Celebrating Boys & Girls Clubs of the Suncoast’s 50th anniversary are Amy Maguire, left, Cat Coats, Jim Coats, Kay Dillinger and Lenn?Nicklaus-Ball. Maguire and Nicklaus-Ball were co-chairs of the Jan. 30 event at the Sirata Beach Resort in St. Pete Beach.
Supporters of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Suncoast journeyed back to the 1960s to celebrate the organization’s half-century mark. Tie-dye costumes seemed to be de rigueur for the fundraiser, which drew about 400 guests to the Sirata Beach Resort in St. Pete Beach to be entertained by music of the period, go-go dancers and an Elvis Presley impersonator.
BGCS has its roots in the Boys Club of Pinellas Park, founded in November 1959 by Maurice L. MacTarsney, then the police chief, and Margaret “Peg” Nunn. In its current incarnation, led by executive director Carl Lavender Jr., the nonprofit has 11 clubs in Pinellas County.
Honored during the evening were founders, longtime supporters and sustainers of BGCS: Bob and Claudia Sokolowski and the Nicklaus family, including Harry and Beverly Nicklaus, Lenné Nicklaus-Ball, Deborah Nicklaus, Gregg Nicklaus and Valerie Nicklaus.
Amy Maguire and Lenné Nicklaus-Ball were co-chairs of the gala, a fundraiser for club scholarships.
The event committee included Alex Glenn, Andy Winkler, Angie Piazza, Barbara Royston, Bernie Craig, Bill Bennett, Brandi Winans, Carla Mattern, Cat Coats, Catherine McGarry, Derek Berset, Edie Spies, Georgetta Doyle, Jay Coats, Jim Coats, Kara Behar, Katja Weinstock, Leroy Sullivan, Rick Carrick and Tiffany Oferloch.
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