THE EMPTY STEP Tampa Bay Area Newsletter: Brandon, Dunedin, St. Petersburg & Sarasota Issue 4 – July 2014 – Page 1 of 7

Taoist Tai Chi Society Purchases Fenway Hotel in Dunedin, Florida Excerpts from: Tampa Bay Times The long-shuttered Fenway Hotel on the 6.4-acre parcel at 453 Edgewater Drive, dates back to the 1920’s. “It’s a jewel,” said Sean Dennison, the society’s executive director. “It fits our needs and functions in an important way.” The society will relocate its national headquarters from Tallahassee to Dunedin and open an international conference center on the site. “We want to preserve and really reinvigorate such a historic treasure,” Dennison said. The group doesn’t yet have a firm idea of how much that will cost, but previous estimates run to the millions. The Fenway Hotel will not be razed for new development after the Taoist Tai Chi Society paid $2.8 million to use it as its headquarters.

Healthy Heart Stories Contributed by Pegoty Packman Did you know Tai Chi may be useful to maintain healthy blood pressure? Other frequent benefits of Tai Chi include: 1. Improved balance, 2. Better flexibility and 3. Reduced stress. This is according to the Gaples Institute, an Education and Advocacy for Balanced Medicine. Invite your friends, neighbors and loved ones to learn Tai Chi!

Pondering Thoughts… There’s a saying, “Fake it until you make it” or another way of saying this is “Act the way you want to become, until you become the way you act.” Stephen Covey was fond of teaching it in this way…. “First we form habits then our habits form us.” Roger Anthony said it this way “In the doing comes.” Anyway you say it… the power seems to come from doing it until….you become it. Become your Tai Chi!

http://brandon.florida.usa.taoist.org – [email protected] http://stpetersburg.florida.usa.taoist.org – [email protected]

http://dunedin.florida.usa.taoist.org – [email protected] http://sarasota.florida.usa.taoist.org – [email protected]

THE EMPTY STEP Tampa Bay Area Newsletter: Brandon, Dunedin, St. Petersburg & Sarasota Issue 4 – July 2014 – Page 2 of 7

Memorial Day Party By Lisa King Take several dozen friendly Sarasotans, toss in an hour or so of continuous Tai Chi sets, add sumptuous food and beautiful warm weather. Then arrange it all on a Monday without work and you have concocted a fabulous occasion like the recent Sarasota Taoist Tai Chi Center’s Memorial Day celebration! For a mere $2 donation, grilled chicken and fish were provided. Guests brought a delectable assortment of side dishes, salads and desserts. There was even wine and, of course, tea. This was one of the most fun informal parties I’ve attended at the Sarasota center. I did three Tai Chi sets in a row, enjoyed the great food and made some new friends. It’s this type of event that makes Taoist Tai Chi membership such a fulfilling part of my life.

Mother’s Day Banquet, Sarasota Contributed by Mike and Cindy Town

David Dudley playing the Pei Pah http://brandon.florida.usa.taoist.org – [email protected] http://stpetersburg.florida.usa.taoist.org – [email protected]

http://dunedin.florida.usa.taoist.org – [email protected] http://sarasota.florida.usa.taoist.org – [email protected]

THE EMPTY STEP Tampa Bay Area Newsletter: Brandon, Dunedin, St. Petersburg & Sarasota Issue 4 – July 2014 – Page 3 of 7

Mother’s Day Banquet, Sarasota Contributed by Mike and Cindy Town

Kitchen Crew

Serving Crew

My wife and I attended our first Mother’s Day Banquet at the Sarasota Taoist Tai Chi center on May 4, 2014 and had a wonderful experience. We dressed up a bit and looked forward to an eight course dinner. We sat with fellow members, most from out of town, so we made new friends in addition to enjoying the best food yet. Gazpacho started the banquet, followed by spinach salad, quiche, salmon, couscous, it just kept coming! Fellow members flawlessly served each course, each one better than the last until desert was served, an amazing cake covered in delicious frosting! In between courses, we had the pleasure of hearing news from other branch members in the Tampa Bay area along with a talk from Joe Crossfield, a member of our Branch Council. It was the first time we have met Joe along with several other members of local Tai Chi centers. In addition, there was live music playing during the banquet and a wonderful demonstration and playing of the Pei Pa Chinese instrument by a local student from the Ringling School of Art. Before and during the banquet, a silent auction was going on. Intended as a fundraising event, we had to place some bids on beautiful Chinese artifacts, ceramic bowls, T-shirts, framed pictures and other enticing objects. Between courses, we got up to check on our bids only to find someone else had upped the ante on some of the items! We bid higher on some and actually won the bid on a gorgeous white porcelain bowl my wife had to have and a couple other items, too. All in good fun and a great way to raise funds for Tai Chi! After 3 hours of food, talk, food, music and more food, we had volunteered to help clean up after the banquet so we changed clothes, washed dishes, swept floors and helped put our center back in shape for classes the next day. I gained a healthy respect for how large our center really is (and how fortunate we are) after mopping the entire center with Bear, one of our beginning instructors. We had a great time, enjoyed the entire experience and feel so much more a part of our center by being involved with such a great group of people. Thank you to everyone who was involved (especially the cooking team!) for making this an event we won't miss next year.

