Should be Dancing,” Ruth Eckerd
Hall’s ‘70s-themed Tenth Annual Gala
benefit for education on September 18th
in Clearwater...Alison Lescarbeau and
Celma Mastry are the co-chairs for
PARC’s 46th annual Black Tie “Legacy
Ball” benefit in St. Petersburg on October
3rd...Aleta and Fred Fisher are the
honorary chairs for the Community
Dental Clinic’s Second Annual “Blondie,
Bow Ties and Beer” benefit in Dunedin
on October 10th...Dean Young, Blondie
Clearwater Central Catholic High School
President Dr. John Venturella and St. Petersburg
Diocese Schools and Centers Superintendent
Dr. Alberto Vazquez-Matos thanked chairs
Angela and Kevin Hawkins and entertainer
“Suite” Caroline Kole, for CCCHS’s successful
“Defying Gravity Gala” academic programs
and tuition assistance benefit at the Tampa
International Jet Center.
cartoonist of Clearwater, will chair and
Clearwater’s Mayor George Cretekos
and his council members will tend bar at
the 11th Annual Jazz and Jambalaya
benefit in Clearwater on October
17th...Lisa DeBartolo Miggs, Nikki
DeBartolo and Chad Chronister are
the honorary chairs and Stephen Gay
and Timothy Garding are the chairs of
the Tampa Bay Businesses for Culture
and the Arts’ annual Impact Awards
dinner in Tampa on October 22nd...The
Honorable Charlie Crist, former
governor of Florida, and his wife Carole,
the owner of the upcoming Goddessey
Boutique in St. Petersburg, will again
chair the CASA Gala benefit they
founded last year, which will honor
Steve Yerrid of Tampa on October 23rd
in St. Petersburg...Penny and Jeff Vinick
of Tampa are the honorary chairs for the
2015 Starlight Gala, “Travel the World
with Florida Hospital” on November 1st
in Tampa...Noreen Hodges and
June Wedding are co-chairing the
58th Annual Queen of Hearts Ball in St.
Petersburg on February 27th...Dave
Pauley, president of the Dunedin
Historical Museum in downtown
Dunedin, announced that Vinnie Luisi,
the Museum’s executive director, was
appointed president of the Florida
Association of Museums’ board of
directors...Andrew Ashton and Steven
Anderson of La Posh Salon in Clearwater,
“My Fairy Godfathers,” chose Unisha
Bullard of St. Petersburg as this year’s
deserving “Cinderella,” to be styled,
dressed and pampered for her Boca
Ciega High School prom...Marion
Ugochukwu was crowned Miss
University of South Florida in
Tampa...Mary Katherine Fechtel of
Leesburg, Florida, Miss University of
Florida, was crowned Miss Florida 2015
at the 80th Anniversary Miss Florida
Pageant held at the Mahaffey Theatre
in St. Petersburg and will compete
in the Miss America pageant...Judy
Weitekamp was honored by the Morean
Arts Center, Glass Studio and Hot Shop,
Morean Center for Clay and the Chihuly
Collection for her generous support,
which helps provide outstanding
educational programs for community
members of all ages...Gabrielle Vogel,
Eliana Vogel, Madeleine Gardella,
Alexandria Marx, Tessa Hartmann,
Natalie Thornley-Hall, Chloe Pruett,
Janaya Zimmermann, Vivian Ruiz,
Liam Boswell, Levi Durie, Tucker
Nickman, Peter Weil and Christopher
Kunzelmann, students at the Straz
Center in Tampa’s Patel Conservatory
under the direction of Ballet Mistress
Ivonne Lemus and Dance Chair Peter
Stark, were among the 300 students
selected from 5,000 worldwide dancers to
compete at the Youth America Grand Prix
in New York City.
Charlene Gordon of Crystal Beach and her
daughter Allison Bungert attended the 2015
Tony Awards and the five Tony-winning
American in Paris celebration party at
Rockefeller Center in New York City with Judy
Lisi, president of The Straz Performing Arts
Center in Tampa.
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JULY/AUGUST 2015 TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE 87