Weekly Update Newsletter
  April 16, 2014
,

   

That's a Wrap!!  Seafood and Sunsets.....Sand and Sandcastles......a perfect combination no matter who you ask. Kudos to all who has put Clearwater Beach on the map, for yet another great reason, with the Pier 60 Sugar Sand Festival.

 

I had the privilege of sitting at one of the VIP Dining Tables catered by Baystar Restaurants. It was a fabulous evening and most definitely a unique experience. The beach was a buzz for the entire 10 days of this event and I know the audience has now grown with anticipation for the event to come back again next year.

 

But wait....there is another event coming up. Speaking of Seafood and Sunsets and so much more... the Clearwater Beach Taste Fest is less than a month away. On Friday May 9th over 30 restaurants will line Beach Walk and South Gulfview Blvd. providing attendees with fantastic food samples from their restaurants. There will be a Wine Village with 15 different wines from different regions, there will be about 10 different craft beers available for the first time, too. Live entertainment, our fabulous Raffle Baskets filled with goodies and for the first time ever, the Clearwater Beach Restaurant Week Cookbook will be on sale for $15.

 

If you have attended this annual event, you already know how fabulous it is. If this will be your first time coming, you are in for a treat!

 

See you there!

   

 

Darlene Kole  

 


F.Y.I
 Water Warning

The City of Clearwater would like to warn its residents that companies promoting water testing and service line maintenance to individual homes are not associated with the City of Clearwater. Private, for-profit water testing companies have been approaching homeowners in Clearwater and throughout Pinellas County, informing them about water service line maintenance and repairs. In the past, companies also have made claims to be able to improve the quality and safety of tap water.

 

All water supplied by the City of Clearwater meets or exceeds all federal and state standards for safe drinking water.

 

The city does not endorse any private water companies, nor does the city's water require additional testing or filtering.

Parking Lot Closed

Sixty-five spaces of Parking Lot #32 will temporarily close effective April 15 for 15 months due to the construction of a new hotel development at the site of the former Adam's Mark Hotel. The current parking lot is located at 332 S. Gulfview Blvd. and is where the former Adam's Mark hotel once stood.

Clearwater Beach  
Parking Survey! 
The Clearwater Beach Chamber of Commerce has been listening to many business managers and owners, employees, and beach visitors about the troublesome of parking on the beach.

In an effort to try to help our beach members, friends and guests we have formed a new
Clearwater Beach Parking Committee.

Our first action is to get to know each individual situation. This is why we have created a Clearwater Beach Parking Survey. Below you will find the link to take the survey. Both employers and employees are encouraged to take this survey!

 
April 18th: 
Egg Hunt on Clearwater Beach 
April 24th: 
Shephard's Mingle
April 26th:
Neighborhood Day   
May 9th: 
Clearwater Beach Taste Fest
 

April
18th: Hop
19th:
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
25th:
Tad the Lost Explorer
26th:
Saving Mr.Banks

*(Dusk)
weather permitting*


 "Making Waves Speaker Series"
Viruses Found in Marine Mammals By Dr. Mya Breitbart, Associate Professor at the University of South Florida
Thursday April 17th
6pm - 8pm 
 Check It Out!
Check out the Flipagram we made of our experience at the
Sunsets at Pier 60
Sugar Sand Festival!

Click the pic!
Member Spotlight

CMSA Marketing
Mary Devine
727.447.3396
What's On The
President's Plate? 
 
  Baystar Restaurants VIP Sand Table Dining 
It's A Great Week To:
Rent A Bike!

Wheel Fun Rentals
301 S Gulfview Blvd
Clearwater, FL
727.578.5773

rotary emblem  

The Rotary Club Of  

Clearwater Beach

April 17, 2014
  Program:

Regular Meeting 

12:15pm - 1:15 pm  

Meeting Location:

Carlouel Yacht Club  

1091 Eldorado Ave

Clearwater, FL   

To Learn More

Click Here  

Congratulations Trisha Rodriguez from The Tropics Boat Tours!

Last Thursday Trisha was inducted as a new member to the Clearwater Beach Rotary Club. Way to go Trisha!

From Donna's Corner of The Beach...

