FEBRUARY 29th, 2012 - Clearwater Beach Chamber of Commerce

WEEKLY UPDATE NEWSLETTER
FEBRUARY 29th, 2012
QUICK LINKS
*OUR WEBSITE
*CITY OF CLEARWATER
*CLEVELAND STREET DISTRICT
*VISIT ST. PETE/CLEARWATER
*WORKNET PINELLAS
*VISIT FLORIDA
(Click on image for more
information.)
VISITOR GUIDE POSTERS
If you would like a Visitor Guide poster like
the one below, please pick one up from the
Beach Chamber office at
333 S. Gulfview Blvd. The poster has a QR
code for cell phone scanning.
Our Beach Chamber just keeps getting better and better.
Last Thursday, what started out as the Clearwater Beach
Spa Mingle, turned into our very first Block Party Mingle,
thanks to the hard work of Trisha Rodriquez of Tropical
Boat Tours, our Special Events Chair. We all know how
difficult it is to coordinate a meeting with more than two
people in attendance. We call each other, e-mail each
other, and go through our list of dates to find something
that works for all
involved. It is harder
sometimes to
schedule the meeting
than the meeting
itself. Well, Trisha
was very successful in
doing that very thing.
She managed to
organize all the businesses together for the Block Party.
It was not an easy task, and we were lying across parking
spots in the parking lot that morning to ensure the area
was clear for the tents that afternoon. The end result
was a huge success.
SPORTS LINKS
*TAMPA BAY RAYS
Approximately 65 people were there to enjoy the "Open
House" invitation that the Shipwreck Building businesses
offered. People that drove by wanted to know what was
going on and came back to enjoy the fun. Angelo's Pizza
and Monaco Motel participated and showed their
neighborly support by being there too. Networking was
at its best and I have heard of several success stories
that evolved from that night. There was great music,
great food, great weather and great opportunities for all
who were there. Please CLICK HERE to see the Photo
Gallery on our website for photos from the event. Thanks
also go to Belleair Images for photography, Whirlwind
Events for the tents and tables, and again a big shout-out
to Trisha for her leadership skills, thank you all for
making a difference!
Darlene Kole
RESTAURANT WEEK 2012
*CLEARWATER THRESHERS
*TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
*TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS
ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT LINKS
*CAPITOL THEATER
Event: The Natural (movie)
Date: Tuesday, March 6 - 3pm and 7pm
Tickets: $5
Details: Starring Robert Redford and Glen Close
*RUTH ECKERD HALL
Wed., Feb 29 - 7:30 pm
Tchaikovsky's Swan
Lake
Dance
Presented by Moscow Festival Ballet
Please help us make the Clearwater
Beach Restaurant Week Kick Off
Party a huge success! One of the
ways we will be raising money for
your Beach Chamber and the
Clearwater Marine Aquarium is by
having a table of gift baskets that attendees can bid on
to win. We are hoping to have 10 gift baskets to offer.
Each basket will have a theme relating to Clearwater
Beach. This is where we need your help! We need items
to fill these baskets! Can you help us out with a
donation? We are looking for items such as: beach gear,
restaurant gift certificates, salon certificates, hotel night
certificates, boat trips, Clearwater Beach logo items,
bottles of wine, etc...
We will be happy to pick up your donation, or you can
drop it off at our office. Call us at: 447-7600.
A SPECIAL THANKS TO WAYNE CATHEL OF BELLEAIR
IMAGES.
Thurs., Mar 1 - 8 pm
Frankie Valli & The Four
Seasons
Concert
Fri., Mar 2 - 7 pm
Chris Botti
Concert
Sun., Mar 4 - 7 pm
Itzhak Perlman, violin
Rohan De Silva, piano
Concert
Mon., Mar 5 - 1 pm
Simply
Sinatra
Concert
*STRAZ CENTER
*SUNSET CINEMA
March 2nd: The Little Rascals - PG
March 3rd: Must Love Dogs - PG13
March 9th: Hook - PG
March 10th: The Phantom of the Opera - PG13
March 16th: How to Eat Fried Worms - PG
March 17th: Blue Crush 2 - PG13
March 23rd: Puss in Boots - PG
March 24th: The Three Musketeers - PG13
March 30th: Happy Feet 2 - PG
March 31st: Footloose - PG13 (newer version)
WELCOME TO OUR ELITE CHAMBER
PARTNER
The Beach Chamber is happy to have
formed an elite partnership with
Clearwater Gas System and we are
looking forward to working closely
with them during our 2012 events.
SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS
Support Our
Advertisers!
Want to know how you can
advertise here?
Call Us!
*****
Please take some time and visit our website,
www.beachchamber.com and check out our newly
uploaded rotating images as well as the images on the top
of the page under our different categories. These have
been updated by Wayne Cathel of
www.belleairimages.com. The photograph above of the
fire-eater who appears at Sunsets at Pier 60 Daily Festival
is an incredible example of Wayne's work. This is an
amazing photograph! Thank you Wayne for all your hard
work and dedication on all the projects you are working on
and have worked on for us.
HOWARD G. HAMILTON OF THE PALM PAVILION HAS
PASSED AWAY - OUR CONDOLENCES GO OUT TO THE
HAMILTON FAMILY
HAMILTON,
Howard G., of
Clearwater
passed away Feb
24th. He has
been the owner
of the Palm
Pavilion on
Clearwater
Beach since
1964 and a
lifelong member of First United Methodist Church,
Clearwater. Howard is survived by his wife of 58 years,
Jean; sons, Ken (Lisa), Dale, Hoyt (Sheryl), Wade (Missy);
brothers, James P. and Jay M. Hamilton; grandchildren,
Kimberlee, Scott (Leah), Andrew (Laura), Bradley,
Dalton, and Shea. Family will receive friends Wednesday
5:00 - 8:00 at the funeral home. There will be a
Memorial Service Thursday 11:00 at First United
Methodist Church, 411 Turner St. Clearwater. Memorial
donations may be made to a charity of your choice. Moss
Feaster Funeral Home, Belcher
Chapel. www.mossfeasterclearwater.com
See this website for more info. on the Palm Pavilion
restaurant,
and this website for more on the Hamilton's Clearwater
Beach Legacy.
12 ROTARY YOUTH EXCHANGE STUDENTS FROM 8
DIFFERENT COUNTRIES GO KAYAKING IN CRYSTAL
RIVER
Shephard's Beach Resort
601 S. Gulfview Blvd.
Clearwater Beach, FL 33767
442-5107
www.shephards.com
WEEKDAY BUFFETS ARE BACK!! Click
this LINK to see our delicious buffet
menus!
CHAMBER INFORMATION
Clearwater Beach Rotary is sponsoring student, Kaitlynn Fisher, she is
fourth from the right.
Clearwater Beach
Chamber Tourism
Video
Contact Us:
Darlene Kole, Pres./CEO
Liz LaJoy, Office Manager
Tammy Knuth, Office Asst.
Office Volunteers:
John Cagle
Maria
Beach Chamber Mascot
MEMBER UPDATE!!
Every week we will be highlighting
one of our members. If you would
like us to highlight your business
here, please contact us at the office
(727) 447-7600.
Proforma N & M Communications
Recently Citrus County Chronicle Publisher, Gerry
Mulligan and his wife Janet, opened their home on Kings
Bay to Rotary District 6950's, which includes Pinellas,
Pasco, Hernando & Citrus Counties,12 Rotary Youth
Exchange (RYE) students to enjoy a day of kayaking. Mr .
Mulligan is a long time member of the Crystal River
Rotary Club and supports many of the programs of the
Rotary with direct involvement. In addition to the
Mulligan's Inverness Rotarian Lace Blue-McLean, best
known for being a moving force in saving Three Sister's
Springs from development, volunteered to organize the
day's events to create an experience that none of the
students would ever forget as part of their 10 month
exchange involving attending a year of high school.
Several of the students were actually American's that
have been selected by Rotary to go to a foreign country
for 10 month's next August as part of the exchange so
that they can learn more about the big wide world out
there through personal experience.
