- April 25, 2024
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Beautiful is as beautiful does
When my husband, Len Schechter, died of Parkinson’s disease in 2006, Sarasota was – surprisingly, given the age of our population – not a great place to be. There was a single, small support group for Sarasota and Manatee Counties. That was it.
I don’t know if this is exactly how it came about but I can envision neurologist Dean Sutherland and his wife, Doreen Sutherland, discussing the support services his patients and their caregivers needed and weren’t getting and, together, conceiving the Neuro-Challenge Foundation (NCF). I know for fact that she took the bit in her mouth and worked harder than most of us can imagine building NCF into the impressively helpful organization it is today. Her passion for the task was, and is, enormous.
Doreen had good friends and supporters from the earliest days, among them Gerri Aaron, Heidi Godman, Nola and Larry Heitbrink, Cliff Roles, the Amicus Foundation and many more. Sarasota Magazine Group Publisher Kelley Lavin is an especially key player, an active board member and major supporter who has been instrumental in building awareness of NCF.
NCF presented Hope Awards to Doreen and Kelley at the Shak’n Not Stirred fundraiser at Michael’s On East on March 24. In the photo, the Sutherlands are moving to “I Hope You Dance,” chosen by executive director Judith Bell because “HOPE,” which stands for “Helping Overcome Parkinson’s Every Day,” is the mantra of NCF – an organization that makes Sarasota these days one of the best places for a Parkinsonian to live.
New Lunch in the Garden series for new Selby Venue
Selby president and CEO Jennifer Rominiecki convened a top-tier advisory board of Jean Weidner Goldstein, Teri Hansen and Margaret Wise to develop the garden’s inaugural events for its bigger, better, terraced Great Room. The result is this exciting series of Lunch in the Garden programs.
Ariane Dart and Ping Faulhaber co-chair the Oct. 19 kickoff, which will feature Angel Lara, Selby assistant director of horticulture, and Roger Capote, director of events (and formerly “The Naked Florist”). They will share their expertise on making your orchids both grow beautifully and look beautiful. Emily Walsh and I co-chair the Jan. 20 lunch, which will have a program on living walls and growing vertically. Nikki Sedacca and Beverly Bartner head up the April 19 event on the exhibit featuring Marc Chagall’s Cote D’Azur. Watch the Black Tie Calendar or make yourself known to [email protected] to be sure you don’t miss this excitement.
Two minutes and 15 seconds of fame
Charlotte Perret, above, says that conducting the orchestra at Cirque des Voix on March 19 was her “first time ever.” Her score: the Toreador song from Carmen. Her instructions: “Don’t pay any attention to me.” But according to Sarasota Orchestra Principal Flute Betsy Hudson Traba, who was one of the players, Charlotte did just fine: “Despite having explicitly told the musicians not to watch her, Charlotte kept perfect time and seemed to be really enjoying herself. All eyes were on her at the end when she tipped her matador’s hat before cueing the last note.” She was clearly having a good time. That a woman who has just published a fascinating book called “At Their Doorstep: The Street Fairs of Paris and their Carnival Folk in Stories and Photographic Postcards” but has no musical credentials at all gets to conduct an orchestra, well, that’s another “only in Sarasota” story.
If you can’t go to the South Pacific, we will bring the heart of Polynesia to you ...
That’s the promise of Beautiful Sei of Polynesia, the troupe that will perform at this years Friendship Around the World fundraiser for Friendship Centers on April 3. There is much more to it than hula! The party is a bargain at $175 including dinner, a full bar and the show. You can make reservations right up until April 2 by calling 556-3205.
It will be a long time before Sarasota sees another night like this one
So intense was the excitement at the opening of the Sarasota Opera’s Verdi Cycle Grande Finale Concert on March 20 that his baton, which he had just auctioned off for $5,000, flew out of Maestro Victor DeRenzi’s hand. It was back from the woodwind section for the next number. Toby and Noel Siegel sponsored the program in memory of Dr. Steven and Judith Woodrow. Anu Tali, music director of the Sarasota Orchestra, who was in the audience, gets the last words: “The Sarasota Orchestra extends our sincere congratulations on the Herculean accomplishment of completing the Verdi cycle. Bravo!”
A Happy Ending
I buy a lot of raffle tickets at fundraisers and never win anything. But at the Neuro-Challenge event, I got goodies from Morton’s, our town’s nec plus ultra food emporium and a great personal favorite. This is my final appearance as the author of this column after eight years. I take that bit of luck as reassurance that I am making the right decision. I will miss the readers and the writing but it is time. To borrow yet again from the Bard, “The day shall not be up so soon as I to try the fair adventure of tomorrow.”
