St. Petersburg 

First Time Florida Chapter Chooses

St. Petersburg (Florida) for Its Reunion

by Vera Alexandre  

At first, we three scouts (Dick Abbott, his wife and I) were completely bewildered by the responsibility of bringing the reunion to our small city, St. Petersburg. We asked ourselves what possible points of interest we could find to show it proudly to our friends and colleagues. We know St. Petersburg as our home: a quiet, sleepy old-fashioned town, with some streets still paved in beautiful old bricks-quite unlike the powerful metropolitan areas of Florida. Eventually, we began to realize that St. Petersburg would enchant its visitors. And so it did.

On the first evening of the reunion, we gathered for cocktails and an excellent dinner at Mattison' s, just a few steps from the Harbor. We were fortunate in having Adrienne Nassau, President of the 1818 Society, as our honored guest. She left us with words of encouragement and some detailed information about current activities in the Society. We were delighted that she joined us on this occasions and I think she enjoyed the event very much.

Day two began with a short bus ride over the bridges and along the waterways of Pinellas County to St. Pete Beach and a brief visit to the fabled Don Cesar, a venerable 5-star hotel on a beautiful Gulf Coast beach. After its use by many hundred of American Army troops during WWII, it had been scheduled for demolition. However, a zealous group of citizens came to the rescue. The hotel has been made over and re-glamorized and is now a showpiece. Ms. June Young, our docent for the visit, was a member of the committee that succeeded in saving the hotel from an early demise.

Having made a brief acquaintance with the Don Cesar, we hurried to the quay for a lunchtime cruise on the StarLite Princess, a paddle-wheel steamer. We churned down the intra-coastal waterway, wining and dining all the while. Called "Swing! Swing! Swing!" the cruise featured a trio of talented and pretty singers harmonizing tunes of many years ago, reminiscent of the famed Andrews Sisters.

Next stop was the Salvador Dali Museum on Tampa Bay. This is a veritable jewel of a museum endowed some years ago by Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds Morse who were close friends of the artist and his wife, and who accumulated an impressive number of Dali paintings. The Morses were eager and talented collectors at a time when Dali's surrealism was  beginning to take its place on the world art scene.

 After our visit to the museum, we boarded our bus once more for the short ride to the Abbott "Manse" where Dick and Barbara had invited us for cheese and wine. The bus trip highlighted some of the handsome old residences built early in the last century on the inlets and outlets of Tampa Bay. By some mystical power, Dick and Barbara had arranged not only for a very tasteful cheese board accompanied by the most deliciouswine, but also for one of those spectacular sunsets which, in this part of the world, rightly garner special appreciation. This particular sunset, with its brilliant colors reflected in the water at the Abbott boat landing, was truly remarkable.

The final day of the reunion began with a meeting at the Hampton Inn where most of the delegates were staying. The World Bank had provided a VCR cassette produced on the occasion of the Bank's 60th anniversary. Many photos of those who had served in the early days were shown, with brief summaries of their roles. We saw quite a few faces of friends and colleagues from days gone by.

Following the film, we listened to a presentation by Mr. Bob Dorney, from ASPEC, the Academy of Senior Professionals at our local Eckerd College. Mr. Dorney generously gave us his free time on Saturday morning to discuss "Conflict-How we deal with it and how we should deal with it." He showed us that there are active responses either constructive or destructive, and also passive responses, some constructive and some destructive. Personally, I found Mr. Dorney's outlines quite instructive. My lifelong reaction to moments of conflict has been always to run away. Now I see that perhaps I could have done better.

The evening function was a gala farewell dinner. We were booked at the Garden Restaurant, right in the center of town, a fixture of old St. Petersburg. One section of the building is what remains of the Detroit Hotel, which can be seen on postcards from the 1910 era, standing behind the newly-laid railroad in the then brand new St. Petersburg.Could there now be a developer around the corner planning to make space for new and expensive condominium apartments? We hope not.

The farewell dinner was very festive and a few diehards stayed in the outdoor garden to hear some jazz and enjoy a last drink. There were a few suggestions for the location of the next reunion and the matter is still being considered.