Ear to Tampa Bay
Shelby McMullen was given an Alice
in Wonderland-themed tea party by her
parents Karen and Brett McMullen at
their home in Clearwater to celebrate her
graduation from the University of Central
Florida in Orlando…..Merlina Joseph of
Largo, who is with the Pinellas County
Sheriff ’s Office Child Protection
Investigation Division, and Karl Fink of
St. Petersburg recently became engaged.....
Chantelle DePar of Clearwater and
Harrison Hardy of Belleair are busily
making wedding plans…..Toni Behr
Blackshear and her husband Dr. Bill
Blackshear attended her 50th Miami area
high school reunion, which was held in
Ocala.....Debbie Baker of Tampa visited
Myrtle Beach State Park in South
Carolina.....Katie Rowe-Ventrucci of
Palm Harbor enjoyed cool weather while
exploring several of Minnesota’s
interesting sites, including the former
mining town of Bovey, Winnie Dam, Judy
Garland’s Grand Rapids birthplace and
the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in
Chaska.....Mike Cochran and Lynn
Kenchel of St. Petersburg jetted to Dillon,
Colorado, where they did some early
Christmas shopping…..Beverly and
Carlos Yepes of St. Petersburg were in
Puerto Rico.....Marianne Hallas of
St. Petersburg, Nancy Lloyd and Capt.
Ed Proefke Jr., both of Dunedin, Pierre
Maneri of Clearwater Beach, Larry Steele
of Belleair Beach, Gerard Kane of Largo
and Rick Filsinger of West Palm Beach
sailed the 34-foot Beneteau sloop Valhalla
in the 284-nautical-mile sailboat race from
St. Petersburg, Florida, to Havana, Cuba.....
Nancy Preis of Tampa explored Cuba
with the University of South Florida’s
Graphicstudio group led by Margaret
Miller, who is its director.....Bill and Judy
Holmes of Madeira Beach and Kathy and
Parker Plante of Clearwater Beach visited
The Ear is wearing handcrafted, vertigoinfused
the burial site of Eva Perone in Buenos
Aires, Argentina…..Tashia Diaz-Walker,
manager of Georgette’s Boutique in Tampa,
and fellow Ye Loyal Krewe of Grace
O’Malley members traveled throughout
Ireland.....Sandra Nesbit and her husband
Greg Willsey, principals of GFS Private
Wealth in Clearwater, spent a week in
Ireland.....Mark Hall and Rafael Sciullo,
president and CEO of Empath Health,
honeymooned in and around Venice,
Italy.....Suzan Decker Ross of Decker
Ross Interiors in Clearwater, who lives in
Dunedin, and Marsha Kuhlman, Carol
82 TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE | JULY/AUGUST 2017
glass set in sterling silver from
My Favorite Things in Dunedin.
Zimmerman, Elaine Buchholtz and
Kathy Pashkow, who all live in
St. Petersburg, hiked about 100 miles of
the 700 mile Camino de Santiago in Spain.....
Connie Gage and her husband Dr. Craig
Gage of Tampa visited Casita Mira
Vineyards on Waiheke Island in New
Zealand…..Capt. Michael Harris, corps
officer of the Salvation Army in Clearwater,
and Andy Burwell, its advisory board
chair, thanked Clearwater City Manager
Bill Horne for being the guest speaker
and other community leaders for their
participation in its 12th annual William E.
Hale Community Prayer Breakfast.....
Dr. Bill Law, now a former president of
St. Petersburg College, welcomed guests
to the school’s 18th annual Scholarship
Appreciation Luncheon that celebrated
donors and recognized students’ successes
that was held at the Hilton St. Petersburg
Carillon Park.....Sam Bridgman, business
development coordinator for the Tampa
Bay Lightning in Tampa, was the inspiring
guest speaker at the annual “Heroes
Appreciation Lunch” at the Safety Harbor
Resort and Spa, an event sponsored by
Wheelchairs 4 Kids, which has provided
life-changing custom wheelchairs and
needed equipment for 300 children.....Judy
Lisi, president and CEO of the David A.
Straz Center for the Performing Arts,
hosted her annual onstage President’s
Luncheon for supporters at the center in
Tampa.....Judy Burr, Barbara Cole and
Joan McCarthy, all of Palm Harbor, cochaired
an on-site Sneak Peek Party to
unveil design plans for the East Lake
Community Library’s million-dollar 2,500
square foot expansion and renovation.....
Karen Williams Seel, a Pinellas County
commissioner, invited her fellow sustainers
of the Junior League of Clearwater-
Dunedin to a Sunset Social catered by
The Stuffed Mushroom at her home in
WIN WOLLOFF
Things Heard by The Ear
/Ocala.....De