By Sharon Still
Three local residents threw their hats in the ring at the FishHawk-Riverview Rotary Club’s Crawfish Festival, kicking off this year’s Honorary Mayor of Riverview race last month. Vying for the title are Christian Beiter of Preservation 1st Financial Group, Stacy Self of Stacy Self Creative Consulting and Christine Ans of Usbourne Books & More.
The Honorary Mayor’s race is an annual event put on by the Greater Riverview Chamber of Commerce (GRCC). Each candidate raises money for a charity of his or her choice and every dollar counts as a vote. The winner is the one who collects the most money in the end. The money is then divided 50/50 between the charity and the GRCC.
Christian Beiter, Preservation 1st Financial Group
Beiter, a certified financial planner, is seeking donations for YMCA Camp Cristina, an organization for which he serves on the Board of Directors.
“I strongly believe in the benefits that Camp Cristina provides to the community,” he said. “I want to help raise money so that they can provide opportunities to under privileged children in the Riverview/Eastern Hillsborough area.”
He explained that a majority of the money will go to providing swim lessons for underprivileged children, noting that Hillsborough County leads Florida in the number of drowning deaths.
Upcoming events are in the planning stages and Beiter has appointed Suzy Wiesenhart, formerly of the Osprey Observer and newly retired, as his campaign manager. Friday, June 27 will be Beiter’s poker tournament at Summerfield Crossings Golf Club from 6-9 p.m.
Being involved in the community is part of Beiter’s make-up. In addition to his involvement with the GRCC, he is also president of the BNI Fortune Magnets chapter, outgoing president for SouthShore Toastmasters and chair for the SouthShore Young Professionals.
Preservation 1st Financial Group, LLC is located at 1202 Tech Blvd., Ste. 200. Beiter can be reached by calling 627-0872 or via e-mail at christian.beit er@jwcemail.com. To learn more about YMCA Camp Cristina, visit www.ymcacampcristina.org.
Stacy Self, Stacy Self Creative Consulting
Self has a team of local business owners dubbed Your Marketing Angels that will assist with her campaign. She explained that her business, Stacy Self Creative Consulting, works with companies to create strategic partnerships in order to grow their businesses, so it made sense to institute Your Marketing Angels, made up of business owners specializing in event planning, graphic design, web design and more to collaborate for the Honorary Mayor campaign.
Self’s charity Hand to Hope, Helping Those That Care For Others, is near and dear to her heart as she started it after her father was hit by a truck causing a brain injury. As a small business owner, she found herself juggling the demands of her business while serving as a caregiver to her father. Hand to Hope is an organization that provides support to caregivers experiencing the same sort of challenges.
“I am taking my life experiences and accumulating them all together for good,” she said.
On Friday, July 11 from 8-11 p.m., Self is hosting A Murder Mystery Dinner. Other events are in the making. For more details, visit www.yourmarketingang els.com or call 846-2805. For information about her charity, visit www.handtohope.com.
Christine Ans, Usborne Books & More
Ans, current president of the FishHawk-Rivervew Rotary, will collect donations for the aforementioned Rotary Club with a focus on Rotary’s Camp Florida in Brandon, a 21-acre non-profit organization that caters to children with special needs and challenges.
“I love giving back to the community,” she said. “I am passionate about the rotary and Rotary’s Camp Florida. I just want to help get the word out about these great causes.” Ans, an education consultant for Usbourne Books, children’s educational books that supplement students’ core curriculum, mentioned that the FishHawk-Riverview Rotary Club is involved in a reading campaign and she thought that by running for Honorary Mayor, she could give more visibility to its efforts.
Times and dates for upcoming events have not been solidified, but she said to expect everything from a night of fashionable silliness to a wine tasting at Catch 23 in FishHawk.
Ans will soon be creating a Facebook page, but in the meantime, people interested in donating to her cause can visit her personal Facebook page, call her at 368-2699 or send her an e-mail at ubahfla@yahoo.com. Visit www.fishhawkriverviewrotary.org and www.rotaryscampflorida.com to learn more about her chosen charities.
Candidates will have approximately six weeks to raise funds for their charity of choice. The candidate who raises the most funds will be deemed the 2015 Honorary Mayor of Riverview at the Monthly Membership Luncheon of the GRCC on Tuesday, July 22.
For more information, visit www.riverviewchamber.com or call 234-5944.
