New York institutions from the Guggenheim Museum to the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx were the proving ground for Jennifer Rominiecki’s career. Now she comes to Sarasota as the new president and CEO for Marie Selby Botanical Gardens and looks forward to bringing her leadership skills to a waterfront cultural attraction.

“The location is really special, being right on the Bayfront,” Rominiecki said of Selby Gardens. “You don’t see that in other gardens—you don’t have that in the Bronx—so the location is very special and the collections are quite spectacular. I’m so impressed with the plant research and conservation efforts of the scientific team. The excellent international-level plant research is pretty spectacular and I'm thrilled to be a part of that organization.”

Rominiecki was announced Monday as the new leader for Selby Gardens, succeeding Thomas Buchter, who retired from the CEO post in October after five years on the job. Buchter’s accomplishments included the opening of the Children’s Rainforest Garden and growth of the gardens amid a backdrop of a recession. Now, Selby Gardens chairwoman Cathy Layton said new leadership will have a great deal of leadership work ahead, including the creation of a master strategic plan. 

Rominiecki’s strength lay in the field of fundraising; she notably spearheaded a $479-million fundraising campaign for the New York Botanical Garden. The new CEO leaves the New York garden after holding various positions in that organization over the past 15 years, most recently vice president for Institutional Advancement. Before that, she also worked with such New York institutions as the Guggenheim and The Metropolitan Opera.

It took another cultural powerhouse community like Sarasota to attract Rominiecki to move her family away from the Big Apple. She will move her, along with her husband and two school-age children, over the next two months and start in her new post on Feb. 9. 

The Sarasota Ballet celebrates the holidays with a special production of La Fille mal Gardee ("The Wayward Daughter") at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall on Dec. 19 and 20, bringing Sir Frederick Ashton’s interpretation of this classic tale to the Sarasota stage, accompanied by the Sarasota Orchestra. Following the romantic hijinks of farmer’s daughter Lise, who falls for a handsome farmer over her mother’s wishes for a more established suitor, La Fille is a comedy in the classic sense, humorous and heartfelt.

“It’s the most accessible ballet for everyone to come and see,” said Sarasota Ballet Director Iain Webb, who selected the family-friendly show specifically for the holiday season. “Hardened ballet fans know that this is one of the greatest and for those who have never experienced ballet or have not really taken to it, this is the opportunity to come.”

A seminal work in the world of international ballet, Ashton’s reinvention of La Fille in the 1960s gave the story a particularly English bent along with his trademark comedic sensibility, resulting in what Webb calls “one of [Ashton’s] greatest full-length ballets.”

With costumes and sets shipped in from the Birmingham Royal Ballet, the production marks one of the Ballet's yearly collaborations with the Van Wezel. Larger stages and higher capacity theaters enable productions that would otherwise be impossible.

“We need to have the Van Wezel,” said Webb, who expressed doubt the Sarasota Opera House would let him bring a pony on stage, something he plans to do this weekend for La Fille. “It means I can bring in these big productions.”

Incorporating many influences into the choreography, from folk dance to romantic ballet, La Fille also marks a distinct opportunity to see the company’s talent in top form, such as Logan Learned, who was singled out last week by The New York Times for one of the top performances by a male dancer in 2014.

La Fille mal Gardee runs from Dec. 19-20 in the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. Showtimes: Dec. 19 at 7:30pm; Dec. 20 at 2pm and 7:30pm. Tickets start at $35. 

Manatee Technical Institute is now Manatee Technical College.  The name change passed unanimously as a consent agenda item at the Dec. 9 School Board meeting. Manatee Technical College joins 15 other former technical institutes in Florida that have recently changed their names to technical college. This is the fourth name change for Manatee Technical College over the past 51 years. 

Manatee Technical College

Father Larry Wrenn has chosen to fully retire from St. Thomas More Catholic Church. He retired from the Archdiocese of Hartford, Connecticut, helped at St. Thomas More Catholic Church for many years, most recently as the regular celebrant for the Saturday morning 8am liturgy. Fr. Wrenn was born in New Haven, Connecticut, attended Thomas Seminary in Bloomfield, Connecticut and St. Bernard Seminary in Rochester, New York. He was ordained in 1953 and retired initially in 2003. 

St. Thomas More Sarasota

University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee received a $50,000 grant from the Harry Sudakoff Foundation to support construction of laboratory space on campus for independent faculty research in biology, biomedical sciences and social science disciplines. Construction is estimated to commence in Spring 2015. The Harry Sudakoff Faculty Research Laboratory will give researchers the space and resources needed to advance foundational science that will cultivate further innovation and discovery as well as contributing to higher quality teaching at USF Sarasota-Manatee.  

University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee