Cinco de Mayo Fundraiser Set For Cape St. George Light

Advance bidding on items for the Cinco de Mayo Silent Auction to benefit the Cape St. George Light is underway at Sea Oats Gallery, 128 East Pine Avenue, on St. George Island.
"Preview Socials" will be held at the Gallery on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, May 2, 3, and 4, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Light refreshments will be served. In addition, the items can be viewed and bids will be accepted during the Gallery's open hours from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday.
"Sea Oats manager Jean Collins and owner Joyce Estes have been very generous in allowing us to display the many wonderful auction items at the gallery," said Susan McClendon, who is coordinating the event.
Auction items include many unique works by artists who are local or who visit the area. Paintings, photographs, sculptures, jewelry, hand-painted scarves, and other offerings representative of the Forgotten Coast experience make up an array of over a hundred special items. Items include paintings, watercolors and pastels by artists Sam Kates, Henry Vyfvinkel, Janet Christenson, Susan McClendon, Judy Soprano, Judy Anthrop, Key Wheeler, Marilyn Bean, Lois Swoboda, Pauline Hoch, and others; stained glass by Sharon Poston; hand-painted scarves and purses by Joyce Estes; photographs by Debbie Hooper, John Spohrer, Ed Tiley, Ron Dickey, Fred Stanley, and others; a scale model of the lighthouse by John Ficklen; a cooking class with Forgotten Coast TV Chef Jerry Thompson; a boat trip with Journeys; baskets by Dee Grinenko; jewelry by Eric Madinger, Judy Ehrhardt, and Barbara Durrett; a dish garden by Gardens, Inc.; an embroidered shirt by Eunice Hartmann; a gift basket by Sometimes It's Hotter; accessories by Joe Taylor of Avenue E and Blue; sculpture by Marty Ray; a low country boil by Loco Catering; and a beautiful silk quilted and embroidered throw by SGLA member Barbara Durrett.
The auction will conclude on Monday, May 5, at the third annual Cinco de Mayo Fundraiser for the Cape St. George Light, sponsored by the St. George Lighthouse Association in conjunction with Sometimes It's Hotter Seasoning Company. The event will once again be held in its traditional location, under the tents in the parking lot of Sometimes It's Hotter at 37 E. Pine Avenue on St. George Island, beginning at 4 p.m.
There will be plenty of Mexican food, beer, wine, and margaritas, along with music, the return of the popular Salsa Competition, and as a special addition for 2008 - a raffle for a Champagne Cruise on the 45' sailing vessel "Heritage of Apalachicola."
"George Kirvin Floyd has very generously made the ‘Heritage' and her crew available for a bay cruise for some lucky lighthouse patron and his or her friends," said SGLA Secretary Terry Kemp. The cruise will accommodate up to 12 participants to be invited by the winner, and all will enjoy drinks and hors d'oeuvres aboard the 45' wooden ketch designed by L. Francis Herreschoff of Bristol, Rhode Island, designer of many America's Cup contenders. The "Heritage," formerly the "Quark," is docked at the Apalachicola Maritime Museum on Water Street. Tickets for the raffle are available at the St. George Island Visitor Center and Lighthouse Museum and at area businesses.
Funds raised at the Cinco de Mayo event and through the "Heritage" raffle will be used for the continuing reconstruction of the Cape St. George Light. The historic lighthouse built in 1852 collapsed in 2005 after years of beach erosion. The St. George Lighthouse Association has been working tirelessly to raise the funds and provide the volunteer labor to reconstruct the lighthouse on St. George Island, where it will be more accessible to residents and visitors alike.
"We have been fortunate to receive government grants from the State of Florida, which have enabled us to reconstruct the masonry tower. Funds are still needed, however, to complete the job - for stucco, paint, windows, stairs, and eventually construction of the Keeper's Dwelling which will house a small museum and Visitors Center," said SGLA President Dennis Barnell.
For more information about the Cinco de Mayo 2008 Fundraiser for the Cape St. George Light, contact the St. George Island Visitor Center and Lighthouse Museum at 927-7744.