http://brandon.florida.usa.taoist.org – [email protected] http://stpetersburg.florida.usa.taoist.org – [email protected]

http://dunedin.florida.usa.taoist.org – [email protected] http://sarasota.florida.usa.taoist.org – [email protected]

THE EMPTY STEP Tampa Bay Area Newsletter: Brandon, Dunedin, St. Petersburg & Sarasota Issue 4 – July 2014 – Page 4 of 7

7 Chamber Summer Splash Contributed by Pegoty Packman Connecting with our community is important as we move toward reality of a new home and International Center. The 7 Chamber Summer Splash a "once a year" opportunity to promote to folks from the Chambers in North Pinellas County - Dunedin, Clearwater, Clearwater Beach, Palm Harbor, Safety Harbor, Tarpon Springs and at Innisbrook Golf course and Resort. There were so many great restaurants sharing their tasty bites at this event that many folks "ate dinner" while networking. Businesses including the Tampa Bay Times,(right next to us and they knew who we were!) two radio stations, one, WAGI is interested in an hour talk show once a week, highlighting a topic of interest and wants to call on us for one of the programs, local hotels, and so forth. Dunedin Mayor, Dave Eggers, greeted us at the entry, saw our name tags, gave congratulations and very glad meet Sean Dennison, from Tallahassee, a face with a name. We had a good team of Taoist Tai Chi folks working our table and networking the aisles. Thank you Jean Swantish - St. Petersburg, Joe and Mary Crossfield - Brandon, Sean Dennison - Tallahassee, Debbie and Roger Nemeth, Ginny Mars, Roseann Merriam, Debra Farr, Rich and Pegoty Packman. Very quickly we had the opportunity to meet Lynn Wargo, Dunedin Chamber President and Pete Kruider, Chairman of the Board. As we talked about getting together this month other community leaders, Connie Davis, President/CEO of Greater Palm Harbor Area Chamber of Commerce and Ken Peluso, parent and running for School Board - both Pegoty knew from her Principal days moved into the conversation supporting our credibility in the community. They asked and heard our story. Dunedin Branch does a Pinellas Bike/walking Trail clean up, another Chamber member, Pam Pravetz, Proprietor of Eddies, a restaurant on the trail, came up to chat in front of the Mayor's, his wife, Becky was there and joined our conversation as we had some clean up questions for the City - she and I realized we knew each other, and have a common friend who takes Taoist Tai Chi. - the Mayor's wife now wants to come start tai chi! Goes to show it is a small and busy world. We met the leaders of the Dunedin Fine Arts Center George Ann Bissett, Executive Director and Ken Hannon, Associate Ex. Director and engaged in active conversations about art, design, architects, and our new home project. They both seemed very happy to put faces with Press Releases and to hear more about their beloved historic Fenway. Yes, it was a successful event all around. And we learned how to make our booth even better next time. Thanks Jean for your expertise and organizational help!

http://brandon.florida.usa.taoist.org – [email protected] http://stpetersburg.florida.usa.taoist.org – [email protected]

http://dunedin.florida.usa.taoist.org – [email protected] http://sarasota.florida.usa.taoist.org – [email protected]

THE EMPTY STEP Tampa Bay Area Newsletter: Brandon, Dunedin, St. Petersburg & Sarasota Issue 4 – July 2014 – Page 5 of 7

Brandon Branch 911 Bryan Road, Brandon, FL 813-685-1211 Branch Council:

Goals:

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Mary Crossfield – President Joe Amodei – Secretary Bonnie Dyson – At Large Ann Hipson – At Large Jim Russell – At Large Tempie Taudte – At Large

Instructor development at the CIT level to provide for future expansion of the class schedule. Increase local community outreach. Member representation at major workshops and festivals. Manpower to maintain landscape at branch home location.

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∞

Dunedin Branch 1370 Main Street, Dunedin, FL 727-734-0929 Branch Council:

Goals:

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Robin Reardon – President Kate Planer – Secretary Bill Sweetnam – At Large Ann McDonald – At Large Bonnie Johnson – At Large

Maximize use of the new Dunedin location. Focus on membership – continue to recruit new members; provide more opportunities for our existing members to increase retention; and encourage more interaction between members at our different locations.

