Garden Club fashion show to raise funds for scholarships

They’ve made names for themselves in everything from town politics to tennis.

But 14 local celebrities will add a new title to their resumes after the Jan. 30 “Taste of the Keys” event: runway model.

The models (see sidebar) will strut their stuff in sportswear fashions from Island Pursuit. Meanwhile, the event is sauntering toward its third year, and organizers hope it will be better than ever.

This year’s event will be at the Longboat Key Club and Resort’s Harbourside Dining Room instead of the Longboat Key Center for the Arts, a Division of Ringling College of Art and Design. The larger location means at least 300 people can attend the event.

Also, for the first year, all money will go toward the Longboat Key Garden Club, which uses funds raised for scholarships and grants. In past years, the Garden Club and Arts Center split the proceeds from the event.
Attendees can enjoy complimentary wine, soft drinks and food from the following restaurants:

Mar Vista Dockside Restaurant & Pub; Dry Dock Restaurant Waterfront Grill; Chart House Restaurant; Harry’s Continental Kitchens; Lazy Lobster; Longboat Key Hilton Beachfront Resort; Longboat Key Club and Resort; Old Salty Dog on City Island; Sarasota Yogurt Co. on St. Armands Circle; Lido Beach Resort; and Bridge Street Bistro and The Feast on Anna Maria Island.

“It’s really about the keys, and there’s nobody in it who isn’t on the keys,” said Susan Landau, who is co-chairing the event with Barbara Kerwin and Jackie Salvino.

Tickets can be purchased at the Longboat Key Chamber of Commerce; Exit Art at the Chart House; Exit Art at the Centre Shops; Longboat Key Education Center; Design 2000; and Island Pursuit.

Save the date
Taste of the Keys and Fashion Show
When: 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 30
Where: Longboat Key Club and Resort’s Harbourside Dining Room, 3100 Harbourside Drive
Tickets: $50
Contact: Madelyn Spoll, 383-4818 or Susan Landau, 383-8030

Meet the models
The following Longboat Key “celebrities” will build their modeling portfolios by walking the runway at the event:
• Tennis professionals Sam Avillas, of the Longboat Key Club and Resort, and Claudio Retean, of the Longboat Key Public Tennis Center
• Town Manager Dave Bullock
• Ed Chiles, owner of The Chiles Group
• Rusty Chinnis, owner of Rusty Chinnis Contractor
• Michael Drake, acting Longbeach Village Association president
• Tom Freiwald, Longboat Key Revitalization Task Force member
• Susan Goldfarb, executive director of the Longboat Key Education Center
• Cheryl Loeffler, Realtor with Signature Sotheby’s International Realty
• Jeff Mayer, general manager of the Longboat Key Club
• Diane Muir, Northern Trust Bank branch vice president/executive director
• Susan Phillips, assistant to the town manager, and her husband, Adm. Steve Branham
• Lillian Sands, Longboat Key resident