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Greetings fellow Skalleagues,
Thank you for joining us for our June Meeting – it was so lovely to see your faces as we finally gathered back in person! We must start by thanking our fantastic host and fellow SKAL members – Julie Cortina, Ming Rogers and their team at the Bay Shore at Westshore Yacht Club. We appreciated your flexibility with dates and the extra measures you took to ensure the safety of our guests including extra space allowing for social distance from registration through networking and into our dinner. The renovated space looks great, the food was phenomenal, the live entertainment really enhanced the ambiance and way to order up a gorgeous sunset!
We were happy to welcome Thomas Fraher, GM of the Don Cesar. He transferred from the SKAL DC Club and while he has been a member since March, this was our first in person meeting for him to attend. Thomas, it was a pleasure to have both you and your wife join us and look forward to seeing you at future meetings.
During our meal last night, we took the time to not only introduce our guests as we usually do, but to hear updates from everyone in attendance about the status of their business. I was inspired by your stories of resilience, recovery, and how you are re-imagining how to continue to bring memorable experiences to our guests with our Bay Area signature hospitality. I hope you felt encouraged recognizing how business is returning and were reminded that you can and should lean on your fellow Skalleagues for support and referrals.
At the conclusion of our meeting, we took a moment to recognize the passing of our SKAL Host from our October meeting at the Sirata. Jeff Abbaticchio passed away last week of cancer. Those of us that knew him will tell stories of his outgoing energy, fun-loving spirit, and signature optimism that made him a favorite of all he came in contact with. In true Jeff nature, we could not have a moment of silence but rather, a long and loud cheer to celebrate a life well lived! You will truly, deeply missed my dear friend.
Our next meeting will be held on July 13th at Top Golf Tampa offering an evening of fun and celebration. Top Golf offers the opportunity for golfers of all skill levels to engage and in addition to a great menu, includes 2 hours of unlimited Top Golf Play. The dress code for our evening is golf attire/casual attire. You and any guests are invited and can register at:
www.SkalTampaBay.com/events and you can check out all of our past event photos at: www.SkalTampaBay.com/photos. Also, as requested by many, you’ll also have a chance to meet our newest Skalleague, referred to as the ‘First Baby’ – my new son Kai will be joining us.
Additionally, we usually do not have a meeting in August but will this year since we had cancellations in April and May due to COVID. Please Save the Date for our August meeting taking place at the Karol Hotel on August 10!
Let’s continue to do what we do best in Hospitality - take care of our people! SKAL!!
Kristina Alspaw
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