BuzzWorthyitems of note
Keith Sheldon has been appointed as
the new president of entertainment for
Hard Rock International-Seminole
Gaming, where he will oversee and
direct entertainment functions for the
innovative gaming industry leader
Seminole Gaming and Hard Rock
International. Jim Allen, chairman of
Hard Rock International and CEO of
Seminole Gaming, says Keith’s expertise
will provide unbeatable experiences for
the company’s fans.
Dee Monje has been selected as the
new executive director of Brookwood in
St. Petersburg. Brookwood is dedicated
to providing troubled adolescent girls
with an alternative living environment
and therapeutic program encompassing
education, employability skills,
independent living training and
counseling that will prepare them for
self-sufficiency or successful family
reunification.
Paul Wilborn of St. Petersburg
received the top prize for general fiction
from the Florida Book Awards for his
short story collection, Cigar City: Tales
from a 1980s Creative Ghetto. The awards
66 TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020
began in 2006 to honor the best of the
books about the Sunshine State and
its authors. Paul wrote for The Tampa
Tribune and the St. Petersburg Times from
the late 1970s to the end of the 1980s,
when old Ybor was fading and changing
into a new type of area to live, work
and enjoy.
Rick Katzeff, president of Temple
Ahavat Shalom in Palm Harbor, said
the temple’s selection committee has
chosen Rabbi Michael Berger to be
its new spiritual leader following the
retirement of Rabbi Gary Klein, who
James Watrous, a Tampa native who
lives in Belleair and is a retired bank
executive, has been appointed to the
board of directors of the Tampa Bay
Trust Company. Terence Igo, CEO
of the Sanibel Trust Company and its
divisions, including the Tampa Bay Trust
Company, announced this appointment
of Watrous to the board.
Briana McDougall has joined the
portfolio management team of the
Tampa Bay Trust Company as
senior vice president, senior portfolio
manager. She is responsible for the
construction and management of
investment portfolios of high net worth
individuals, families, trusts and nonprofit
organizations. She will also collaborate
with internal and external advisers
in developing comprehensive plans
focused on clients’ needs and goals.
Alexis Novales, a University of Tampa
graduating senior from Glen Cove,
New York, has been presented with the
2020 Emerging Professional Award by
the Tampa Bay chapter of the Public
Relations Society of America. The
Tampa Bay chapter, led by chapter
president Kelsy Long, has more than
200 members.