Each year there are as many as 75 RYE inbound students
in Florida sponsored by Rotary Clubs from one end of the
state to the other. This also allows RYE to send an equal
amount of American students to those same countries
that the inbound students came from. Nationally there
are approximately 8,000 RYE students inbound and
outbound each year that come from and go to 30 to 35
different countries. Three of the current inbound
students are attending classes at our three local high
schools and grade-wise are in the top 10% of their
printed all of our lovely mousepads
that were given out at the Holiday
Breakfast in December 2011.
With more than 30 years of
experience, Proforma remains clearly
focused on providing solutions to
North American businesses for their
graphic communications needs.
Proforma has received numerous
awards and recognition as one of the
top five largest companies in our
industry as a leading provider of:

Promotion
al products
 Printing
services


Business Multimedi
documents a services
 Total

eCommer project
ce
manageme
solutions nt
classes.
The program is always looking for qualified local families
to host foreign inbound students in their homes for 3
month time frames during the school year. For more
information on Rotary Youth Exchange in District 6950 go
to www.ryeflorida.org or call District Chairman Doug
Lobel at 352-400-0540.
Go to http://www.ryeflorida.org for more info. on this
awesome program.
OUR FEBRUARY MINGLE BLOCK PARTY WAS A
BLAST!!
Thank you to all of our members, new
and old for attending our Block Party
Mingle. There was a great turnout and
it was a lot of fun! Thank you to
everybody who put a lot of hard work
into preparing and hosting this
event.
Their mission is focused:

To enhance and simplify the
delivery of their products and
services.
 To be bigger, better, faster
and smarter.
 To provide you with more
control, improved productivity
and increased profitability.
Proforma is the One Source with
Infinite Resources to meet all your
graphic communications needs.
Our feature hosts were Gibson & Susan
Hooten of Clearwater Beach Spa.
(Click on their logo for more info.)
SURF STYLE VISITOR CENTER
We were all jumping for joy and were very
excited!
Introducing our new Visitor Center
"uniform" shirts. Very beachy!
We are getting a new sign put up at
the Surf Style Mega Store. It will be
displayed on the windows facing
Coronado Drive. We are super
excited about getting this extra
exposure to
our Visitor Center at Surf Style. This
is what the sign will look like:
Our Visitor Center at
Surf Style
Donna Dennis, Manager
Donna also does "House Calls" to
businesses that have groups of
people wanting to learn more about
our beautiful piece of paradise. She
puts together welcome bags filled
with all kinds of useful information
for our visitors.
Visitor Center Volunteers:
Nancy Gardinier
Roxie Maggio
Patricia Kangas
Christie Hanna
Pete Meydag
Toni Batianis
Carol Rockwell
Tell Your Guests:
Our Visitor Centers Sell
JOLLEY TROLLEY
All Day Passes
Mingling Like We Mean It!
A START TO STOPPING RED TIDE
Anne McKay Garris, a
board member for
START, an organization
dedicated to Solutions To
Avoid Red Tide, has
organized this event for
Tuesday, March 6, at
7:00pm at the
Clearwater Beach
Recreation Center, 69
Bay
Esplanade. Sandy Gilbert,
president of START will talk
about research which has
discovered a way to stop
Red Tide, the vicious
"bloom" in the Gulf of
Mexico that often inflicts
itself on our area. He will
share with us the
discovery of an organism
which eventually stops
red tide. He will also
explain what additional
research is necessary to
be sure the solution will
not, in some way,
cause unforeseen
damage to the
environment.
In addition to Red Tide research, START has a vision to
improve the quality of our marine waters.
The program, which is free to the public, is sponsored
and
All Day
PARKING PASSES!
MEMBER HAPPENINGS!!
by the Clearwater Beach Association. (Click here to go
to www.START1.org for more info.)
UPCOMING CLEARWATER BEACH BLOOD DRIVES - PLEASE
SUPPORT FLORIDA BLOOD SERVICES
The Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites will also be sponsoring a blood
drive at their facility on Friday, March 9th, from 11:30am4:30pm.
