On February 4th, 2025, the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce held their 126th annual meeting at the Duke Energy Center for the Arts – Mahaffey Theater. Hundreds gathered to attend the reception in the Lower Atrium of the Mahaffey Theater, but more importantly, to attend the meeting inside the theater where hope for the future was stirring. Jason Spears, chairman of the chamber board, spoke on the city’s resilience after the storms and other challenges we, as a city, faced at the end of last year. But that wasn’t all that he highlighted in his speech. He shone a spotlight on our founder Bill Edwards, who that night donated to fund the rebuilding of the community at large.
As noted in Nanette Wiser’s article on tbnweekly.com on the meeting, Chris Steinocher, President and CEO of the Chamber, celebrated Bill’s history with the Chamber by recalling that, “Bill Edwards helped save the chamber 15 years ago, brought back retail at The Sundial, bought the Rowdies and gave birth to Pete the Pelican mascot, paid for ‘Welcome’ signage on the Howard Frankland Bridge and restored and runs this theater we are in tonight.” Edwards himself told the chamber members in attendance of the struggles he and the theater faced after the hurricanes.“ We had 10 feet of water in the orchestra pit,” Edwards said of the Mahaffey. “We had a lot of damage, broken windows, no air. We had to dehumidify the place, but we fixed it between hurricanes and brought in the Black Crowes to help cheer up our community.” Thanks to Nanette Wiser for the quotes, find her article linked here.
Bill Edward’s donation will go toward rebuilding the Chamber and Community as a whole. Thanks Mr. Edwards, for continuing to support the community of St. Petersburg!
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