After months & months of planning & preparations the BIG 2011 “Historic Holiday Spirit” Ybor City Kick Off Event was finally here!!! The greater Ybor City community came together (150+ people) under the leadership of GaYBOR District Coalition, YCDC & Florida Entertainment to festively decorate the main streets and parks of Historic Ybor City for the Holidays 2011!!!  The volunteers were made up of residents, Tampa Park’s Dept, City employees, business owners, HCC Ybor, USF, church groups, non profit organizations & many, many friends of Ybor City  (The Ybor City Chamber of Commerce had no representation or volunteers?).  All these people were up early to meet at The Reservoir Bar at 11 AM Sunday morning. There was a breakfast buffet of bagels, muffins, fruits, coffee & juice. Everybody received a  Historic Holiday Spirit in Ybor City 2011 T-shirt & directions on how to set up.  Breaking off into 5 main groups the teams were off.  There were free drinks along the way at MC Film & Hamburger Mary’s. All of Santa’s helpers worked together for about 2 hours throuhout Ybor City. The after parties were at Gaspar’s Grotto, Hamburger Mary’s & Bradley’s on 7th. There are many special and memorable events planned through the month of December.  For times & dates please visit www.YborEvents.com

G.BAR is one of those few wonderful clubs where you “Expect the Unexpected!!!” Their 5 Year Anniversary lived up to their reputation!!! On stage was a 5 foot tall Birthday Cake complete with a Golden Model Dancing!  Surrounded by Dancing Men & Drag Queens!  Tossing out Limited edition music CD’s by resident VJ/DJ Greg Anderson! Girls in cake dresses were passing out shots of Cake Vodka.  There was a Champaign toast & so much more. This is the stuff Legends are Made Of!!!   Congratulations and THANK YOU to club owners, D. Stephen Moss and Steve Donahue for your positive vision for the Tampa Bay GLBT community. Just to show you how very committed to the community G.BAR is…. the next day at 11 AM the staff all volunteered to help put up Holiday Decorations throughout Historic Ybor!!! WOW WOW Not many clubs can say that!!! Congratulations to Founding members of GaYBOR, G.BAR!!!!

(A letter was sent to all GaYBOR members. Below are the ones that replied)

On her 63 birthday Tampa legend Miss Tiffany Middlesex gave her farewell performance at Bradley’s on 7th. The Diva at the famous Tampa’s Rene Night Club in the 1970’s thru 1990’s and Tiffany was a Miss Gay Florida plus 20 more national distinguished titles. The rooms were packed with many faces we had not seen in a long time. The Miss Joey Brooks cast members performed their hearts out for Tiffany. Then  the Grand Finale came & it was Miss Tiffany looking more beautiful than ever before!! We all know she said this was her farewell performance but everybody is hoping it is not!

The Metro Restaurant & Lounge is now open! Located at 511 North Franklin Street in downtown Tampa. It is just south of the Tampa theatre.  Owners, Bill & Marc want their club to be “Step Out of the Ordinary!”. We are excited to report that is just what this club is!!!  A very clean contemorary, smoke free LGBTA club with a wonderful Grand Piano and tons of CLASS! The menu is impressive and as Lucy Ball would say, “very tasty too!” Here is the menu on line www.metro-tampa.com. Open for Happy Hour… we suggest you treat yourself & give Metro a try today!!!

A Must DO for Breakfast & Lunch!!! It has great ambiance and the Don Vicente Historic Hotels polished wood floors, chandeliers and deep dark wood mahogany wall panels set up your luncheon experience. A very good crowd for the Thursday weekday lunch.  I ordered the special, Italian Goulash with Polenta. Mark ordered the Homemade Pasta with Fresh Fall Vegetables. Jack Shiver, Don Vicente Hotel owner joined us for a quick chat and a snapshot. Luigi’s is a Great asset to any community. Thankful for us he is in Ybor City.

Luigi is very pleasant and outgoing and Luigi’s Catering has earned a flawless reputation for fine food, presentation, style and service. With his recent opening inside the Don Vicente Historic Hotel, Things have gone very well since his move. Luigi will personally meet with you to create a special menu for your event and give you all of the information you need. Luigi will show you a variety of menus, and pictures of food and displays. Stop in and see and visit the creative Italian chef.

Dominic West is our 8 month old nephew. His 2 Moms are our nieces Sarah & Jennifer West in Washington, DC. We are blessed with a very smiling boy!.