Who Are These People and What Message Do They Have for You ?

We received this Press Release and felt it was worth sharing with our readers. Many businesses and individuals are having a tough time and this story is a very good one.

Scan Design, the largest contemporary furniture chain in Florida, is celebrating its 40th anniversary in April. Reaching such a milestone in retail of any kind, but especially the furniture industry, is almost unheard of. Scan Design's story is remarkable in many ways:
Scan Design founders Preben and Lis Knudsen came to Orlando with only $2,000 to open the furniture store of their dreams and for a time lived in the store with their 3-year-old daughter. In those early days of 1969, Preben and Lis were the only employees of the store, working long days Monday through Saturday handling everything including sales, operations, and furniture assembly, and then making deliveries on Sundays.

At the end of their first month of operation, they were $1,000 short for an important payment, a shortfall that could have spelled the end of Scan Design. The night before the payment was due, a customer came in after business hours and purchased $1,500 worth of furniture, allowing Scan Design to stay open. The Knudsens are still in contact with the customer who saved the day and the store.
Customers are so loyal to Scan Design that there are entire families in which several generations are devoted to Scan Design furniture.
Despite the current economic downturn, Scan Design has laid the groundwork to withstand the slow economy with sound long-term investments and commitment to quality and honesty that ensures customer trust.
Scan Design has remained family owned and operated since 1969 and has recently experienced a successful transfer of power between Preben Knudsen and his younger son Jesper.


The Knudsens continue to individually purchase each piece of furniture carried in their stores, making purchasing trips all over the world from Milan to Singapore to find the most unique and well made furniture.
Preben and Lis Knudsen overcame almost insurmountable odds to turn that initial $2,000 investment into what is today a multi-million dollar contemporary furniture chain, with stores in every major metropolitan area in Florida. We hope that you will consider their amazing story of interest to your readers and worthy of inclusion in Davis Island Community News.

Gasparilla Was A Great Time !

Get all the pics and details here.

Gasparilla Invasion Complete Details

Ready or not, here it comes…

Gasparilla 2009.

For most of the Tampa Bay area, that word conjures thoughts of celebration, fun, and regional - if not national - recognition. But for those of us who live adjacent to the festivities, the word “Gasparilla” might just cause us to roll our eyes, shake our heads, and give us chills.

You know the drill.

Each winter, the city of Tampa holds a festival disguised as an invasion of pirates. Members of the local business elite dress as pirates, sail up the bay on a galleon, and berth in downtown Tampa, claiming the city as their own. The invasion ends with a parade in which leaders of the city escort the pirates from the southern end of Bayshore Boulevard back to the Tampa Convention Center. The celebrating (and drinking) starts early in the morning, before the pirates even land. And once the parade gets going, the noise, crowd, and debauchery really intensifies. Gasparilla is named for the legendary (and fictional?) Spanish pirate captain José Gaspar who operated out this area.

The festival began back in 1904 and has taken place nearly every year. Today over 400,000 people take part in the celebration, and all of downtown and Bayshore Blvd becomes a human log jam of revelry. It all takes place on Saturday, February 7, 2009.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

The Invasion
The legendary pirate, Jose Gaspar, and his band of marauding buccaneers return to Tampa to reenact the historic pirate invasion, which began in 1904. At 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, February 7, 2009 the Jose Gasparilla will appear at the south end of Hillsborough Bay. The ship is met by a multitude of pleasure crafts all intent on defending the City of Tampa. They quickly see the error of their ways and join the Captain and his Krewe’s flotilla. The Gasparilla Flotilla then makes its way north across Hillsborough Bay and into Seddon Channel, between Davis Islands and Harbour Island. The Gasparilla Flotilla, which is led by YMKG’s Jose Gasparilla and accompanied by thousands of crafts, is a spectacle like no other as it makes its way up Seddon Channel towards downtown Tampa. Amidst a volley of cannon fire, the City is defenseless as the Jose Gasparilla docks at the Tampa Convention Center at 1 p.m. The Mayor surrenders the Key to the City of Tampa into the hands of the Captain of Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla at approximately 1:05 p.m.

Following another successful invasion of Tampa, the Pirates gather on Bayshore Boulevard for a victory parade, which begins at 2:00 p.m. at Bay to Bay and Bayshore.
Brunch - You can be among the first in the City to surrender to the pirates while encouraging the Mayor to relinquish the Key to the City! The Tampa Convention Center will host the Gasparilla Invasion Brunch. This is your opportunity for reserved seating along the Tampa Convention Center’s Riverwalk. The Jose Gasparilla will sail up Seddon Channel and dock “table side” at the Convention Center. This colorful event includes a buffet brunch, live entertainmentand a reserved seat with the best view in Tampa of the historic Gasparilla Invasion of the pirates.
Reserved tickets are $58 for adults, and $48 for children ages 3-12. Children two and under admitted free. Visit GasparillaPirateFest.com for more information.

Parade of the Pirates
Having captured the City of Tampa, Jose Gaspar and his merry men share their wealth of beads, treasures and doubloons with the enthusiastic crowd along the 3.5 mile parade route. The Gasparilla Parade of the Pirates consists of over 130 units, including over 90 colorful floats, 14 marching bands, 50 participating Krewes and, of course, those infamous YMKG pirates.

