Susan Bain and Laura Gawne, owners of www.Cheap-Chic-Weddings.com.
2013 third place-winning wedding dress
designed by Carol Touchstone.
Photos provided
INSET BELOW: Rick and Pat Howard, owners of Sklar Furnishings, will be named Small Business Leaders of the Year by the Greater Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce at its annual Business Awards Luncheon in May.
Photo provided
By Christine Davis
Hurry and go buy some Charmin; it’s time for 10th annual Cheap Chic Weddings Toilet Paper Wedding Dress Contest, a www.Cheap-Chic-Weddings.com competition started by the site’s owners, sisters Laura Gawne of Boca Raton and Susan Bain of Weston with their mother, Roxie Radford, who lived in Boca Raton for many years before she passed away in August.
Deadline is 11 p.m. May 13.
Here’s how it works: After planning a design, contestants must put together a wedding dress with tape, glue or needle and thread, using Charmin Ultra Strong, Ultra Soft or Basic as the “fabric” (there is a strength and texture to suit all needs, the sisters say). To help offset the cost of designing these creations (which can use up to 50 rolls of toilet paper), Charmin is providing coupons via the Cheap Chic Weddings website.
Contestants must make the dress and headpiece on their model or dress form and take digital photos (front, back and side), and submit the photos to Cheap Chic Weddings at TPdresscontest@gmail.com. There is no entry fee.
A panel at Cheap Chic Weddings will judge the digital photo entries, and the top 10 will be showcased at a live event June 12 at The Sanctuary Hotel in New York City.
The contest was created to bring readers to their website, www.Cheap-Chic-Weddings.com, Bain explained, and it has turned out to be a real winner.
“Our contest’s sponsorships go from $25,000 to $125,000, and our top sponsor pays over $100,000.”
Some of that money, of course, goes for prizes: $10,000 for the grand prize, $5,000 for second place and $2,500 for third place.
The first year, a few hundred people entered the contest. This year, Bain said, she expects more than 1,500 entries.
“I’m still enamored by our first winner,” Bain said. “She made colored-toilet-paper flowers all over the dress and working buttons out of toilet paper, too. She set the precedent.”
The bottom side of this contest is all the potty jokes.
“We do say, ‘No yellow. No brown.’ No pun intended, but we don’t want to become the butt of a joke,” Bain said. “It really does, though, start flying at morning talk shows when the bathroom jokes get out of control.”
One last tidbit: It’s probably not a good idea to actually get married in one of these creations.
“We did a promotion in 2007, where one of our previous winners made a dress for one of our readers, and that couple got married at the Charmin public restrooms in Times Square. However, they are getting divorced.”
The 52nd annual Delray Affair, April 25 through 27, will be bigger and better than ever, with more than 700 arts-and-crafts vendors, fine art, food and entertainment.
The event will stretch 12 city blocks, from the Intracoastal to Northwest Second Avenue. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
New this year are mobile “Art of the Automobile at Delray Affair” collections, featuring different cars each day; and “Rendezvous at the Affair Media — Entertainment Lounge & Broadcast Center,” sponsored by PeterMark Salon Foundation, a VIP area with food tastings by local restaurants, hair and fashion show, chair massages, tanning salon, giveaways, music, dancing and an after party at Delux Nightclub, at the VIP Block on Northeast Fourth Avenue and Atlantic. Price is $20 Friday and Saturday, and $10 on Sunday.
Garlic Fest champ Bruce Feingold, executive chef of Dada, and AJ Benacquisto, sous chef of 32 East, went head-to-head in February to battle it out in Delray Beach’s 2014 Garlic Chef Finals. They were presented with a mystery item, tofu, and given 15 minutes to create a vegan menu. Then they were instructed to switch sides, and cook up an interpretation of their competitor’s menu. In the end, Feingold’s rendition and execution won him the title once again.
Following the recent State of the Union Address where President Obama championed raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, a number of businesses have publicly endorsed the higher rate and have already started to raise pay of their lowest-paid employees.
