The 17th Annual Jewels on the Bay Designer Showhouse, benefiting the Boys & Girls Clubs of Manatee and Sarasota Counties has invited 30 top area designers who will transform two homes in the historic Bay Point Park for the 2012 Jewels on the Bay Showhouse.  Most natives identify with the bungalows and ranches from the early 1900s that were leading architectural styles of the era.  These charming styles are making a comeback and will be the focus of the 2012 Showhouse exhibition.  The Showhouses will be open to the public from January 22-February 19, 2012.  For tickets and group tours call 780-1790.  For more information visit www.DesignerShowhouseSarasota.com.

Room Dedicated at Palmetto Boys & Girls Club to Steve Mills

Community members came together to honor and remember Steve Mills at the Palmetto Boys & Girls Club on September 22^nd.  The dedication of the Meeting Room at the Club was attended by over seventy friends, family, club staff and board members of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Manatee County.  An original oil painting by Paula Hawkins was presented to the Mills family and hung in the meeting room.“Boys & Girls Clubs always held a special place in his heart and he would be humbled, as the whole Mills family is, at this honor,” said Sally Mills.
Steve Mills played a leadership role in the strategic planning for the new Palmetto Boys & Girls Club.  He spearheaded the collaboration of many organizations to bring the new club into being. The highly anticipated new club serves over 200 children a day and is used by the community for many additional purposes including an adult computer literacy program.
Steve Mills was the incoming president of the Corporate Board of Directors when he passed suddenly.  The dedication was held the evening before the 3^rdAnnual Steven V. Mills Memorial Golf Tournament that raised over $37,000.  Proceeds benefit the Boys & Girls Clubs of Manatee County and PACE Center for Girls.

 

 Board Member Spotlight:  Ross Hodges, President BGC Corporate Board of Directors

Ross Hodges currently serves as President of the Board for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Manatee County.  He became involved in the mid 1990s and serves on the Foundation Board of Directors and joined the Corporate Board of Directors in 2006. He has served as the Vice President of the Finance Committee and the Support Services Committee.  Ross was a club kid himself in Lubbock, Texas and believes in the mission of the Boys & Girls Clubs. He knows that the programs and caring adults at the clubs have a positive influence on the future success of club kids. Ross and his wife Shelia have three children, now all in college, and they have always been very involved in their children’s lives, supporting their activities whether as a coach for a sports team, dance or on the SAC at their schools.  He knew the valuable investment of time and effort for his kids would have a high return in the future from the examples his father and mother set for him growing up.

Ross’s father hails from Amarillo Texas where he was an only child raised by his mother, a single parent.  His dad grew up in the Boys Club, the Amarillo Mavericks Boys Club.  He credits the involvement of the caring adults and coaches at that club as being a major influence in his life that kept him out of trouble and out of the bad choices he saw others make.  Ross’s father joined the Navy and went on to become a teacher and married Ross’s mom, also a teacher.  Ross’s dad also coached basketball at the Boys & Girls Club for many years. Ross is the eldest of four children and his parents now have fifteen grandchildren and two great grand-children.

Ross attended the Florida Council Meeting of the Boys & Girls Clubs and heard a young man deliver a moving speech about how the Boys & Girls Club had changed his life.  The young man now has college goals. He received an award from the Council for his outstanding achievement as a club member in spite of many personal challenges for him and his family.

Ross remarked after hearing his speech, “It is not just the positive changes in one individual’s life that can be credited to Boys & Girls Clubs, that is remarkable in itself, but there are generational changes for the good that will continue to payoff for that individual’s children and grandchildren, just as my father’s Club experiences did for me and my brothers and sisters.”

Ross worked many dirty, hot jobs over summers in Texas on his family’s ranch, including bailing cotton and running cattle.  One day his grandfather took him to town to go to the bank.  It was one of a very few air conditioned buildings in the town, and that is when he decided he wanted to become a banker, like the nicely dressed man in his three piece suit in a cool building.  Ross plans to meet with club members to share some of his personal experiences with them and learn about their goals and aspirations.

As President of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Manatee County Ross will be working to build strategic partnerships in the community. He plans to showcase the results that support the three critical areas of the achievement for club members including academic success and post high school goals, good character and citizenship and healthy lifestyles. “My vision for the Boys & Girls Clubs is to see more kids, attending more often and in more places,” Ross said.

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On Thursday, August 18^th the Boys & Girls Clubs of Manatee County held a Grand Opening at their new Daughtrey Elementary School Club with many community and school district leaders on hand for the ribbon cutting.

Angela Lindsey, Principal of Daughtrey Elementary School and key members of her staff shared their excitement about having the new Club at their school.  Instructors will have dual responsibility for Manatee Schools and Boys & Girls Clubs of Manatee County.  The before and after school programs will focus on ensuring students are achieving success in math and reading, and will also include instrumental and vocal music programs.  There are plans to add athletics including track and field. The program officially started on August 29^th.  A private family foundation combined with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America have funded the program for the first three years.

Joe Stokes, Director of Elementary Education for Manatee County Schools, called what has been coined the “Trifecta” a sure bet and encouraged everyone present to return in May to see and celebrate the rewards of the partnership.

Lorraine Orr, Senior Vice President of Field Services for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) stated, “While BGCA has nearly 1,400 Clubs in schools, one of the biggest challenges we face in school-based sites is providing youth with an uninterrupted Club experience when moving from elementary to middle and from middle to high school. The opening of the Daughtrey Club ensures this seamless transition making the Boys & Girls Clubs of Manatee County one of a few organizations in the country to implement this model of service.”

The grand opening and ribbon cutting was videotaped by METV and can be seen on METV’s You Tube site by clicking here.