December 2014 First Friday Preview

In the blink of an eye, another year has passed. This Friday, December 5th will be Clayton Gray Home’s last First Friday of 2014 and we have a so much to cel­e­brate! We are so thankful to all of our clients, friends, neigh­bors and all of the new busi­ness friends who have helped our FF cel­e­bra­tions grow. We have made so many new small busi­ness friends along the way this year from char­i­ties, caterers, pho­tog­ra­phers, salons, drink spon­sors, restau­rants, etc.  All of which have donated food, drinks, raffle and swag bag items, coupons and they have all helped to make each FF extra spe­cial. We hope that all of our guests have enjoyed meeting the new busi­ness owners and learning more about the new small busi­nesses in the area. It’s the sense of com­mu­nity that embodies our goals for First Friday and makes our Hyde Park neigh­bor­hood and neigh­bors so special.

Our spot­light charity is so excited to be a part of our First Friday and we are thrilled to have them. Academy Prep Center of Tampa is a tuition-​​free, inde­pen­dent center for edu­ca­tion for middle-​​school aged chil­dren who qualify for need-​​based schol­ar­ships. In the atmos­phere of an extended family, Academy Prep encour­ages and teaches stu­dents to excel in aca­d­e­mics, eth­ical and moral under­standing and judg­ment, and life skills. Opening its doors in 2003, it is mod­eled after its pre­de­ces­sors, Nativity Mis­sion Center, which opened in the Lower East Side of Man­hattan, New York, in 1971, as well as the Academy Prep Center of St. Peters­burg, in oper­a­tion in south St. Peters­burg since 1997. The mis­sion of Academy Prep is to inspire and empower stu­dents to become future com­mu­nity leaders through a rig­orous middle school pro­gram cou­pled with ongoing grad­uate sup­port. Please come out and sup­port Academy Prep and learn more about this spec­tac­ular school and how it is helping to shape the future minds of Tampa.  20% of the sales from First Friday as well as all monies raised through the raffle will go to ben­efit Academy Prep.

We are excited to intro­duce you to our caterer for the night, The Family Table Catering & Meal Delivery Ser­vices. The Scarpa family offers every­thing from catering for big to small hol­iday par­ties and events — to home delivery of meals for young sin­gles or large busy fam­i­lies. Focusing on Amer­ican food that is heavily rooted in Italian influ­ences, each meal is not only nutri­tious it is also com­fort food. Bringing you the best from the Tampa area, The Family Table part­ners with local butchers, bakers and farmers.

For your enter­tain­ment plea­sure Bob Frierson from Bone­yard will be back in the front window playing those awe­some jams. It’s just not a hol­iday cel­e­bra­tion without Bob. We love having him in house to pump up the jams, and he may even take a request of two. The wicked riffs from Bobs’ guitar are all the hol­iday cheer you will need to feel the spirit of the season!

Santa’s little helper, our res­i­dent bar­tender, Nick Peterson will be on hand serving up tons of hol­iday cheer…and maybe we can talk him into wearing a fes­tive cos­tume?! Don’t forget that after all of the hol­iday indulging, you’ll be ready to start on that New Years Res­o­lu­tion. Why wait?! Get a jump start before the New Year and combat those hol­iday pounds. Nick is a great per­sonal trainer and he will whip you into pre-​​holiday shape in no time. Nick offers per­sonal, duo, small group ses­sions and boot­camp. Con­tact Nick for more info and pricing, CPTPeety@​gmail.​com.

Cap­turing the mag­ical moment of the night,  4d Stu­dios  will be acting as our paparazzi, so make sure to smile pretty for the cam­eras.  Our raffle basket will be filled with amazing gifts including a gift cer­tifi­cate from Shear Art Salon South Tampa and many other fan­tastic items. You will receive one raffle ticket when you enter the store how­ever, you can always pur­chase more tickets to increase your chances to win. You need not be present to win, just make sure to put your con­tact infor­ma­tion on your ticket.  We can’t wait to see you on Friday, December 5th from 6–9.