Lido Shores: St. Patrick Meets Lido Shores — and Everyone Enjoyed a Great Party

Welcoming LSPOA members to the 2019 Spring Potluck at Jean & Kent Williams house
(L to R: Diane Cook, Carol Fuoco, Lorraine Cersosimo, Miriam Cassell, Vic Bass, Carol Bowen,
Kimberly Peterson, Stuart Cassell)

St. Patrick’s Day Sunday March 17th dawned cloudy and gray; the weather forecast was a bit ominous. Undaunted, LSPOA Potluck hosts Jean and Kent Williams had already come up with Plan B before the set-up crew arrived at 1:00 pm. “OK, if it rains—no problem—we’ll just bring everything inside the house.” Pretty brave, considering we were expecting a record crowd that ultimately turned out to be 76-people. But that’s how Jean and Kent roll... cool, calm and unflappable.

Set-up captain Carol Fuoco was in high gear directing the many worker bees who had showed up to move tables and chairs from the City-provided Sarasota Neighborhood Association trailer. In no time, the Williams’ terrace was transformed into a sea of Irish-inspired decorated tables.

The three Carol's—Fuoco, Bowen and Williams

Carol Bowen found lovely plants in St. Paddy’s Day-green foil-wrapped pots and Peggy Abt went Irish-crazy on Amazon to obtain the cute little “end of the rainbow” pots with gold “coins” to boot.

She also bought the great green necklaces we all sported during the dinner. If Ken hasn’t cut off her credit card, we’ll try to harness her creative juices for the next potluck. Thanks, Peg!

Members arrived en masse at 5:30 pm. Fred and Judy Fiala’s meticulously-curated wine selections were in peak condition, ready to drink, and everyone was ready to try them. It didn’t hurt that Janet Augustine, our favorite bartender ... and “keep things under control” general... was there to say hello and get that wine flowing.

Marylee Bischoff, Judy Fiala and Denis Bischoff

Soon the terrace was filled with Lido Shorians sporting varying degrees of green-colored apparel, wearing Peggy’s bright green necklaces, greeting one another with “Happy Spring!” Miriam Cassell flitted about, offering to apply green lipstick to anyone who was game. Look carefully at the photos—you’ll see evidence of her handiwork.

Much to everyone’s surprise, the sun finally came out and dinner was served. As promised, there was a mix of Irish-inspired dishes:

Steve and Amanda Reid brought an Irish ale, potato and cheddar soup; Katie Best made Irish soda bread and a delicious chicken pot pie; Marylee Bischoff, Carol Fuoco and Carol Bowen all made corned beef. It was Carol Bowen’s first try and we were very happy with the result.

Host Jean Williams & Miriam Cassell

There were a number of crowd-pleasing favorites: Elliott Himelfarb’s sliced flank steak; Bob Essner’s poached salmon with cucumber sauce; Cathy Voigt’s Moroccan chicken; Lynn Carvel’s Southern fried chicken (contact her for the recipe); and a great selection of side dishes and salads. The prize for smallest carbon footprint dish goes to Diane Desenberg, whose salad was made from garden greens grown on her property and garnished with papayas from her own trees.

In between courses, President Lynn Carvel greeted everyone and introduced first-time potluck attendees, many of whom are brand-new LSPOA members too, including:

Sue Wietendorf — just purchased Chicky Drost’s house on Center Place.

Kimberly Peterson — husband Bruce was out of town; they just purchased the Kitzis house on Center Place.

Beth and Andrew Garvin — Andrew and brother Tony inherited their dad Bob Garvin's Hiss Studio on Westway.

Matt Lloyd - Katie Best’s husband—a.k.a. “Mr. Best”— and finally in town on a potluck date.

Melissa and Steve Reid — long-time renters of Kay Mapp’s house on Westway.

"Lido Bayside" residents Kathrine Huelster and Christopher Banner, and Mary and Craig Piotrowski all attended their 1st potluck.

Elliott Himelfarb with an Irish inspired plate

Katie Best, Ken Abt, Matt Lloyd

It was great timing to have so many new people in the neighborhood available to get the chance to meet everyone. And even though it was not their first Potluck (having been wonderful potluck hosts on a few occasions) it was a treat to see Carrie and Ken Cox.

Usually the celebration of their daughter Sam’s birthday has coincided with our Spring Potluck date, so they haven’t been in town to attend. Must have been LSPOA’s “luck of the Irish” to have them in attendance this year!

But all good things must come to an end - - and in the end, nothing finishes a meal like a good dessert. Boy, we had plenty of those. Peggy Abt managed to step away from cruising Amazon.com long enough to prepare a deliciously decadent chocolate cake.

Mark and Laura Mattia brought a sheet cake decorated with a pot of gold at the end of a beautiful rainbow. Others brought a selection of cookies and other yummy things too numerous to describe. But as I ate a number of them, I can attest to their goodness. The final touch? A wee dram of Irish whiskey, a few sips of which some of us managed to fit in despite all we had eaten before.

So as we slipped off into the night, some of us took a moment to reflect on how much fun the evening had been— and how lucky we are to live in a special neighborhood like Lido Shores. Thanks to all who attended, helped and otherwise made our St. Patrick’s Day Spring potluck such a great one!

~Anne Essner, Social Chair

Photos by: Jean Williams, Carol Fuoco & Anne Essner

Catching up with neighbors - Sue Lifeso, Christopher Banner, Janet Minker,
Katherine Huelster, Miriam Cassell, Carrie Cox, Jan & Cathy Voigts,
Peggy Abt, Marylee Bischoff