If any of our members have
something interesting that is
happening or coming up and they
want it mentioned in the newsletter,
please e-mail it to
tammy@beachchamber.com
Thank you!
WELCOME TO OUR NEW MEMBERS
WHEEL FUN RENTALS
(located at the Hyatt Regency Clearwater
Beach Resort & Spa)
Greg & Laura Stewart, Owners
E-mail: wheelfunpinellas@gmail.com
(727) 278-5773
www.wheelfunrentals.com
All blood donors receive a special gift from Florida Blood
Services, a mini physical, and the amazing opportunity to
SAVE 3 LIVES!!
Anyone 16 and older can donate the "Gift of Life".
THANK YOU!!
ADOPT AN ANIMAL PROGRAM FROM THE CLEARWATER
MARINE
AQUARIUM
LUIGI BARBANO PHOTOGRAPHY
www.barbano.com
601 Cleveland Street, St. 501
Clearwater, FL 33755
(727) 560-1843
E-mail: luigi@barbano.com
DESTINATION PUBLICATIONS
www.destinationtampabay.com
Bonnie M. Walters, Marketing
Consultant Publisher
(727) 726-2679 ext. 5 (work)
E-mail:
bonnie@destinationtampabay.com
ADOPT AN ANIMAL
Yes, you can adopt one of
these precious animals.
Each one of their animals
is available for adoption.
Your adoptions will
literally help them care for
your animal. Each animal
is cared for daily, and
many require medical care
as part of their
rehabilitation.
There are dolphins, sea
turtles, otters, sharks,
stingrays and sea turtle
nests (seasonal) available
for adoption.
Please CLICK HERE for
more info.
BAYSIDE COURT APARTMENTS
Mary Sullivan
E-mail: sullivanm@richmanmgt.com
(727) 581-9800
1760 Clearwater/Largo Road
Clearwater, FL 33756
www.baysidecourt.com
UNITED TAXI
CHECK OUT OUR NEW 15 SECOND COMMERCIAL!
Clearwater Beach Chamber 15 Second Video
Thank you to Chris Della Penna of Innovisionvideo.com
Tracy DiMasi, Dir. of Business Dev.
(727) 507-2668
E-mail: tracy.dimasi@GoRedCab.com
17174 US. Hwy. 19 N.
Clearwater, FL 33764
www.gounitedtaxi.com
CRUISE PLANNERS
Rick & Char Corso, Travel
Professionals
(727) 934-6321
E-mail: corsochar@msn.com
or corsorich@msn.com
www.corsocruising.com
UPDATE ON OUR INTERNS
for creating this for us!
JOIN THE FUN AT THE STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL
(March 1 - 11th!
(Click on the logo for more info.)
Plant City held its first festival in 1930. The local Lions
Club had an idea that the strawberry, a major part of
community agriculture, should be celebrated in a big
way. In 1948, American Legion Post 26 brought back the
festival after a six-year absence because of World War II.
Now the festival is considered one of the top 40 fairs in
North America. Last year, about 524,000 attended, said
KeeLee Tomlinson, festival spokeswoman.
Read the full story on the festival HERE.
YOU ARE INVITED TO THE BUDGET BLINDS GRAND
OPENING
Suzanne Godard, Pierre Faulat & Pauline
Verstraete
This week our interns helped us with our
Block Party Mingle, and did a great job of
selling 50/50 tickets and interacting with
our members.
When: March 8th, 2012
Where: 600 Mandalay Avenue,
Clearwater Beach
Time: 5:30 P.M.
Appetizers, beer & wine will be served.
See their beautiful products showroom and home
design center.
First 10 people to arrive will get a $100 gift certificate
towards the purchase of custom window treatments!
INTERESTING WEBSITES TO VISIT
Please RSVP to Carolyn at
727-400-6870
or
ctricoli@budgetblinds.com
WORKNET PINELLAS INVITES YOU!
This is a super cool website for travel
and about life in our beautiful sunny
State! See the beautiful photo
contests, download free beachy
screensavers, enter to win stunning
sweepstakes prizes and more...!! (Click
on the logo for more info.)
