The Sarasota Scene 4/27/18

Business + People News

Players Centre CEO/Managing Director Resigns
Michelle Bianchi has stepped down after 17 years with the non-profit organization. Bianchi began her career with the community theatre as a volunteer and worked in various positions until being named CEO by the board of directors in 2008.
The theatre will continue with plans to build its new facility in Lakewood Ranch. The state-of-the-art Arnold Simonsen Players Studio opened in the fall of 2017 in the Rosemary District of downtown Sarasota, to house the educational arm of The Players Centre.

Asolo Rep Announces New Five-Year Contracts for Michael Donald Edwards Linda DiGabriele
Producing Artistic Director Michael Donald Edwards and Managing Director Linda DiGabriele will continue their tenure for five more years at the theatre, through the 2022 – 2023 season.
This five-year plan includes fulfilling the vision for the Robert and Beverly Koski Production Center Campus, the establishment of the Herman and Sharon Frankel Asolo Rep Annex and upgrades to Asolo Rep’s Mertz Theatre.
Since Mr. Edwards’ first season as Producing Artistic Director (2006 – 07), the theatre’s endowment has grown from less than $3 million to $21 million, and the overall annual operating budget from $5.5 million to $10.1 million.
Under their leadership, Asolo Rep embarked on a five-year artistic initiative, the American Character Project, which launched in 2012, and forged relationships with prominent theaters throughout the country, collaborating with Arena Stage, the Old Globe, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
Michael Donald Edwards is currently in his twelfth season as Producing Artistic Director of Asolo Rep. A Garland and Drama Logue Award-winning director, Mr. Edwards was previously the associate artistic director of Syracuse Stage and served as artistic director of Shakespeare Santa Cruz.
Linda DiGabriele has been Managing Director of Asolo Rep since 1994 and has worked at the theatre for 44 years. She has served on the advisory panel for the National Endowment for the Arts and the John F. Kennedy Center’s Theater for Young Audiences.

Florida Hospital Selects Regional Cancer Services Medical Director
Dr. Victor Melgen joins the Florida Hospitals in Volusia and Flagler counties.
In this role, Melgen will help guide the strategic vision and direction for the entire spectrum of oncology services for Florida Hospital DeLand in DeLand, Florida Hospital Fish Memorial in Orange City, Florida Hospital Flagler in Palm Coast, and Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center in Daytona Beach.
A board-certified hematologist and medical oncologist with Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute (FCS), Dr. Melgen has cared for cancer patients in the West Volusia community, as well as in Lake Mary and Oviedo, for more than 20 years.

In 2011, Melgen joined FCS and was instrumental in its expansion into Central Florida. He has provided physician leadership, serving on the FCS financial committee, and continues to be a strong advocate of clinical research, having participated in numerous clinical trials.
Most recently, Melgen played a critical role in Florida Hospital Fish Memorial earning a three-year accreditation with commendation from the American College of Surgeons’ Commission on Cancer.

Manatee Performing Arts Center Earns 2018 GuideStar Gold Seal of Transparency
Less than one percent of the approximate 1.8 million nonprofits for which GuideStar collects data have reached this designation.
GuideStar is the world’s largest source of information on nonprofit organizations. More than 8 million visitors per year and a network of 200+ partners use GuideStar data to grow support for nonprofits.To receive the 2018 GuideStar Gold Seal of Transparency, Manatee Performing Arts Center shared important information with the public on its profile, which can be accessed at no cost at www.guidestar.org.

Meals on Wheels of Sarasota Honors Volunteers
The organization recognized more than 200 volunteers, staff and Board members for their contribution to the homebound.
Serving 160,000 meals each year to Sarasota’s homebound seniors, Meals on Wheels of Sarasota continues to fulfill its mission since being created in 1971.
On April 18th at the Sahib Shrine Auditorium, the organization recognized more than 200 volunteers and its staff and Board for their importance to the Sarasota community and their unparalleled contribution to the homebound. Volunteers recognized for their years of service include:
25 Years:     Connie and Earl Buell, Sally Scott, Jan Steber and Peggy Williams.
20 Years:     Betty Shimet and Marcia Schaper
15 Years:     Pat and William Grubb, Sebrina Harris, Steve Juricic, Sally Snyder and David Turnbull
10 Years:     Rose & Fabio Arellano, Ali Davidson, John Feagan, Margo Krusing, Kathy Limekiller, Barry Napshin, Jeff Schmidt, Gail Smith, Amardo Timmons and Lori Timmons

Sarasota Filmmaker’s Documentary to Premiere on Amazon Prime Video
Oskar Films’ award-winning short documentary Blacksmith will make its commercial premiere on Amazon Prime Video on Saturday, May 5, 2018.
Blacksmith’s May 5 premiere will make the documentary available to Amazon users in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Austria.

Produced in conjunction with Lamar University, Blacksmith is a 16-minute documentary that highlights the work of Rob Flurry, the resident blacksmith at the Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum (http://www.lamar.edu/spindletop-gladys-city/index.html) in Beaumont, Texas.

Blacksmith recently won the prestigious Remi Award at the 51st WorldFest – Houston International Film Festival. According to WorldFest’s website, previous Remi winners include Stephen Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, Brian De Palma and Ridley Scott. The award is named for American artist and sculptor, Frederic Remington.

The film’s trailers can be viewed at frankdicesarephoto.com/oskar-films.

SCF’s Math Team Wins First Place in Statewide Competition
This is the second consecutive year the team has won first place. The competition includes teams from throughout Florida.
The tournament consists of a three-part test of individual and team questions covering math topics such as Pre-Calculus, Calculus, Geometry, Probability, Logic, Combinatorics and Number Theory.
This year’s winning team members from SCF Venice were Antonio Antonian, Dylan Litherland, Mary Lopez Marin, Kyle Trogden and Wentao Yuan.
UNF’s Math-Statistics Department and the Florida Two-Year College Mathematics Association sponsor the annual Olympics. SCF professors Catherine Panik and Claire Geiger served as team coaches.