∞

St Petersburg Branch 1811 Dr. LMK Jr Street North, St. Petersburg, FL 727-896-2620 Branch Council:     

Cindy Zarling – President Sue Garhart – Recording Secretary David Swindall – Corresponding Secretary Lynne Kane-Wood – Treasurer Libby Craig – At Large

Goals:

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Working in harmony Grow our membership to exceed 300 Seek out new candidates for instructors Maintain our property and be good caretakers of our center Establish an ongoing connection with our community ∞

http://brandon.florida.usa.taoist.org – [email protected] http://stpetersburg.florida.usa.taoist.org – [email protected]

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THE EMPTY STEP Tampa Bay Area Newsletter: Brandon, Dunedin, St. Petersburg & Sarasota Issue 4 – July 2014 – Page 6 of 7

Sarasota Branch 4101 S. Lockwood Ridge Rd., Sarasota, FL 941-365-0999 Branch Council:     

Debbie Gates – President Carol Markel – Secretary Marylou Lindsay – At Large Debby Azeff – At Large Joe Crossfield – At Large

Goals:  Offer 11 beginner and 9 continuing classes at the branch.  Offer 3-4 beginner and continuing classes at other locations.  Participation in community events/services, to improve TTCS visibility in the city and county (i.e. walk-a-thons, adopt-a-street).  Hold the annual Mother’s Day banquet.  Hold chanting practice at least once weekly.  Continue Food Bank collection.  Continue frequent print ads and public demos.  Continue holding concurrent beginner/continuing classes to prmote retention of beginners.  Continue with Instructor Focus sessions most months.  Hold demos and off-site classes.  Establish additional daytime classes.  Plan social events were we cook at the center to provide members with a sense of community.  Hold “Open House Week” where prospective members are invited to all new beginner classes.

Master Moy Master Moy trained with Master Liang for many years. He began training with Master Sun Dit, a student of Master Liang’s known in particular for his skills in Hsing-I and push hands, around 1949. During this time Master Moy also met a Ch’i Kung master who was a recluse and did not normally accept students. However, the hermit master had compassion for Master Moy and began to teach him. Gradually over a number of years Master Moy’s health improved under this instruction and treatment. It was during this period of laboring daily for his health that master Moy vowed to devote his life to helping others. As his own health started getting better, Master Moy worked hard to comprehend the health improving essence of the internal arts he had been studying. He then incorporated these principles into the 108 movements of the Taoist Tai Chi set. Master Moy stipulated that Taoist Tai Chi was above all to be a vehicle for the Taoist goals of taming the heart, helping others and cultivating compassion.

http://brandon.florida.usa.taoist.org – [email protected] http://stpetersburg.florida.usa.taoist.org – [email protected]

http://dunedin.florida.usa.taoist.org – [email protected] http://sarasota.florida.usa.taoist.org – [email protected]

THE EMPTY STEP Tampa Bay Area Newsletter: Brandon, Dunedin, St. Petersburg & Sarasota Issue 4 – July 2014 – Page 7 of 7

YOU GOTTA DO A DON YU

Contributions to The Empty Step

By Peter Plescia

“The Empty Step” is a newsletter for the Brandon, Dunedin, St. Petersburg and Sarasota Branches. Everyone is encouraged to contribute stories of interest. It is a newsletter for all of us by all of us.

When you’re lost in a set and don’t know what to do And your muscle memory fails and faking it don’t get you thru And you’re frozen in time and your face is turning blue Calm down and do a don yu When you’re feeling stiff and weak in the knee When you’re tripping over yourself to ward off a monkey When you’re wondering why you became a tai chi junkie Ease up and do a don yu When you’re leading a set and your mind goes blank And you don’t know what move you should make Should you turn 45 or keep pointing straight? Chill out and do a don yu When your head feels clogged When your brain is in a fog When you feel like you’re moving like a three-legged dog Exhale and do a don yu When everything seems to come unglued What to do next you don’t have a clue You forgot all the moves that you thought you knew Simmer down and do a don yu Don yus are everywhere in a set And a perfect set I haven’t seen yet And if the next move you might forget Relax and do a don yu Well I hate to repeat myself and say this again But this is the only thing coming out of my pen And the only message I’m really trying to sendRemember to do your don yus

Personal reflections on what Tai Chi has done for you, stories of trips to other TTCS locations/workshops, news from visitors and photos of interest are of high value to our members. Send your article contributions to:     

Brandon: Debbie Felton o [email protected] Dunedin: Cindy Bartz - Publisher o [email protected] St. Petersburg: Cindy Zarling o [email protected] Sarasota: Debbie Gates o [email protected] Sarasota: Lisa King - Publisher o [email protected]

Email Delivery Signup for email delivery of the monthly newsletter can be accomplished on the Dunedin website at http://dunedin.florida.usa.taoist.org/. Look for the subscription box at the bottom of every page.

VISIT EACH OF THE BRANCH WEB SITES FOR UPCOMING EVENTS!

http://brandon.florida.usa.taoist.org – [email protected] http://stpetersburg.florida.usa.taoist.org – [email protected]

http://dunedin.florida.usa.taoist.org – [email protected] http://sarasota.florida.usa.taoist.org – [email protected]