Introducing Bag Voyaage, a new
luggage handeling service! Pack
Heavy, Travel Light TM
Check it out!! www.bagvoyaage.com
INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT FLORIDA YOU
PROBABLY HAVEN'T HEARD BEFORE!! (part
2)
WorkNet Pinellas invites
you!
March 21, 2012
Please join WorkNet Pinellas as
we welcome Warren May, Economic Manager from the
Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, Labor
Market Statistics Center.
Improve Your Decision Making by Understanding Labor
Market Information Labor market statistics produced by
U.S. Dept. of Labor affiliates, including the Florida
Department of Economic Opportunity, play a major role
in stock market, business
plans and governmental funding decisions. Mr. May has a
wealth of workforce and economic development data
with which to augment your business decision-making.
His total command of subject will make otherwise
complex statistics "come alive" for your business usage.
Mr. May's discussion will include: occupational wage
data, job descriptions, labor availability, targeted
industry analysis (Florida's High Tech Corridor), as well
as growth/declining industries, real-time jobs in demand,
economic, industry and occupational analysis, GIS
mapping and more!
The seminar will be held from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at
the EpiCenter in Clearwater
(13805 58th Street N., Room 2-304). Seats are limited so
please RSVP early by contacting MarilynBrowne at
mbrowne@worknetpinellas.org or call (727) 608-2420.
You will leave armed with a myriad of statistical tools at
your fingertips to help repair and grow the local
economy.
PINK A MARKETING SOCIAL
MEDIA UPDATE!
Feb. 1 - March 1, 2012
Beachwalk Facebook Friend
Page: 3479 friends
Today: 3,631 friends + 152
Chamber Facebook Page: 1010 Followers
Today: 1060 Followers +50
Twitter Page: 1314 Followers
Today: 1388 Followers +74
Clearwater Beach Restaurant Week
Facebook Page: 366 Followers
Today: 377 Followers +11
Twitter Page: 14
Today: 227 +213
1. Orlando attracts more visitors than
any other amusement park destination
in the United States.
2. New England Congregationalists
who sought to bring their style of
liberal arts education to the state
founded Rollins College, the oldest
college in Florida, in Winter Park in
1885.
3. A museum in Sanibel owns 2 million
shells and claims to be the world's
only museum devoted solely to
mollusks.
4. The Benwood, on French Reef in
the Florida Keys, is known as one of
the most dived shipwrecks in the
world.
5. Safety Harbor is the home of the
historic Espiritu Santo Springs. Given
this name in 1539 by the Spanish
explorer Hernando de Soto. He was
searching for the legendary Fountain
of Youth. The natural springs have
attracted attention worldwide for
their curative powers.
6. Niceville is home to the famous
Boggy Bayou Mullet Festival
celebrated the third weekend in
October.
7. The United States city with the
highest rate of lightning strikes per
capita is Clearwater.
UTILIZING THE PINELLAS SMALL BUSINESS
ENTERPRISE (SBE) TO REGISTER FOR THE 2012
REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION'S (RNC) SMALL
BUSINESS
NETWORK
All local small businesses that are
registered and approved through the
City of Tampa, City of St.
Petersburg, Pinellas County, or
Hillsborough County will be eligible
for the RNC's Small Business
Network. (Click on the image for
more information)
Applications for the Pinellas SBE Program will be accepted
at the Small Business Development Center. Local business
people may make an appointment for assistance by phoning
(727) 453-7200 or emailing
cyjohnson@pinellascounty.org.
PLEASE ADD YOUR MEMBERSHIP BUTTON TO YOUR
WEBSITE
We have created a link button that we are asking our
entire membership to place on their websites. We have
placed the instructions for this below. Not only will you
assist us in our efforts to grow our chamber, but you will
be helping us remain on the top of the major search
engines. We hope you participate in this exciting effort
to make our beach a more competitive destination.
This is an example of what will be placed on your
website
when you add this code to your page:
8. Gatorade was named for the
University of Florida Gators where the
drink was first developed.
9. Young aviator Tony Jannus made
history on January 1, 1914 when he
flew the world's first scheduled
passenger service airline flight from
St. Petersburg's downtown yacht basin
to Tampa.
10. Dr. John Gorrie of Apalachicola
invented mechanical refrigeration in
1851.
11. Greater Miami is the only
metropolitan area in the United States
whose borders encompass two
national parks. You can hike through
pristine Everglades National Park or
ride on glass-bottom boats across
Biscayne National Park.
12. The name Punta Gorda, which
means, "fat point" when translated
from Spanish. The moniker was given
to the city because a broad part of the
land in Punta Gorda juts into
Charlotte Harbor. The harbor itself is
somewhat unique, as it is the point
where the Peace River meets the
ocean.
13. During the 1991 Gulf War the
busiest military port in the country
was Jacksonville. From this location
the military moved more supplies and
people than any other port in the
country.
14. When first completed in 1989 the
Dame Point Bridge became the longest
cable-stayed span in the United
States, the longest concrete span of
its type in the Western Hemisphere,
and the third longest cable-stayed
bridge in the world.
15. The longest river sailboat race in
the world is the Annual Mug Race. The
event runs 42 miles from Palatka to
Jacksonville along the St. Johns River.
16. The Olustee Battlefield State
Link back to the chamber by following the instructions
below.
1) Copy the HTML code below and place it at the
bottom of your website.
OR
2) Forward this email to your web developer to have
them add it to the bottom of your website.
If you or your web developer have any problems
implementing
this onto your website please contact
Ian LeBlanc at Little Frog Innovations (727) 475-4797
x201
HTML Code below:
<p><center><a
href="http://www.beachchamber.com/"
target="_blank" title="
Clearwater Beach Florida area Information"><img
src="http://www.beachchamber.com/images/clearw
ater-beach-chamber-of-commerce.png"
alt="Clearwater Beach Florida area information Clearwater Chamber of Commerce" width="150"
height="91" border="0"/></a></center></p>
PHILLIES SPRING TRAINING 2012
The Phillies Spring Training kicks off on February 29th, at
Bright House Field.
Bright House Field is the
home for the Phillies' Spring
Training games. The ballpark
is located on the west side of
U.S. Highway 19, adjacent to
Carpenter Field.
The Phillies have been
training in Clearwater,
Florida since 1948. Carpenter Field, which was built in
1967, is used in Spring Training by the Phillies' major league
and Minor Meague players, along with teams in the Florida
State League, Gulf Coast Rookie League and the Florida
Historic Site commemorates the
largest battle fought in Florida during
the American Civil War.
17. Venice is known as the Shark
Tooth Capital of the World. Collecting
prehistoric sharks teeth has been a
favorite pastime of visitors and
residents of the Venice area for years.
18. May 20, 1970 Florida lawmakers
passed and sent to the Governor a bill
adopting the moonstone as the official
state gem. Ironically, the moonstone
is not found naturally in Florida...nor
was it found on the moon.
19. The Saint John's River is one of
the few rivers that flows north instead
of south.
20. Miami Beach pharmacist Benjamin
Green invented the first suntan cream
in 1944. He accomplished this
development by cooking cocoa butter
in a granite coffee pot on his wife's
stove.
Join Our Mailing List
Instructional League. (CLICK ON IMAGE FOR SCHEDULE
INFO.)
SAVE THESE DATES!
March 1-11 Florida Strawberry Festival
March 8
Budget Blinds Ribbon Cutting
March 10 Wild Splash (Coachman Park)
March 11 Daylight Savings Time Begins (Spring
Forward!)
March 17
St. Patrick's Day (Luck O' The Irish To
Ya!)
March 18
Spring Fest (Sand Key)
March 26-30 Spring Break
About Clearwater Beach Chamber of
Commerce
Clearwater Beach Chamber of Commerce
333C So. Gulfview Blvd
Clearwater Beach, Florida 33767
727-447-7600
MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of the Clearwater Beach Chamber of Commerce is to promote
and position Clearwater Beach as the premier tourist destination and to be
the advocate and resource center for the development and success of our
membership, as well as the entire community.