“Caffe Luna Rosa of Delray Beach is proudly joining their parade, and we are doing so because we believe it is in the best, long-term financial interests of both the restaurant and our loyal, hard-working staff,” founder/partner Fran Marincola said. Approximately 20 employees will get raises.
Over the years, Caffe Luna Rosa has helped employees set up bank accounts with direct deposit, navigate the process of obtaining their first mortgages and buying a car, and helped employees become American citizens, Marincola said.
“As a direct result, most of our workers embrace Caffe Luna Rosa as more than just a job. We are part of their family, and this almost always translates into their providing our guests with superior customer service.”
Luna Rosa is at 34 S. Ocean Blvd., Delray Beach. Hours are 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.
A rare Mickey Mantle watch, signed and worn by the Yankees slugger, is the latest addition to the Delray Beach Public Library’s baseball memorabilia collection, thanks to a donation by Caffe Luna Rosa’s founder/partner Fran Marincola, who wanted to share his artifacts of baseball history with other aficionados.
Other items in the collection include a contract that shows that Mantle was paid $21,000 in 1954, and autographed photos of Yogi Berra, Sandy Koufax, Warren Spahn, Carl Hubbell and Don Larsen.
Marincola said he bought the bulk of the items at a discounted price from Delray Beach residents Jim and Jodi Murray, who knew the memorabilia would be donated to the library.
No matter what the thermometer reads, it’s always cool in Delray Beach. That’s the message the Delray Beach Marketing Cooperative sends out with its new “Hot Here: It’s Always Cool in Delray Beach” summer marketing campaign.
Created by executive director Stephanie Immelman and associate director Stephen Chrisanthus, the campaign targets in-state travelers as well as residents of cities with nonstop flights to Palm Beach International Airport. It is designed to drive customers to visit www.VisitDelrayBeach.org/hot, where they will find local hotel specials and other useful information. The Delray Beach Marketing Cooperative is a partnership among the city of Delray Beach, the Community Redevelopment Agency and the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce.
Cole Leavitt of Coldwell Banker, Delray Beach, was presented with the Office Deal of the Year award by the Realtors Commercial Alliance for the sale of the former National Enquirer site in Lantana. Leavitt brokered the $3.55 million deal last summer to Palm Beach Maritime Academy. The seven-acre property, at 600 E. Coast Ave., was owned by a Louis J. Appignani trust and had been vacant for three years.
Crane’s BeachHouse Hotel & Tiki Bar in Delray Beach takes the Stay and Play concept to a whole new level by offering guests The Bucket List Experience, a whole array of fun activities, so take your pick.
Bucket List Experience 1: Get Your Feet Wet. Among the many possibilities: Visit the world famous Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens or Lion Country Safari. Take a cruise along the Intracoastal Waterway. Luxuriate at an exotic spa, take a class in gourmet cooking, learn how to meditate or do yoga, enjoy an incredible dining experience, or gamble the night away in a flashy casino.
Bucket List Experience 2: Take the Plunge. Among the many possibilities: Go jet-skiing or paddle-boarding, ride a mechanical bull, drift-fish the day away, explore the Everglades, ride a motorcycle or a horse, go nose-to-nose with a dolphin, play paintball or learn how to surf.
Bucket List Experience 3: Ultimate Thrill Seeker. Among the possibilities: Deep-sea fishing, parasailing, scuba diving, take a helicopter ride, run a marathon or get a tattoo.
To book The Bucket List Experience call (561) 278-1700 or visit www.cranesbeachhouse.com.
This past year was busy for the Greater Boynton Beach Chamber of Commerce, which announced new vision and mission statements. The chamber aims to be “recognized as the premier organization of choice representing and promoting the business community; and to connect business to everything that creates success.” In line with these intentions, the chamber announced three affiliation programs:
• The Lynn University Tuition Discount Program, which entitles chamber members to a 20 percent discount toward graduate degrees and evening or online bachelor’s degree programs. A 10 percent discount is available for immediate families of chamber members.
