Make this holiday season special for the little ones in Hillsborough County! 🎄@ Tampa Pride, Tampa Bay Pride Band and Tampa Bay Symphonic Winds, Hillsborough County LGBTQ Democratic Caucus, City Side Lounge, Dishing with Mark & Carrie E-Newsletter, MR D’z Men’s Emporium, Bradley’s on 7th, Showbar Ybor, GaYBOR District Coalition, have united as a community to support a local Hillsborough County Center. Help us bring joy to these children by donating a gift or making a monetary contribution. Every contribution matters and can make a difference in a child’s life. The toy drive will continue until Sunday, December 17th, giving you enough time to make an impact. TOY COLLECTION BOXES located at
Bradley’s on 7th, 1510 E 7th Ave, Tampa, FL 33605
City Side Lounge, 3703 Henderson Blvd, Tampa, FL 33609
Mr D’z Emporium, 1510 N Nebraska Ave, Tampa, FL 33602
Showbar, 1613 E 7th Ave, Tampa, FL 33605
We are incredibly grateful to iHeartMedia for their promoting our Community Toy Drive.#Christmas #ToyDrive2023 #tampaprideofficial #gayborDistrict #yborcityhistoricdistrict #tampabayprideband #CitySideLounge #mrdzemporium #showbarybor #Bradleyson7th, btqcommunity,#hillsboroughcountyfl , #cityoftampa
Community families are in need and it truly tugs at our hearts. So when the opportunity arose to lend a helping hand and bring joy to the little ones aged 3 to 5 by providing them with toys, our LGBTQ organization and local businesses rallied together without hesitation.
We are immensely grateful to the incredible support from Gaybor District, Tampa Bay Pride Band, Hillsborough LGBTQ Democrats Caucus, MC Film, City Side Lounge, and Mr. D’z Emporium. Their unwavering dedication and generosity have truly made a difference in the lives of these children.
Moreover, we would like to extend our heartfelt appreciation to City Side Lounge and Mr. D’z Emporium for graciously offering toy collection accepting donations. Their compassionate efforts have made it convenient for anyone willing to contribute to this meaningful cause.
Together, we can create a brighter and more joyful Christmas for our community. Your support and participation in this collective effort are
Congratulations to the Good Sisters!!! The American Legion, in Tampa, was packed again for their fundraiser. Great job Sisters!!! THANK YOU
Ybor City History Lesson
Thank You Richard Gonzmart for sharing this….
A little history lesson as we prepare to celebrate our 119th Anniversary.
The grand chandelier in the historic Don Quixote dining room at the Columbia in Ybor is decorated for the holidays. For five decades, this elaborate chandelier has graced the room.
Purchased at an auction for $3,000 in 1972 from the Eden Roc hotel in Miami Beach, the chandelier’s worth was appraised in 2004 by an antique and lighting expert at $250,000.
The chandelier has five layers of curved brass arms, each holding a candle-shaped light. The chandelier has 360 small prisms and 105 large prisms that hang from 15 arms. Long sparkling prisms dangle from each candle base like icicles. Others, shaped like sea shells, are worth more than $500 each.
After we discovered this magnificent chandeliers worth, research revealed the chandelier’s story: It was crafted in France in the late 1890s. It took a craftsman close to two years to complete. In 1956, it arrived in Florida, where it hung in the Eden Roc. At the time, the hotel was a luxurious destination for celebrities, including Elizabeth Taylor, Lucille Ball and Ann-Margret.
When the hotel closed for renovations in the 1970s, the Columbia’s my parents, the third-generation owners, Cesar and Adela Gonzmart, purchased the chandelier at an auction for our restaurant.
After the chandelier was brought to Tampa, George Guito, who is like a brother to me, spent nearly four days hanging it in the Don Quixote, which opened as Tampa’s first air-conditioned dining room in 1934.
The chandelier was a natural fit in the Don Quixote room, a large dining room where painted tile artwork dots the walls and flamenco dancers in bright dresses entertain crowds.
In 2005, the chandelier was refurbished in time for the restaurant’s 100th anniversary. Eighty-four of those prisms were replaced at a cost of about $15,000. Six years years ago, the chandelier was removed and cleaned during restoration of the dining room’s ceiling.
HoliGay bar Crwl – GaYbor District in Historic Ybor City
Cookie, John & JB were favorites in Ybor City for many years. Here is the sad new from JB on Facebook this week….
For those in Ybor that knew my friend Cookie, I am sad to inform you that she passed away this morning. Evidently, she suffered a series of mini strokes starting Wed and passed this morning in the hospital in Nashville. We have been best friends for 60 years since high school and she will be missed. Our hearts are broken. RIP my dear friend. 💔😢🫶 Prayers for her family 🙏 My fourth lifelong friend I have lost this year…sad.
This week the Good Sisters performed a Blessing in Ybor City. The rainbow rosary was given to Walter the Pretendent of the GaYbor District Coalition. It will be displayed on the wall of The Reservoir Bar in Ybor City.
This Saturday Night the Sister’s will be at the American Legion on Florida Ave in Tampa. We hope to see you all there,
A good friend of ours was in the Gay Capital of the World, Berlin Germany. As we all know the names of the streets there are very hard to remember. Our friend practiced and practiced the name of the street Infront of his hotel “Ein Weg”. Off to a club and some cocktails. On the way back to his hotel in bewilderment, he notices there were several different streets all with the same name “Ein Weg”. He stopped and ask a Gay guy. The person laughed and said the Ein Weg means One Way. LOL LOL Then the guy offered to walk him back to his hotel. They then had cocktails in the hotel and….. Now 5 years later they are still together and living in Atlanta. What a great story of a 1st date.
