BY JIM LABINSKI - Great prizes and a few new twists abound when animal lovers and tennis fans converge on the Clubhouse Restaurant at the Boca Grande Club on Wednesday, Jan. 25 to celebrate and raise money for the Suncoast Humane Society at the Tennis Ball.

Festivities begin at 6 p.m. Sixty percent or more of the $100 ticket will go to Suncoast.  Artwork, photography, wine and jewelry baskets, golf and party packages are among the silent auction items up for bids.

BY SANDY ROSS JACOBS - We skipped our annual trip to Italy this summer. A combination of circumstances brought this about. First, I was in the middle of having a tooth implant. I had been through a year of preparation for this, and July was the target month for finishing the procedure.

Anticipating all sorts of side effects, I felt safer staying within the country.  Along with this, the economy was failing fast and we decided to spend our money on our home turf. But most importantly, our daughter, an ex-pat living in Denmark with her husband and kids, was particularly homesick for the U.S. and wanted to spend some time with us and her gang at the place we had enjoyed so many summers long past: the Jersey shore. And when she speaks, we listen.

She calls herself a “traditional, representational artist.” Her love of flowers and the land around her is obvious to anyone who sees her “Florida” or “Inland” landscape galleries, or her series of “In the Garden” botanical paintings on her website, shandorfpastels.com. Dianna Shandorf loves Florida, and she really loves a pastel medium. She is, however, a Minnesota girl.

FROM THE FWC NEWSROOM - As many of us prepare to hang a calendar for the new year and we flip the pages to glance in awe at photographs featuring nature’s beauty - from wild habitats to fish and wildlife or outdoor recreation - it is a good time to reflect on what it takes to make those glorious images.

Ask any passionate angler, hunter or outdoors person what he or she loves about nature and getting outdoors, and key points come up, including a love of connecting with nature, being able to relax and spending quality time outdoors with friends and families.