Evolve Business Consulting Launches in Manatee County
Evolve Business Consulting works with executives and the management teams to complement the company’s corporate culture and enhance programs currently in place.
Led by president and founder Jaime Marco, the Manatee-based firm offers sales and customer service training, leadership development, business coaching and keynote presentations. Marco’s current and past clients include University of Phoenix, AT&T, Weight Watchers and many more.
Evolve Business Consulting’s team of coaches have more than 50 years of combined experience in selling everything from newspaper advertising and real estate to telecommunications and insurance.

Goodwill Manasota Announces 2018-2019 Board of Directors
Peter Crowley continues his tenure as chairman of the board, with past chair Rob Morris holding the title of chair emeritus.
New to the board this year are: Mike Bryant, co-founder of Fawley Bryant Architects, Inc.; Jacqueline Moore, founder of the Power & Light Company, LLC and the Kindness Community; and Allen Weinstein, retired retail CEO and chief merchandising officer. The three new members join directors Steve Boone, Debbie Douglas, Rae Dowling, Rod Hollingsworth, Sandy Kirkpatrick, Alan Maio, Brad West and Richard Wharton.

Anna Maria Oyster Bar’s Summer Reading Program Recognized Nationally
The restaurant was selected as a winner of the 2018 Restaurant Neighbor Award

Anna Maria Oyster Bar received the 2018 Restaurant Neighbor award in recognition of their efforts to help children avoid summer learning loss, known as the summer slide, through the Dive Into Reading summer program. The annual award is part of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF) celebration of the “best of the best” in diversity and inclusion, community service and hospitality leadership. Only seven winners were selected from hundreds of nominations.

“We have a long tradition of recognizing and encouraging diversity and inclusion, celebrating community engagement and recognizing our industry icons,” said Rob Gifford, executive vice president of the NRAEF. “With over one million restaurants in the U.S., our industry opens doors of opportunity for people of all backgrounds and cultures every day. Each year, the Foundation is excited and honored to recognize the people and businesses that truly embody these values and principles.”

In Manatee County, 49 percent of students are not reading on grade-level by the end of third grade. When John and Amanda Horne of Anna Maria Oyster Bar learned this disheartening statistic, they worked with the School District of Manatee County, the library system and the Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading to find ways to support and improve reading standards in the community and beyond. Focusing on summer learning is a key solution area of the Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading because low-income children lose an average of more than two months in reading achievement over the summer, which slows their progress toward third-grade reading proficiency — a key indicator of future success in school and in life.
In June 2017, Dive Into Reading was launched at Anna Maria Oyster Bar in Ellenton to improve children’s reading abilities while also learning important life skills, like table manners, intergenerational communication and decision-making. The program became a collaboration between the Anna Maria Oyster Bar and its suppliers who helped provide students a hot breakfast before being paired with volunteer mentors to read books in a fun and relaxing restaurant environment.

“Winning this award is the culmination of more than 20 years of giving back to the community with a focus on education for both children and adults,” said John Horne, president and CEO of Anna Maria Oyster Bar. “It inspires and motivates us to continue to ensure every student understands the importance of reading, and to help low-income children succeed in school and in life. National recognition is especially wonderful for Dive Into Reading as it gives us a platform to share with like-minded restaurateurs how to launch similar programs in their own communities.”

“Locally, Dive Into Reading was recognized as one of the most successful summer reading programs by the Suncoast Campaign with 76 children reading more than 1,600 books over a four-week period,” said Beth Duda, director of the Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading for The Patterson Foundation. “The children that participated in Dive Into Reading actually gained 1.25 months of reading skills, which beats the national average by more than three months.”

The impact of Dive Into Reading was a key factor in NRAEF’s decision to present the 2018 Restaurant Neighbor award to Anna Maria Oyster Bar, along with the restaurant’s continuing support for other local educational initiatives including PACE Center for Girls and the Horne & Moon Scholarship Fund that supports adults looking to further their education by going back to college or trade school. This summer, Anna Maria Oyster Bar is expanding Dive Into Reading to five Title I summer school locations with the goal of serving more than 300 children in June 2018. The expansion is made possible by community partnerships with School District of Manatee County, the Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, the Early Learning Coalition of Manatee County, fellow restaurateurs and many restaurant vendors.
Anna Maria Oyster Bar accepted the award during a special gala held in Washington, DC on Tuesday, April 17. Visit www.oysterbar.net to learn more about Anna Maria Oyster Bar and to register as a mentor for Dive into Reading in summer 2018. For more information about the Restaurant Neighbor award, visit ChooseRestaurants.org/awards.

The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art Presents a New Vision for Art of Performance Program
Year-long programming to allow for additional community engagement
The Ringling announces a new vision for its acclaimed Art of Performance programming. As an integral part of the Art of Our Time initiative, it fosters the creation of genre-bending works based on experimentation and collaboration.
Beginning with the 2018-19 season, an expanded curatorial vision will move beyond The Ringling International Arts Festival’s structure of multiple simultaneous performances to a year-round season of numerous engagements. This new approach will allow for deeper interactions between artists and audiences, while furthering The Ringling’s mission of community outreach. Through programming and workshops, current social issues and a diverse range of cultures and identities will be explored.
This upcoming season features an expanded series of New Stages performances. Presented in the Historic Asolo Theater, these works encompass a variety of genres. Throughout the year the Ringling will announce related workshops, master classes, open rehearsals and more.