Welcome to On the Radar, where we preview cool upcoming events to mark on your calendar.
Reserve your spot at the WMNF Peace Awards. We don't need to tell you why, but for starters …
The hard-working volunteers and employees at WMNF-88.5 FM go above and beyond their routine programming to present off-the-radar cultural events and soul-enriching activities, digging down deep into the grassroots of Tampa Bay and keeping tabs on the true movers and shakers out there – not just yer moneybags philanthropists – everyday people who put forth extraordinary effort to effect change and promote awareness of important issues. It’s in this spirit that the station will honor citizens and organizations working in the areas of peace, social justice and humanity, and fostering understanding through media at its second annual WMNF Peace Awards ceremony and dinner.
Democracy Now! host and alternative news mogul Amy Goodman will be the keynote speaker and singer-songwriter Eliza Gilkyson performs.
Honorees range in age, lifestyle and vocation. The major award of the evening, the Peace Legacy Award, will be given to Nancy Cole and to John and Sheila Stewart. Cole earns her award primarily for successes she has reaped successes with youth in theater as an artistic associate of the Gorilla Theatre. John and Sheila Stewart are known for their lifelong activism against nuclear arms and the death penalty, and working with children and teens in capacities that instill lessons on peace and justice. In addition, sponsor Bok Tower Gardens will present the Edward Bok Peace Youth Award to 10-year-old Destiny London, who raised $1,000 through her school James Elementary in Tampa for WMNF’s Haiti Relief Drive.
Other awards: Peace and Justice, Dr. Sylvia Campbell, Rev. Warren Clark, Linda Moreno, Melva Underbakke and Rev. Bruce Wright; Peace, Love and Understanding, Otis Anthony, Ray Arsenault, Chuck Henson, Bill Maxwell and Chris Rudsill; Peace and Humanity, Equality Florida, Little Red Wagon Foundation, ProNica, St. Pete for Peace and the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary.
The event begins with an early entrance reception 5-6 p.m.; Station Manager Jim Bennett welcomes the crowd and introduces Goodman; Goodman gives the keynote address 6:30-7 p.m., and at 8:30 p.m. singer-songwriter Eliza Gilkyson performs and dinner will be served.
WMNF Peace Awards happens Saturday, Aug. 28, at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts (formerly known as the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center), at the Ruth Silbiger Lobby inside the Carol Morsani Hall, 1010 N MacInnes Place, Tampa, Tickets for the early-entrance reception, awards dinner and ceremony are $100. General admission tickets for the awards dinner and ceremony are $60. For more information, contact Laura Taylor, WMNF Development Director, at 813-865-8260 or laura@wmnf.org.
—Julie Garisto
This article appears in Aug 19-25, 2010.