Spirit of season shines bright on Longboat Key

Most dogged helper
Marley Gordon, 10, was Santa’s most dogged little helper Dec. 6, at the 35th annual Holiday Night on St. Armands. Patrick Gordon, of Lido Key, said his wife, Suzanne, dresses Marley and his mother up every year — “sometimes to an embarrassing degree.”

Most angelic
Linda Weber and Jean Zakovec looked like they’d fallen from heaven Dec. 3, when they dressed as angels for the Women’s 18-Hole Golf Association and Key Niners annual Frosty Frolic.

Best casting
William Maass, 5, of Boone, N.C., played the part of cruel King Antiochus, king of Syria, on Hanukkah, while visiting his grandparents, Andy and Ruth Maass, on Longboat Key.

Ruth Maass adapted the story of Hanukkah into a play for the entire family to perform. The family typically gathers every November on Longboat Key for Thanksgiving — but this year was extra special with the once-in-a-lifetime convergence of Thanksgiving and the first night of Hanukkah that was dubbed “Thanksgivukkah.”

Other cast members included Celia Maass, 8, and Emma Halpin, 12, as narrators, and Mikey Halpin, 15, as videographer and male chorus member; parents Emily Maass and Annie Halpin as the girls chorus, Mike Halpin as a Syrian soldier and Kern Maass as Judah Maccabee; and grandparents Andy Maass as Mattathias and Ruth Maass as organizer and director of sound effects.

Contact Robin Hartill at [email protected]