Whew! It’s been two days since the event, but we’re all still exhausted (in a good way) from putting together Mermaids and Mangroves 2025. It was a huge success, thanks to all of you and our many volunteers. Many people who could not attend still purchased ticket in support. And we literally maxed out the space at No Manors Bar by the time the drag show started at 6.
We were so lucky to be a part of this event and collaborate with Joseph Land and the volunteers at CoastLove. Joseph first saw our posts on Facebook in late spring and reached out because of the obvious connections our two organizations share. It was the most complimentary collaboration between two organizations we could have dreamed of.
In addition to No Manors, our earliest sponsors and supporters were La Rubia Blonde Ale by Gulf Stream Distillery and Two Drums. They brought the bang for everyone’s buck, and people loved their beer and cocktails included with every ticket purchased.
The world premiere of Plastic is a Drag with music by DJ Al Nouvo, emceed by the gorgeous Kahtya Tehnsion and featuring the talents of Brandy B, Double Dietrich and Angie Ovahness Pryce, left people shouting for more. And the raffle prizes were so sought after that we ran out of tickets and had to improvise! Thanks to Scuba Star, Alex Condorpusa, Reefline Diving, Bottima, Pride Factory and Sardi Peruvian Restaurant everyone was jumping at the chance to win.
In addition to our queens, the mermaid and merman were a huge hit as people lined up to pose with them, courtesy of the B Ocean Resort. Beauty and brawn, we had to make sure that no one tried to take Wendy and Damien home with them! (More than one person pointed out that they were sitting on nets.) Surrounded by decorations from the Crystal Ballroom, everyone was sad to hear they couldn’t take those centerpieces home with either.
And the food was OUTSTANDING! Courtesy of the Palm Restaurant and Mastro’s Ocean Club, our attendees gorged themselves on delicious pasta, meatballs and buttercake. Thank you to Julianna Genao for inviting Executive Chef Michael Romano and Executive Chef Ashley Blewett from The Palm and Mastro’s.
As for our Out Scuba volunteers, so many showed up to help that we’re scared to death we’re going to leave someone out. Joe Mankowski did all of the heavy lifting for us, Andre Saade (our co-founder) worked the room like a pro and presented all of the raffle prizes, Robert & Peter chipped in and roamed the room looking for ways to help, Jim LaBrie stood by our table and garnered four new memberships for us (thanks Jim)!, Tom Shanahan greeted everyone in the heat and stood outside the front door at the entrance table, Samyak Jain was the quiet brains behind our non-alcoholic drinks station, and Matt Constantine and Shon Michael sold raffle tickets like they were going out of style.
It was an epic evening for our still relatively new organization, and we are so grateful for everyone who supported us and helped make it all possible. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.
