Kiwanis looks back at Lawn Party escapades

The air in the Lazy Lobster on Aug. 18 smelled like coffee, sounded like laughter and felt like appreciation. About 20 members of the Kiwanis Club of Longboat Key met for their first monthly meeting after a summer break.

The club thanked now-retired James Linkogle for his 23 years of service to Longboat Key as the Public Works Department project manager and welcomed his successor, Guy Matricciani. 

Read more: James Linkogle retires after 23 years of service to the town

In 2005 when the town celebrated 50 years of incorporation, it also gave Kiwanis an official commitment to assist with the Lawn Party each year.   

Kiwanis President Michael Garey entertained the crowd with harrowing and humorous tales of Lawn Parties past. There was the windy year when volunteers had to run after tents blowing across the fairways at the event's former site, the Longboat Key Club. 

There was the year that no one wanted to stake the tents. Town workers and Kiwanis members agreed weights would be better, but for insurance purposes, the tents had to be staked into the ground.

“They get to the very last tent, and all of a sudden, here comes the water out of the ground,” Garey said.

Good Linkogle was on hand to call in his comrades at the Public Works Department to fix the staked pipe. 

There was also the year it poured just after all the tents were set up. 

“You can imagine all these little tents. They catch the water; they don’t always let it run off,” Linkogle joked. The set-up crew was soaking wet, but the party went off without a hitch. 

The rainy year was when the parties were still hosted by Temple Beth Israel. As the event grew in size and popularity, it was moved to the Longboat Key Club. Last year, it was held at the Town Center Green. 

A food and drink festival held each December, the Lawn Party is a staple of the social season. Last year’s event raised $90,000 for the Children’s Guardian Fund.