The parade begins at the intersection of Bayshore Blvd. and Bay to Bay Blvd., moves north on Bayshore into downtown Tampa, turning east on the Platt Street Bridge. Parade continues east on Channelside Drive, turns north on Florida Avenue to Jackson Street, then turns east on Jackson, ending at Jackson and Marion Streets.

Admission is free, but you can get reserved seating for $28 per seat. Visit GasparillaPirateFest.com for more information.

Street Festival
The streets of downtown Tampa will again host the Pirate Fest street festival along Florida Avenue, from Kennedy before the pirates invade the City and continues until long after the last pirate parades through the streets! The 2009 Pirate Fest Street Festival will feature stages of live entertainment, food, and the Gasparilla Midway – with games, rides and amusements for all ages. Admission is free.

Live Entertainment Stages
The 2009 Pirate Fest Street Festival features stages with live entertainment, food and fun.

Gasparilla Invasion Stage presented by Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino – Tampa, and sponsored in part by MIX 100.7 FM (Located at the corner of Platt & Bayshore in the Publix parking lot).
10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

Navy Pride Rock Band 11:45 a.m – 12:45 p.m.

Charlie Hotel 1 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.

SkyCoasters Post Parade Mix 5 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.

Charlie Hotel 7 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. SkyCoasters

Gasparilla Pirate Fest Stage presented by Budweiser, and sponsored in part by 98 ROCK (Located at the corner of Florida & Brorein)

12 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. Cellfish

1 p.m. – 3 p.m. Uncovered

Post Parade Mix

5:30 p.m. – 7 p.m. Basic Rock Outfi t
7:30 p.m. – 9 p.m. Carnival of Crue - “Motley Crue Tribute”
9:30 p.m. – 11 p.m. Highway to Hell - “AC/DC Tribute”

Gasparilla City Center Stage presented by Budweiser, and sponsored in part by

CENTRO, Telemundo and 92.5 Maxima FM. (Located at the corner of Florida &

Kennedy)
11 a.m. – 2 p.m. TICH and Voz Juvenil

Post Parade Mix
5:30 p.m. – 7 p.m. Somos Musica
7:30 p.m. – 9 p.m. Point 6
9:30 p.m. – 11 p.m. Supernatural

Gasparilla Captain Morgan Channelside Bay Plaza Stage, sponsored in part by 93.3 FLZ (Located in the Channelside Bay Plaza Courtyard)

5:30 p.m. – 7 p.m. Save the Radio
7:30 p.m. – 9 p.m. Late Night Brass
9:30 p.m. – 11 p.m. Rhythm Method

Super Bowl - A Final Assessment

Ok, the Super Bowl excitement is over.

Like many of you, I attended many of the "Celebrity" parties. Tampa looked good, but as the parties got under full swing, no one seemed to mention the actual game. At one party within feet of me were some of the greatest sports heroes of all time - Wade Boggs, Bobby Bell, Garo Ypremian, Billy Kilmer and plenty more- when a Tampa resident asked me if I had seen any celebrities ? I asked if she had, and the answer was no. Seemed silly for me to change her luck.

Mike Ditka's Gridiron Greats held various events around town to assist former sports players in need of medical and financial assistance. Congratulations to Ditka and local events organizer and former Florida State/Green Bay Packer player Barry Smith on a great job, BUT special mention must be made of Bill Horne, President of Laser Spine Institute at Rocky Point. Laser Spine Institute is contributing One Million Dollars in surgery costs to sports heroes through the Gridiron Greats.

Ticket prices seemed to like to hover at the $250 range for most of these events and many had special VIP sections with prices in the thousands. "Celebrities" must sleep in because they seemed consistently late to arrive to "their" events, if at all. While red carpets with lit logoed back stages seemed everywhere, many were more celebrity wannabes than anything. The tv/movie/music stars seemed to be what the crowds were talking about. Pretty funny considering this all revolves around a major sporting event.

The opening of the Hula Bay Club happened with three celebrity events. This club, formerly Rattlefish, is now staffed with many former SOHO bartenders, managers, chefs, and servers under the direction of former Whiskey SOHO Manager Armando Valdes. The club will open officially next week.

Tampa did a great job in hosting the event. Traffic seemed congested but not too congested. The Tampa Police Dept. seemed to have a pretty good attitude about it all. As did the crowds in attendance. I had doubts Channelside could handle the whole thing and it did feel cheapening to see all the sausage and elephant ear vendors lining downtown streets, but all in all, it turned out pretty well.

Mayor Iorio gave a good summary by saying it is better to have the Super Bowl here during a recession than not having the Super Bowl at all and still having a recession.

BUT back to the game. After days of Super Bowl partying with little mention of the game by the partying crowd, what a game we got. It started a little slow and stayed exciting all the way til the very last minute. Whether a Pittsburgh Steeler or Phoenix Cardinal fan, it was a hell of a game. Did I go to the game ? You kidding ? I attended three great parties and had a great time. What did you do ?