Artful Lobster Huge Success!

What a picture perfect day was enjoyed at the Hermitage on Saturday November 15 for our annual Artful Lobster fundraiser! 225 guests enjoyed the music of Ruthie Stephens, the lobster feast by Michael’s on East, and the themed decorations by Joy Rogers and her decorations committee. Kudos to event chair Susan Brennan and her hardworking team that raised more than $50,000 net to support the Hermitage mission!

What a picture perfect day was enjoyed at the Hermitage on Saturday November 15 for our annual Artful Lobster fundraiser! 225 guests enjoyed the music of Ruthie Stephens, the lobster feast by Michael’s on East, and the themed decorations by Joy Rogers and her decorations committee. Kudos to event chair Susan Brennan and her hardworking team that raised more than $50,000 net to support the Hermitage mission!

Preservation Paddle Raise

So how do we care for this magnificent historic and environmental site? Of great help in the future will be an all-terrain service vehicle, a John Deere “gator,”” made possible by a grant from Gulf Coast Community Foundation that was matched through the Artful Lobster Paddle Raise with gifts from the following:

Ellen Berman, Gene and Rita Bicknell, Larry and Carol White Bold, Mark Cole, Linda Crawford and Arthur Adelberg, Joan Engelbach, Susan Erhart, Patrick Henningan, Bette and Arn Hoffman, Susan Hollins, Whitmore Kelley, Key Agency, Inc., Dorothy and Bogie Korszen, Cornelia Matson, Gary and Lynne Mormino, the Paver Family, Mario Petrini and Sandra Nohre, Jocelyn and Jeffery Stevens, and Jean and Jim Wurdeman. Thank you all!

Paddle Raise generosity did not stop with full funding for the service vehicle. Judith Hydeman and Joy P. Rogers are supporting the restoration of the Hermitage chimney. Others who contributed are funding the chimney project as well as a new skylight in the Whitney house and modifications to the deck on the Hermitage House. Our thanks go to these generous contributors: Karen and Jon Albert, Caroline and Dyckman Andrus, Allen Barry, Robert Blattberg, Dan Denton, Linda and David Green, Jim and Ellie Manser, Donald Oakley, Cherry Richards, Tatiana and David Staats, Jessie Townsend Teague, and Tracy Tucker and Joel Howard.

Annual Fund

Once a year we invite our Hermitage “family” – that’s you! – to contribute in support of our mission to nurture creativity, preserve Florida history, protect native ecology, and serve our Gulf coast communities. If you haven’t yet made a year-end, tax-deductible gift, please click on the DONATE NOW button today!

We want to celebrate the “early” donors to the 2014-2015 Annual Fund Campaign – gifts received as of December 15: Caroline Andrus, Carol Ankerson, Juanita and Ross Branca, Doug and Carol Burns, Carol and Michael Clark, Rosalie Reagan Conlon, Dan Denton, Ilene Denton, Joan and Jim Dusenbury, Wendy Hacker, Millie Headdy, Joel Healy, Christ and Dick Hess, Pense Huneke, Barbara and Charles Kahn, Alyssia Lazin Kapic, Susan and David Katz, Josephine Kixmiller, Christine Koski, Jane and Joel Larus, Cathy Layton, Diane Ledder, Linda Long, Bobbi and Will Lorry, Cornelia Matson, Maggie and John Propst, Ronda Rohde, Jo and Stan Rutstein, Susie Samp, Marianne and Mike Schafer, Eva Slane, Nancy and Jack Sneider, Cathy Snyder, Bonnie Southwind, Karen Stults, Cecilia Sweet, and Michele and Rick Tromble.

Plus, you will be pleased to know that many of the artists who come to the Hermitage “pay it forward” with their own generous contributions. As of December 10, our thanks to Melvin Bukiet, Carin Clevidence, Bob and Coleen Cording, Barbara Ellman, Anne Patterson, Sandra Phaup, Bernard Rands, Barbara Ras, Daniel Sklar, Robert Spano, and Y York for their Annual Fund donations.

Palm Circle

We are pleased to recognize three new members of the Palm Circle – our group of donors who contribute $2,500 or more annually to the Hermitage Artist Retreat – Ginger and Bob Bailey, Dan Denton, and Susie Samp. Thank you!