The planner (things to do)

By Sharon Kennedy Wynne, tbt* staff writer
In Print: Friday, March 5, 2010

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Saturday

Sip for a cause

One of the biggest wine and food events of the year, the Abilities Wine Tasting and Silent Auction, gears up at 6 p.m. Saturday at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. There's a VIP reception at 6 p.m. ($150) and a grand tasting from 7 to 9 p.m. ($75), with hundreds of wines, tastes from area restaurants and auction items. It benefits the Abilities Foundation. Designated driver tickets $40. (727) 538-7370, ext. 319. abilitiesfoundation.com.

FRIDAY

Fight night in Tampa

Get dressed to the nines and expect to see some recognizable sports stars in the crowd at the Ballroom Brawl boxing night at 7 p.m. Friday at the Doubletree Hotel, 4500 W Cypress St. in Tampa. Rising cruiserweight contender Nick "The Showstopper" Iannuzzi is coming off back-to-back knockout victories, and will face Los Angeles' Victor Barragan, who is coming off a knockout victory over former world champion Arthur Williams. So expect a good match. Tickets are $20-$100 at onepunch.net.

SATURDAY

Foam rises to the top

More than 100 Florida craft beers will be featured at the Florida Brewers Guild Beerfest 2010, which features unlimited beer tasting with your FBG glass. It's 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday at Centro Ybor, Seventh Avenue at 16th Street. $25 in advance, $30 day of event. The festival has sold out the past three years. floridabrewersguild.org.

Bark up the right trees

The "Bark O' The Irish"-themed pooch party Saturday features a pet walk, costume contest, doggie arts and crafts, demonstrations, vendors and a dog-owner look-alike contest at Al Lopez Park, 4810 N Himes Ave. in Tampa, starting at 8:30 a.m. Saturday. It helps pay for the care of pets at the Humane Society of Tampa Bay, so donations are appreciated. humanesocietytampa.org.

Ask the filmmaker

Filmmaker Kristy Andersen will screen her documentary about the flamboyant and unpredictable writer Zora Neale Hurston.It's "pay what you can" night to see Jump at the Sun, a biography of Hurston, followed by a discussion with Andersen and Dr. Lois Gaston, the great-niece of the famed writer. It starts at 7:30 p.m. at the Studio@620, 620 First Ave. S in St. Petersburg. studio620.org.

SATURDAY-SUNDAY

See food? Seafood!

Put on the bibs for seafood galore at the Safety Harbor Seafood Festival. There also will be inflatables and photos with a mermaid. Sweet. Live music includes the Human Condition (6 p.m. Saturday) and the Hip Abduction (4 p.m. Sunday). Dig in from noon to 10 p.m. Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday at Safety Harbor Marina, 110 Veterans Memorial Lane. Free admission. (727) 724-1572.

Wheels in motion

A bicycle ride to kick off Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week called Awareness on Wheels kicks off at 8 a.m. Saturday at the Trek Bicycle Store of Tampa Bay, 530 S MacDill Ave. It includes a choice of rides in 20 miles or 35 miles, a $5 lunch by Pipo's Original Cuban Café and free massages. To RSVP, e-mail jon@trektampabay.com or call (813) 889-8363. The first 50 cyclists will receive a complimentary Bike MS Polar Bottle.

We're lookin' at you, bird

The Clearwater Audubon Society leads a Bird Watching Walk along a three-quarter mile trail to see songbirds, water birds, raptors and other birds unique to the oak hammock at Moccasin Lake Nature Park, 2750 Park Trail Lane in Clearwater, starting at 8 a.m. Saturday. Bring binoculars. It's $3, $2 ages 3-12. Call (727) 462-6024.

SUNDAY

Pour the perfect pint

We are told there are six steps to pouring the perfect pint of beer. On Sunday, 39 local bartenders test their skills during the Guinness Pour the Perfect Pint Competition, poolside at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, 5223 N Orient Road in Tampa. It's free to watch and the pouring begins at 2 p.m. seminolehardrocktampa.com.

5 under $5

FREE The USF College of Education is focusing on baby Bulls with lots of hands-on learning activities and games for ages 3 to 13 at the Children's Festival. The Laptop Lounge will also be open with learning games related to geography, typing and music. It's free from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday in EDU105 on the USF campus at 4202 E Fowler Ave. in Tampa. coedu.usf.edu.

FREE See those ugly PODs (Portable on Demand storage containers) transformed into art at Contain it! and Trashy Treasures, a show at the Dunedin Fine Art Center. Starting at 7 p.m. Friday, there will be a party ($10) with live music and food, plus a sale of Trashy Treasures (formerly owned artwork or supplies) to benefit the center. From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, there will be a garage sale of the remaining Trashy Treasures and a free tour of artist-decorated PODs exhibited outdoors. The art center is at 1143 Michigan Blvd. (727) 298-3322.

FREE If you know someone who has at least 100 pounds to lose, an outgoing personality and likes to be yelled at by Jillian Michaels, there's a casting call for The Biggest Loser reality TV show from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tampa. It's free; get details at thebiggestlosercasting.com. If you want to prevent your kid from getting to that point, Largo Central Park is offering a free Kids Fit Fest with fitness games, nutrition activities and entertainment. It's 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, and the first 350 to complete the fitness challenge get a free backpack filled with goodies. The park is at 101 Central Park Drive. largo.com.

FREE The Flan Fest at Ybor City's Fiesta Day was canceled last week because of nasty weather, but no matter. You have another chance to enter your best flan recipe to win cash prizes. Also, warm up your taste buds for a flan-eating contest, flan sampling and ethnic foods for sale. It's 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Centennial Park, 1800 E Eighth Ave., Ybor City. Free admission, charge for food. (813) 241-2442; ybormarket.com.

$5 Tough times call for creative school fundraisers. So here's Cow Drop! Participants place a $5 bet on which square yard of the football field they think a meandering cow will drop a "pie" on first. The winner gets a cash prize, determined by how many tickets are sold. Besides the cow poo contest, there will be kids' games, horse rides, a dessert pie-eating contest and food concessions to benefit the CCC Theater Department at 2750 Haines Bayshore Road in Clearwater. It starts at noon Saturday. Free admission.

[Last modified: Mar 04, 2010 05:40 PM]