Party With A Purpose – The Best of Marathon, Rotary, and the Official After Party

#Column: What do tequila, government meetings, and Key deer have in common? - A close up of a sign - Logo

The votes are in, the tabulation commences, and we’ll all find out who the winners are in the Best of Marathon next Saturday night! Your participation in this event is going to make a lot of people happy – and I’m not just referring to the nominees and winners. 100% of the money raised from this special event will go directly to the Rotary Club of Marathon, earmarked for use improving the playground and facilities at Kreative Kids Co-Op daycare.

In addition to discovering who our locals voted as Best of Marathon, this awesomely fun evening will include tasty treats donated by some of our award-winning local restaurants: Key Colony Inn, Cabana Breezes, Sparky’s Landing, Castaway, and the Hurricane. Sweet treat lovers will be able to savor their just desserts from Sweet Savannah’s, Baricci Café, and Batter-Up. Rotary will provide some celebrity bartenders… and then there’s the awards program as well!

It helps that we’re partying for a good cause as well. For over a decade, I’ve been a member of our Marathon Rotary Club. Rotary was founded upon a set of principles, one of which is its motto, “Service Above Self.” Throughout the years I’ve been involved, our club has attempted to give back to its community through various service projects, some large like the Rotary Children’s Park, and some smaller. There are Rotary’s annual scholarships for deserving local students and our financial support of various worthwhile causes and initiatives. I’m proud to be a Rotarian, because Rotary rocks.

When you attend this event, you’ll see a lot of your friends who are Rotarians. You may discover that in addition to our local initiatives, that Rotary is an international service organization that assists in projects around the globe – one of which is the near total eradication of polio. You may be interested in becoming a Rotarian yourself. I can attest that being a Rotarian is both incredibly rewarding and amazingly enjoyable.

There’s something that all 1.2 million Rotary club members around the world have in common: we take action. As community volunteers, we reach out to neighbors in need. We build, support, and organize. We save lives. We work locally and globally. Whether you’re a veteran volunteer or new to community service, we’re looking for people like you. And the best of Marathon is a great place to start!

Tickets for the event are $50 and include the tasty treats mentioned above. The venue is the Key Colony Beach City Hall and I suggest you get your tickets early. There are a limited number of seats, and once they’re gone… besides, it’s for a really great cause! The event starts at 6:00 p.m., and it will be FUN! And you’ll be helping the Kreative Kids have fun for years to come!

Immediately following the Best of Marathon, the Official After Party will commence at the Key Colony Inn! Located right next door to City Hall, the Inn will have live music (with yours truly on piano), a well-stocked bar with inimitable bartenders Cheddar and Todd (or perhaps a bartender to be named later if Todd exercises his trade option), and what everyone really needs at an After Party – the Key Colony Inn’s world famous

Very few towns or cities could ever claim that their Mayor was a smokin' hot guitar player. The island city of Marathon in the Florida Keys is one of those towns. While politics is a temporary call to service, music is a life sentence. John Bartus, a more-than-four-decade full-time professional musician, singer, and songwriter, continues to raise the bar with his groundbreaking solo acoustic show. It’s easy to catch John on one of his more than 200 shows a year throughout the Keys on his Perpetual Island Tour. His CD releases include After The Storm, Keys Disease 10th Anniversary Remaster, and Live From the Florida Keys Vol. 2. John’s music is available wherever you download or stream your music.