 

    Ode to the Pier 60 Sugar Sand Festival

  

They were all here this week--ET, 007, Darth Vader, Dorothy and her friends from Oz. 
What fun! What's your favorite movie? Who's your favorite character? 
Here's Superman to the rescue, 
   The Godfather for retribution,  
   Dracula for blood 
and The Marx Brothers for humor relief. 
They all came this week....

And the Pier--our end-of-Route 60-Pier. 
Grab an ice cream or lemonade and stroll around. 
Watch the entertainers-- 
   Acrobats, Magicians, Animal Trainers, 
   Jugglers, Comics, Musicians. 
Enjoy the local crafts. Need an anklet? 
Nightlight? Beach scene print? 
Your name on a grain of rice? 
It's all here--and so much more.

Enjoy!

With sand between my toes, 
donna

 

SPORTS LINKS



 
 
 
 
 
 
The Beach Chamber is 
proud to have formed an Elite Partnership with:
 Clearwater Gas System.   
They sponsor ALL of our events.Thank you Clearwater
Gas System!
 
for details on
environmentally-friendly
natural gas energy
for appliances,
water heating, cooking
and pool/spa heating.    


 
Greenlight Pinellas is a community conversation about transportation 
in Pinellas County. 
 

Get Involved

Click below to learn more about 

Greenlight Pinellas:

  

The Plan

Events

Ask a Question

Your Stories 


For more information please
 visit their website



Social Media
Links

facebook-logo

  

Tourism Video    
 

 

Beach Chamber Staff: 

Darlene Kole  

President/CEO

Liz LaJoy

Office Manager

Ann Locke

Special Events  

Jessica Howe

Administrative Assistant  


 

 

Office Volunteers: 

 John Cagle   


Maria
Maria 
   
Beach Chamber Mascot

2014 Executive Officers 

Eric Waltz   

Chairman of the Board

 

Louie Stavropoulos

Vice Chairman

 

Carol Mears

Secretary  

 

Jason Gibertoni

Treasurer  

 

Darlene Kole
 President/CEO


 

Surf Style Visitor Center

 
 

Donna Dennis 

Manager  

Kathy Murray 

 Concierge 

 

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 

Ed Patch  

Christie Hanna 

Connie Maynard   

 

Tell Your Guests Our Visitor Center's Sell tickets for:   

Jolley Trolley logo

    

   

The Beach Chamber sells discounted  

Busch Gardens half day tickets too!    


333 S. Gulfview Blvd
Clearwater Beach, FL 33767
727.447.7600

It's here, it's finally here! Our first glimpse at the much awaited trailer for Dolphin Tail 2!
Click the video to view.
Dolphin Tale 2 Official Trailer (2014)
Dolphin Tale 2 Official Trailer (2014)

 

Congratulations
Members!

In this past Sunday's newspaper the Tampa Bay Times published their Tampa Bay's Top 100 Work Places of 2014! The Clearwater Beach Chamber of Commerce is very happy to be able to congratulate some of our members that made this very honorable list! This survey is based on employees of these businesses that volunteered to take the TBT's survey. The Large category is 500-plus employees, the midsize category is 150-499 employees, and the small category is 50-149 employees.

From the Large Business Category:
Busch Gardens & Adventure Island

From the Midsize Business Category:
Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach Resort & Spa
 Sandpearl Resort
and
La Quinta Inns & Suites


From the Small Business Category:
 Bouchard Insurance Inc.


We are also pleased to announce that Fifth Third Bank and Loews Don CeSar Hotel received honorable mentions.

Click here to read some of the articles on the winners!
 
Welcome Jay R. Campbell to
Hilton Clearwater Beach!

Jay R. Campbell has been named general manager of the 416-room Hilton Clearwater Beach resort nestled on 10 acres of white-sand coastline in Clearwater Beach, FL.  
 

Campbell brings over 30 years of leadership experience in hotel management, finance and operations. He began in the food and beverage industry in 1979 and worked for Houlihan's Restaurants and LA Cafes holding several key management positions including vice president of operations. In 1987, he joined the hotel industry as director of food and beverage for the Hotel Park Tucson where he remained for two years before joining Renaissance Hotels and Resorts in Dallas, Texas. After six years, Campbell joined Remington Hotel Corporation in Indianapolis before taking the appointment of general manager for Meristar Hotels and Resorts. Interstate Hotels brought him to Missouri in 2000 where he received the General Manager of the Year award in 2002. He was appointed general manager of Millennium hotels in 2006 where he remained until 2010. Prior to joining Hiltons of Branson, he was interim general manager of the Radisson Branson.

