President's Message

Hola -

Things have been rocking along quite well in ole Ybor. The Adela & Cesar Gonzmart Award Winner has been selected - the Eugene C. Iavarone Family, owners of the iconic Carmine's Restaurant on 7th Avenue. Please save the date - Saturday, September 15th to attend our 47th Gala!

We had an excellent summer edition of the Ybor Expo last week, with one of the most diverse groups of exhibitors we have ever had. The exhibits were sold-out and advertisements in the Tampa Bay Business Journal brought in guests from around the Bay area including Chamber Execs from Seminole and Temple Terrace (they liked the table-top luncheon format).

The August Luncheon should be very special. Not only do we present the Dr. Lois Gaston Scholarship to Hillsborough Community College, but we also present the Chamber's Golf Tournament Traveling Trophy to this year's winning team from De La Grana, Boardman and Bessone.

On the family front, our youngest was in-town from Houston a couple of weeks ago. With a new baby in the family, that makes three grandchildren, we decided to rent a condo in Ybor for the week. This turned-out to be a real stroke of luck, because T.S. Debby brought the Hillsborough River right into "River House" for three days (just an inch or two). I had the opportunity take Maggie to the Ybor City Museum Society's Legacy Awards and take my son-in-law, Dave, out for a beer at Bad Monkey's "friends & family night." Of course, the kids all wanted to have lunch at Acropolis Tavena with Daideo.

Fortunately, things are back to normal - after the afternoon rains clear, the view of downtown has been spectacular with the sun gleaming off the glass towers. Over the weekend, we even had a double rainbow.

Ciao, Tom Keating

Events and Announcements by Tom Favata