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Good vibrations, good donations
University of Florida throws a party, gets down to the Beach Boys
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| The University of Florida cheerleaders join the Beach Boys on stage Friday night for the song "Be True to Your School" at UF's Party on the Plaza. |
By CARRIE MILLER
Sun staff writer
Eight-hundred elegantly dressed guests dined in a fantasy tropical garden and swayed to the sounds of the Beach Boys on Friday night, helping the University of Florida raise more than $1 million to create an endowment for its cultural arts plaza.
"It's nice to see so many people respond to the call," said David Cofrin, who with his wife, Mary Ann, both of Gainesville, donated the money to establish the Harn more than 10 years ago, and more recently gave $3.2 million to build a 20,000-foot sculpture atrium scheduled to open in 2005.
"This is what we have been aiming for for 20 years," Cofrin said, gesturing around at the guests, "and it's finally come to pass."
More than a year of planning went into Friday night's gala celebrating UF's 150th birthday, and it drew Gator supporters from all over the state, said Judy Young, wife of President Charles Young and co-chairwoman of the organizing committee along with Danny and Nancy Ponce of Gainesville.
"It was quite an undertaking, but it is a great success," Judy Young said.
The Party on the Plaza was the first ever collaborative fund-raiser for the three elements of the UF cultural center off SW 34th street on Hull Road: The Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, the Florida Museum of Natural History and the Curtis M. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.
Tropical gala
Each facility hosted separate cocktail receptions in the early evening, and then everyone gathered in a huge, white, air-conditioned tent that had been transformed into a tropical garden on the inside - lush with orchids, birds of paradise and gurgling fountains. Multi-colored hand-painted butterflies with 6-foot wingspans were suspended, floating above the diners, who were served petite filet mignon and macadamia-encrusted grouper.
Following dinner, tropical-themed birthday cakes for UF's 150th were served to each table for dessert, topped with dazzling sparklers.
Then, UF mascots Albert and Alberta delivered a large check for $1,050,000 - the amount raised Friday night after expenses. Two "platinum" sponsors donated $100,000 each: Clark and Deborah Butler, who own Butler Plaza, and Wachovia Bank, which just landed the university's banking business. Other levels of sponsorships went for $25,000 and $10,000, all the way down to $500.
The money will be used as an endowment for the cultural plaza, with annual income split equally between the three facilities, to enhance their programming and help sponsor new works.
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| UF drum line cymbalist Nicole Milano performs Friday at the Party on the Plaza. |
Supporting the plaza
Provost David Colburn said the cultural plaza is an important tie between UF and the community, which "sees the university largely through the cultural plaza."
"We see this as a beginning," Harn Director Rebecca Nagy said. "It is so important for us to work together as a community instead of in competition with one another."
Danny Ponce, one of the co-chairmen, said the event was intended to raise money and celebrate UF's 150th, but also to draw new friends of the arts to the plaza. He pointed to first-time Harn visitor Marty Margulies of Miami, whose personal art collection includes "one of the most prominent and outstanding collections of modern and contemporary photography in the U.S.," according to one Harn curator.
"I'm very impressed with this place," said Margulies, whose son David is now in law school at UF. "It's a fantastic facility."
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| University of Florida President Charles Young, right, dances with his wife, Judy, during the Beach Boys concert Friday. |
Snappy threads all around
Many of the guests seemed to revel in the gala's "creative black tie" dress code, aiming for a laid-back elegance suited to a tropical-themed Beach Boys gala.
"We're getting jiggy with it," said Gainesville resident Wiley Horton, whose black jacket was paired with khaki Bermuda shorts and a satin Gator-checked vest and bow tie over an orange shirt.
After dinner, everyone went to the Curtis M. Phillips Center, including Curtis M. and Barbara J. Phillips of Jacksonville.
"I'm very excited to see the Beach Boys," Barbara Phillips said. "I have all their records, but I've never seen them live before."
'True to Your School'
The Beach Boys, who started in 1961, opened with "Wish They All Could Be California Girls," and about 150 people started dancing. Beach Boy Mike Love leaned over the stage, slapping hands with the dancers.
The Beach Boys played a lot of old favorites - "Do It Again," "Surfin' Safari," "I Get Around."
At one point in the show, UF cheerleaders and Albert and Alberta came on stage as the Beach Boys sang "Be True to Your School."
Love, who is 62, looked at the cheerleaders and said, “It's times like this when I don't know whether to propose or adopt.”
Sun staff writer Douglas Jordon contributed to this report. Carrie Miller can be reached at millerc@gvillesun.com or 338-3103.
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