 

His leadership skills and experience in motivating associates has won him many accolades and awards including Business Excellence Award, President's Hotel award and the president of the hotel association in St. Louis. He holds a BA Degree in Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Management from Michigan State University, School of Business. He enjoys tennis, skiing, golf and water sports.


florida free ride logo newer
Florida Free Rides' New Carts!
  You've probably seen these neat little carts going around the beach this week and wondered," Whose cart is that? Because I want a ride!" These are none other than Florida Free Rides! To help accommodate larger groups traveling on the beach they now have 6 passenger gas powered carts!
2014 CLEARWATER BEACH CHAMBER  

ANNUAL AWARDS NOMINATIONS!!  

 

On behalf of the Executive Board for the Clearwater Beach Chamber of Commerce, I extend to you the opportunity to nominate a deserving business for an award this year.  All nominees must be members of the Clearwater Beach Chamber of Commerce to be eligible.   

We are accepting nominations in the following categories:

  

Citizen of the Year

 

Volunteer of the Year 

 

Non-Profit Business of the Year

 

Large Business of the Year

 

Small Business of the Year

 

Tourism Person of the Year

 

Individuals may be self-nominated.  The Beach Chamber Awards Selection Committee will review the nominations, and recipients of the Awards will be honored at the Annual Awards Dinner to be held at the Holiday Inn & Suites Clearwater Beach, on June 3rd, 2014.

 

Please deliver,
fax or e-mail
your nominations TODAY!
FAX #: (727) 443-7812
or
P.O. Box 3573
Clearwater Beach, FL 33767 


Please take note that this year the Clearwater Beach Restaurant Week Awards will be given at the Annual Awards dinner.

Mingle Next Thursday
At Shephard's Beach Resort
Shephard's

Room Tours
Drinks
Hors d'oeuvres


Thursday, April 24th
5:00pm  - 7:00pm
Members: $10 in advance
$15 at the door
Non-members: $15




Presenting Sponsor:

  
Click here to visit the websites! 

        

It's Easter Time!

Below you will find some events/menus etc for our local area for this weekend!

Clearwater Beach Easter Egg Hunt

Friday, April 18th
6:00 pm
Mandalay Park
Easter Spa Offer, Florida Orange Scrub
 and Blueberry Facial From The Hyatt Clearwater Beach

Don't color eggs this Easter, hue yourself in blue and orange and emerge blissful and beautiful. Sandava Spa invites you to treat yourself this Easter with a special offer that includes a Blueberry Bliss Facial and Florida Orange Scrub at a deep discount. Enjoy the perfect anti-aging facial, then a hand-crafted artisan scrub infused with the scent of Florida's famous oranges, instantly transporting you to the groves with its citrus-y aroma. For your convenience, we add an 18% service charge to all of our treatments/services.  The service charge includes a gratuity for your technician and is based on the original cost of the service(s).  $199 special rate is for the blueberry bliss facial and Florida orange scrub received on the same day by the same guest.  No other discounts or promotions may apply.  Subject to change and based on availability.

 

Click here for the Easter Brunch Menu at SHOR  

Click here for more Easter Spa Promotions!  

Chapel by the Sea
Easter Service

In his Easter Sunday sermon titled, "Tombstone Territory". This sermon can be heard at both 9:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. at Chapel-By-The-Sea.

 

Nursery care is available for the 9 and 10:30 services. Sunday School and visiting children should bring a basket for the Easter Egg Hunt after the 10:30 service.

 

The Sunrise Service will be preached by Rev. J. Thomas Hartung using I Corinthians 15:12-28 as the text; the sermon title is "Risen Christ . . .Our Hope and Faith". This service will be held outdoors in the Sunday School Courtyard at 7:00 a.m. Mrs. Flo Bickel will provide the piano accompaniment. You may bring your own chairs to this casual but inspiring service. 

All are welcome at Chapel-By-The-Sea Community Church, 54 Bay Esplanade, Clearwater Beach. phone: (727) 446-0430.