BuzzWorthyitems of note
Steve Martin and Martin Short will be at the Mahaffey Theater on January 19 in
An Evening You Will Forget for the Rest of Your Lives with the Steep Canyon Rangers and
Jeff Babko. There will be non-stop laughs from Martin and Short, two friends who have
shared the spotlight in films such as Three Amigos and Father of the Bride.
Richard Gonzmart, the president
and fourth generation family member
of the Columbia Restaurant Group,
continued the annual Columbia
Community Harvest in September at all
seven Columbia Restaurants, donating
5 percent of all meal checks to the
charitable organizations chosen by their
customers. This was the 20th year of
this program that has raised more than
$2 million for nonprofit organizations.
No wonder everyone loves the Columbia
and the Gonzmart family.
Zev Buffman, the CEO of Ruth Eckerd
Hall in Clearwater, has announced that
Suzanne Delaney is the new interim chief
development officer of the hall. Suzy has
been director of development at Ruth
Eckerd for the last three years, so will step
into this new role easily.
Judy Genshaft, president of the
University of South Florida, has announced
that the school has achieved the state’s
“pre-eminent” designation that will
result in greater funding from the state.
To meet the requirements, a university
must meet 11 of 12 benchmarks, including
a graduation percentage of 70 percent,
which USF has now done. Only University
of Florida and Florida State University
met these standards previously. USF has
had a remarkable year, as it received $475
million in research grants and contracts
and its unstoppable fundraising campaign
raised $1 billion, a year ahead of schedule.
Kate Tiedemann and Ellen Cotton
have pledged $100,000 to match
contributions to the freeFall Theatre in
St. Petersburg for roof repairs following
damage from Hurricane Irma. Their
pledge will help save this wonderful and
inventive black box performing space
that has presented so many outstanding
shows. Kate and Ellen say they believe in
investing their resources in the community,
and therefore, are asking others to also
help freeFall.
Sandra Nesbit and Greg Willsey are
celebrating the fifth anniversary of their
GFS Private Wealth that advises on
nearly half a billion dollars in assets for
their clients.
Judy Genshaft, the University of South
Florida System president, announced a
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new business program at the USF Muma
College of Business in honor of Penny
and Jeff Vinik, owners of the Tampa Bay
Lightning. The dual degree graduate
program will be called the Vinik Sports
and Entertainment Management program.
Drs. Pallavi and Kiran Patel are
funding a Clearwater campus for Nova
Southeastern University for an osteopathic
medicine program. Nova will handle
the curriculum and academics that will
produce physicians and will partner
with Nashville-based HCA Healthcare
as a teaching hospital for interns and
residents. The site of the college will be on
Gulf to Bay Boulevard near the Courtney
Campbell Causeway where Clearwater
Christian College once operated. The
Patels purchased the property last year.
They plan to complete the project and open
the school by 2019. With the Patels behind
it, this project will be of great benefit to
people all over the world.
Chris Blowers of Greiner’s Fine
Men’s Clothing in Tampa is raising funds
for the Moffitt Cancer Center Foundation
and the Shula Fund for Breast Cancer
ANNA WEBBER