The Civilized Life in Sarasota: New College Clambake

The lawn of the Charles Ringling Mansion on Clambake night is one of the few times you will see grande dames in jeans at an event, and they all look as terrific as they do in a ball gown. A perfect evening temperture-wise last night greeted hungry guests as they enjoyed cocktail hour overlooking Sarasota bay, just north of the Ringling Museum on the New College campus.

There is not a lot to say about the evening because there is basically no program, it's just a good lobster eating time! It is very casual and comfortable. There is no assigned or reserved seating and everyone stands in line to get one of Phil's one and a half pound lobsters. It is nice because you sit at long lunchroom-like tables covered in plastic with plastic bids hanging on the back of your chair. There is a communal basket in the middle of the table with napkins and wipes and everyone just digs in! It's a wonderful opportunity to meet new people.

This event always has a nice age mixture, too. They even invite several of the New College students to mix and mingle. Whenever I speak to one, I am always overwhelmed by the fields they are studying. The best and the brightest really do go to NC and we are so fortunate to have them here. A darling and friendly young lady from Arkansas drove me in the golf cart back to my car. She was adorable and obviously very smart to boot!

This was the 33rd annual Clambake and I have been to many of them and always enjoyed myself. The crowd does change as the years go by, but there is always a lot of old Sarasotans and new folks in the crowd.

I really liked the new invitation. Even though I always liked the original one that was the same every year, this was a nice change.

Robert Lincoln and Stacy Dillard-Spann were the co-chairs and Julie and Phil Delaney were honorary chairs, as they have been the chairs for the past umpteen years, with Northern Trust always a major sponsor. It was nice to see Marty Katz as a new addition to the NC Foundation staff as marketing director. She is a sweetie-pie! Her pal from when they were both at JFCS, Johnette Cappadona, who is now the Foundation's Director of Special Initiatives, lured her over.

Others seen in the crowd were Mark and Jennie Famiglio, Mike and Marie Pender, Sen. Bob and Pat Johnson, Johnette Isham and Jeff Plunkett, Gerri Aaron, Gil and Elizabeth Waters, Gloria and Marian Moss, Lee Peterson, Helene Myers, Lisl and Wes Roberts, Cindy Hill Ford, Gwen and Gen. Rolland Heiser, Ric and Kathy Coffey, John Chapman, Charlie Lenger and Bruce Chrissy, Felice Schulaner, Adam Terbugge, Sylvia Barber, Phil King, Jay Brady, and Pauline and Albert Joerger.