Taste of the Keys to bring food, fashion and fun for good cause

Longboat Key is full of model citizens. Twelve local “celebrities” will embrace their inner supermodels and hit the runway in fashions by Island Pursuit Jan. 21 for the fifth annual Taste of the Keys and Fashion Show.

“We had a powwow to choose people who we think will draw a crowd,” Co-Chairwoman Susan Landau said. “We chose people who are well-known and who give so much to the community.”

The Longboat Key Garden Club hosts the event, which takes place at the Longboat Key Club Harbourside Dining Room. This year, attendees can sample selections from 16 local restaurants.

“We’ve got good stuff and terrific food,” Landau said. “From prime rib sliders to snapper to pesto and cheese pizza, we have something for everybody.”

Landau expects an attendance of 250 and said attendees always enjoy the food, show and, most importantly, getting together.

“You have such a uniting of the community, and people really see how close-knit we really are,” Landau said.

The event will also feature a Chinese auction with six raffle baskets, including a relaxation and fitness basket, a Peanut Shop basket and two baskets with gift cards to restaurants around the Key.

The proceeds from the event benefit the club’s grants and scholarships. Grants, which range from $100 to $1,000, help local nonprofits with projects that support the club’s goals and objectives, including preserving the environment of Longboat Key and supporting other environmental causes.

Scholarships range from $1,500 to $3,000 and benefit students majoring in subjects related to the environment, conservation, botany and landscape design.

The $50 tickets are tax deductible and include unlimited food and two glasses of wine or soft drinks.
“The people who work with us do it wholeheartedly,” Landau said. “They’re wonderful. Everyone who works on this is first class.”

If you go
When: 5 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 21

Where: Longboat Key Club Harbourside Dining Room, 3100 Harbourside Drive

Cost: $50

Purchase tickets from Susan Landau, 383-8030, or at the following locations: Exit Art, 5380 Gulf of Mexico Drive or 201 Gulf of Mexico Drive; Longboat Key Chamber of Commerce, 5390 Gulf of Mexico Drive; Island Pursuit, 357 St. Armands Circle; and Design 2000, 6840 Gulf of Mexico Drive; or at the event.