Tampa Bay's Lowry Park Zoo was recently named the number one family-friendly zoo in the U.S. by Child magazine. But more than just an attraction for tourists, the zoo is also a nonprofit center for education and wildlife conservation. Funds raised at Karamu XVII, the zoo's annual black-tie fund-raiser, with the support of grand title sponsor AmSouth Bank, will go toward the feeding and care of the zoo's endangered species.
Karamu—the Swahili word for "party"—is one of Lowry Park Zoo's biggest events. Organized by volunteer chairperson Mindy Murphy and her steering committee, the gala's theme this year was "Out of Africa: Safari Chic," inspired both by the movie Out of Africa and by the first phase of the zoo's four-year expansion program and new exhibit area, Safari Africa. Safari Africa opened in May 2004, and its expansion will be complete by 2008.
Decorating chairperson Jaime Rogers divided Karamu's African-themed decor into three sections. At the zoo entrance, 450 attendees were welcomed in a formal British Colonial manner by mustached actors in white pith helmets, boots, and khakis amid steamer trunks, Oriental rugs, decorative gourds, and potted tall grasses.
Next guests passed through hanging white sheets to the Manatee Circle, where cocktails and appetizers—including chargrilled marinated fish skewers wrapped in vine leaves, sweet chili, and coriander; mushroom and asiago bruschetta; and roast beef grissini with remoulade—were served next to a sculpture of a manatee. The zoo's marketing events manager, Kristin Mayfield See, brought in fire pits, tiki torches, huts, and Strictly Entertainment's Kuumba Dancers & Drummers to replicate an African village experience. Zookeepers circulated with several outreach learning animals—including a ball python, barred owl, and New Guinea singing dog—to emphasize the zoo's mission of fostering public awareness about the animal world.
Then guests migrated to Saunder's Pavilion, a 10,000-square-foot, open-air arena outfitted to look and feel like the sophisticated African dining tent depicted in Out of Africa. Tall grasses set in white pots, eight-foot-long tables interspersed with seven-foot-round ones and all dressed in white tablecloths, three-point chandeliers, candelabras, wheatgrass centerpieces, and more white cloth transformed the concrete and steel arena into a place reminiscent of author Isak Dinesen's Kenyan home.
As the Full Circle Band performed popular songs from the '70s, Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay chef Hans Hickel prepared a meal sponsored by the Wallace Family Foundation. The salad was a roasted tomato pepper basil tart on a bed of field greens with olive tapenade. For the entree, Hickel served tiger prawns rubbed with a fragrant pesto and lemon zest; grilled filet of beef with grilled portobello mushroom strips; Roquefort ravioli; Madeira au jus; and fresh vegetables. Dessert was a milk chocolate mousse covered in chocolate ganache on a chocolate sable cookie.
—Kathy L. Greenberg
Karamu—the Swahili word for "party"—is one of Lowry Park Zoo's biggest events. Organized by volunteer chairperson Mindy Murphy and her steering committee, the gala's theme this year was "Out of Africa: Safari Chic," inspired both by the movie Out of Africa and by the first phase of the zoo's four-year expansion program and new exhibit area, Safari Africa. Safari Africa opened in May 2004, and its expansion will be complete by 2008.
Decorating chairperson Jaime Rogers divided Karamu's African-themed decor into three sections. At the zoo entrance, 450 attendees were welcomed in a formal British Colonial manner by mustached actors in white pith helmets, boots, and khakis amid steamer trunks, Oriental rugs, decorative gourds, and potted tall grasses.
Next guests passed through hanging white sheets to the Manatee Circle, where cocktails and appetizers—including chargrilled marinated fish skewers wrapped in vine leaves, sweet chili, and coriander; mushroom and asiago bruschetta; and roast beef grissini with remoulade—were served next to a sculpture of a manatee. The zoo's marketing events manager, Kristin Mayfield See, brought in fire pits, tiki torches, huts, and Strictly Entertainment's Kuumba Dancers & Drummers to replicate an African village experience. Zookeepers circulated with several outreach learning animals—including a ball python, barred owl, and New Guinea singing dog—to emphasize the zoo's mission of fostering public awareness about the animal world.
Then guests migrated to Saunder's Pavilion, a 10,000-square-foot, open-air arena outfitted to look and feel like the sophisticated African dining tent depicted in Out of Africa. Tall grasses set in white pots, eight-foot-long tables interspersed with seven-foot-round ones and all dressed in white tablecloths, three-point chandeliers, candelabras, wheatgrass centerpieces, and more white cloth transformed the concrete and steel arena into a place reminiscent of author Isak Dinesen's Kenyan home.
As the Full Circle Band performed popular songs from the '70s, Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay chef Hans Hickel prepared a meal sponsored by the Wallace Family Foundation. The salad was a roasted tomato pepper basil tart on a bed of field greens with olive tapenade. For the entree, Hickel served tiger prawns rubbed with a fragrant pesto and lemon zest; grilled filet of beef with grilled portobello mushroom strips; Roquefort ravioli; Madeira au jus; and fresh vegetables. Dessert was a milk chocolate mousse covered in chocolate ganache on a chocolate sable cookie.
—Kathy L. Greenberg