December First Friday 2014 Grand Finale

Well, we cer­tainly closed out a year of First Fri­days with a bang.…or rather a pop! The cham­pagne corks were pop­ping all night long as Clayton Gray Home  and our many, many guests cel­e­brated the last First Friday of 2014. Huge thanks to our spon­sors and charity,  who made the night an unbe­liev­able suc­cess! If you missed First Friday, never fear, there will be plenty more in the upcoming year.

As guests entered Clayton Gray Home, they were greeted by our spot­light charity, Academy Prep Center of Tampa. Academy Prep Center of Tampa is a tuition-​​free, inde­pen­dent center for the edu­ca­tion of middle-​​school aged chil­dren who qualify for need-​​based schol­ar­ships.  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. Not only did we have some of the amazing staff from Academy Prep Center on hand to talk about the school but also Head of School, Lin­coln Tamayo was there to cel­e­brate and share more about the role that Academy Prep plays in shaping young and promising lives.

Guests bid the night away with a silent auc­tion full of fab­u­lous prizes from Clayton Gray Home, Shear Art Salon & Spa (South Tampa Loca­tion), and Bodyshapers Fit­ness Boot­camp. Shop­pers knocked out their Christmas lists in the store and 20% of the sales for the night (as well as all of the monies raised through the silent auc­tion) were donated to Academy Prep Center.

We dined on fab­u­lous fare gen­er­ously pro­vided by Family Table Catering. So much more than just a tra­di­tional catering com­pany, Family Table also has meal delivery options for sin­gles to large fam­i­lies! Working with local farmers, butchers and bakers, Family Table pro­vides fresh, local com­fort food straight to your table. It’s like having your own per­sonal Nona cooking for you. Check out their menus online and have fresh, deli­cious meals on your table in no time.

All of the mem­o­rable moments of the night have been per­fectly cap­tured for us by 4d Stu­dios, LLC. Serving a wide range of clien­tele in The Tampa Bay and Cen­tral Florida area from pro­fes­sional enter­tainers to small busi­nesses to inter­na­tional cor­po­ra­tions. 4D Stu­dios uti­lizes a net­work of industry pro­fes­sionals who are leaders in the fields of acting, mod­eling, video pro­duc­tion, pho­tog­raphy, graphic design, web design, ani­ma­tion, visual effects, motion graphics, tra­di­tional art, and new media. A huge thank you to Taylor Hedge­cock and Jim Reiman (Director of Pho­tog­raphy) for adding to the fun and cap­turing all the beau­tiful moments!

The one and only Bob Frierson of Bone­yard kept the jams grooving and the crowd enter­tained. His eclectic covers offered some­thing for everyone and on more than one occa­sion the crowd was singing and dancing right along. Avail­able for solo per­for­mances or with the whole Bone­yard crew, Bob is guar­an­teed to get your party hopping!

We had spe­cial guests a plenty helping us out this FF. Our favorite celebrity bar­tender, Nick Peterson was serving up fes­tive cham­pagne and frozen cran­ber­ries and Egg Nog spiked with Buddy Brew Coffee ice cubes, a most amazing hol­iday treat. Need help working off the indul­gences for the night? Nick is avail­able for per­sonal training, duo, small groups and boot­camp. Con­tact him at CPTPeety@​gmail.​com.

Hand­some men were the theme of the night! Also assisting us with First Friday was Soho Cycle spin instructor extra­or­di­naire, Brad­ford Stevens. Ever so dapper in his sus­penders, Brad­ford helped to move along the silent auc­tion, schmoozed with our guests and made sure that they had every­thing they needed to enjoy a fab­u­lous night. If gazing upon his hand­some­ness isn’t enough to make you sweat, then make sure to check out one of Bradford’s awe­some spin classes! He is also the founder of Viking Fit­ness which offers per­sonal training, cor­po­rate well­ness, and group fit­ness programs.

Want a little beauty with your workout? Our own Can­dice Pulli is also a spin instructor at Soho Cycle! With these three in your life, those hol­iday pounds will be a part of Christmas past.

Make sure to keep your eyes on our Face­book page for info on the upcoming events in 2015. As always, if you are inter­ested in being a food or drink sponsor or a spot­light charity, please con­tact Brandi Jackson at Events@​ClaytonGrayHome.​com . Until next time, all of us at Clayton Gray Home wish you a won­derful and joyful hol­iday season.