Paradise Center celebrates at its fifth gala

The Paradise Center, Longboat Key’s space for aging in paradise, celebrated many things at its fifth annual gala on Feb. 27. 

The center recently moved into its first permanent home on 546 Bay Isles Road, and celebrated that step along with the life of Murf Klauber, developer for the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort, and the memories of the Colony’s popular Monkey Bar. 

“Who has nights at the Monkey Bar they can’t forget?” Paradise Center executive director Suzy Brenner said. 

Brenner, whose late father Dave, a former vice mayor and force for change on the Key, was always a proponent of memorializing Klauber, spoke to Klauber’s legacy as the main man behind the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort. Many in attendance owe their Longboat lives to a start at the Colony. 

“No one can deny that Murf made Longboat Key what it is today,” Brenner said. “How many of us started at the Colony?”

At the Paradise Center’s fifth gala, supporters were reveling in the growth of the organization over the last several years as they dined and reminisced. 

“We’re very proud that we have a permanent home,” Brenner said.