• Seaview Radio affiliation, which gives new and renewing chamber members the opportunity for 20 free 30-second radio commercials aired on 95.9, 106.9FM and 960AM.
• Brooks Brothers Corporate Membership Program, which entitles chamber members to a 15 percent discount on merchandise.
Thanks to its recent expansion at its Plaza del Mar location, the Plaza Theatre will present an additional lineup of cabaret and comedy:
“Close to You — An Evening of Karen Carpenter” on selected dates in April; “Broadway’s Second Bananas” in May; “Follow The Yellow Brick Road: The Music of Yip Harburg” in June; “Moon River: The Songs of Johnny Mercer” in July; and in August, “Oy Vey … It’s Broadway!” Pricing for the new series is $30 for each cabaret show, and $125 for all five shows.
Open-mike comedy nights are scheduled at 8 p.m. April 26, May 31, June 28, Aug. 2 and 30. Tickets are $15. The theater also announced some new shows to its main stage lineup: Exceptions to Gravity, Forever Plaid, She Loves Me, The Assembled Parties, Phantom and That’s Ballroom. For information, visit the box office, 262 S. Ocean Blvd., Manalapan, call (561) 588-1820, or visit www.plazatheatre.net.
Rick and Pat Howard, owners of Sklar Furnishings, will be named Small Business Leaders of the Year by the Greater Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce at its annual Business Awards Luncheon in May. And here’s some more news about the Howards: They’ve just opened two innovative galleries in their contemporary furniture showroom and design center. The Stressless Gallery features a seating line with recliners endorsed by the American Chiropractic Association, and Il Loft Gallery offers a collection of custom-designed furniture by Giorgio Saporiti.
Sklar Furnishings works with selected high-end furniture, accessory and lighting suppliers from North America, Italy, Scandinavia and the Far East to offer customers the opportunity to express their personal style. Customers can create their own designs by specifying the exact color, fabric, wood finish, shape and size of their furnishings, from sofas available in increments of one inch to dining tables, chairs and wall units.
A report released February by Healthgrades named Boca Raton Regional Hospital one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals for 2014, the fourth year in a row for the recognition.
In order to earn a place on the list, a facility had to have mortality and complication rates low enough to place them in the top 5 percent of hospitals in the nation for the last seven consecutive years.
The organization, which considered nearly 4,500 hospitals, used seven years of Medicare data and looked at the 27 most common diagnoses and procedures in the Medicare population to do its analysis.
Boca Regional has also been named as a Healthgrades 2014 Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence for the 10th year in a row, placing the hospital among the top 5 percent of hospitals nationwide for clinical performance.
Also in February, officials at Boca Raton Regional Hospital announced that Fitch Ratings has affirmed the hospital’s investment-grade credit rating of BBB, while concurrently upgrading the organization’s rating outlook from stable to positive.
Recently, Boca Raton Regional Hospital paid $1.65 million to Signet Real Estate Holdings for the 4,084-square-foot office building at 610 West Glades Road. The property, on 1.27 acres near the hospital’s parking lot, was last bought for $871,827 in 2003.
The property became available after Tristate Imaging Group acquired 11 imaging centers from Signet Diagnostic Imaging and an additional five from Elite Imaging in October. Since the deal included two centers in Boca Raton, one of them was closed and sold.
In March, the Central Palm Beach County Community Foundation held its fourth annual Women of Worth Stiletto Awards Luncheon at the Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach. Speakers included Scripps associate professor Courtney Miller and Dena Sisk Foman, a partner at McLaughlin & Stern, LLP. The event is held annually to recognize and celebrate women in leadership who have made a valuable contribution in Palm Beach County. The 2014 winners were: Corporate: Aleida Socarras, Florida Public Utilities; Entrepreneur: Deana Pizzo, IT Solutions of South Florida; Young Professionals: Caitlin Mertzlufft, NextEra Energy Resources; and Nonprofit: Diana Stanley, The Lord’s Place, Inc.
Christine Davis is a freelance writer. Send business news to her cdavis9797@comcast.net.
Comments