Kiwanis Club of Longboat Key: History and Lawn Party

The Kiwanis Club of Longboat Key came within one meeting of voting itself out of existence. The members around the table that day were not debating whether to disband, but how. What happened instead is the more interesting story, and it is why the club now runs one of the largest annual events on the island.

This account is written from inside the club. Danielle Gladding & Co. Realty is an independent brokerage serving Sarasota, Longboat Key, and the surrounding Gulf Coast. Danielle Gladding has been a licensed Florida Realtor since 1981 and a broker since 1987, and took over as president of the Kiwanis Club of Longboat Key in September 2025.

The club dates to 1972 and was incorporated in Florida as Kiwanis Club of Longboat Key, Inc. in May 1973. It marked its fiftieth year in 2022 with a brunch at the Lazy Lobster, the restaurant where it has long held its meetings. Two people at that brunch went back nearly to the beginning: John Wild, who wrote the club's history, and Jo Bell, a former Longboat Key police sergeant who received the club's first Policeman of the Year award in 1973.

The years it nearly ended

Membership thinned to the point that closing the club was a live proposal. A small group made a final effort to rebuild interest, and Michael Garey, who owns the Lazy Lobster, took the presidency and spent three years on it. By the autumn of 2025 the club counted more than thirty members and was signing up new ones through the season.

That recovery is worth stating plainly because service clubs on barrier islands have not generally had this outcome. Membership organizations across the country have been contracting for years, and a seasonal island population makes the arithmetic harder, not easier. The Kiwanis Club of Longboat Key went the other direction, and it did so recently enough that most of the people responsible are still in the room.

Where the money goes

In recent years the club's principal beneficiary has been the Children's Guardian Fund, which supports young people in the local foster care system. In February 2026, at the meeting where the proceeds of the previous Lawn Party were formally handed over, the club presented a contribution that broke its own previous record, a record set only a short time before. Ticket prices had not risen even as costs had, which is the detail Garey singled out when he recounted the event's history.

That is a current arrangement rather than a permanent one. Where the club directs what it raises is a decision the club makes, and it can change from year to year. Anyone reading this well after it was written should ask what the club is supporting now rather than assume the answer has stayed the same.

For now the connection runs closer than a donation. Svetlana Ivashchenko serves as the club's secretary and as executive director of the Children's Guardian Fund, so the organization receiving the money is represented in the room where it is raised.

The Lawn Party by the Bay

The Lawn Party is the club's signature fundraiser and has grown into one of the best-attended events on the island. Restaurants set up booths, attendees work their way through with a tray, and a 50/50 raffle runs alongside an artists' tent. The original roster included the Blue Dolphin Cafe, the Columbia Restaurant, Dry Dock Waterfront Grill, Harry's Continental Kitchens, Lazy Lobster of Longboat, Lido Beach Grill and The Resort at Longboat Key Club.

The 2024 event was lost to the hurricane season. It returned in December 2025 at Ken Thompson Park on City Island with thirty-two participating restaurants, the largest field it has fielded, and The Resort at Longboat Key Club returned as principal sponsor. One raffle winner that year gave his winnings straight back to the club.

We have written about the event itself in more detail in our guide to the Lawn Party by the Bay. If you want a sense of the restaurants that take part, our roundup of where to eat on Longboat Key covers most of them. Ken Thompson Park sits on City Island, a short distance from Save Our Seabirds, so the two are easy to pair on the same morning.

How the club meets

Kiwanis here is a breakfast club. Meetings have traditionally been held at the Lazy Lobster in the Centre Shops, though the club has also met at restaurants on St. Armands, and the format is consistent: a meal, club business, and a guest speaker. Speakers are often people running something on the island — town project managers explaining the underground utilities work, newly seated commissioners introducing themselves, local authors, and officers from the wider Kiwanis division.

That speaker list is the quiet argument for joining. Someone who attends regularly for a season will have heard directly from most of the people who make decisions about Longboat Key, which is a faster education in how the island works than any amount of reading. There is also a Rotary Club of Longboat Key, a separate organization with its own projects, and the two clubs turn out for each other.

Membership enquiries go through the club directly. Anyone curious is generally welcome to come to a meeting first and see whether the room suits them before anything is decided.

Why an island this size supports two service clubs

Longboat Key has a small permanent population and a large seasonal one, and the organizations that work here have adapted to that rhythm rather than fighting it. The heaviest activity falls in the season, the fundraising calendar is built around it, and a good deal of the year's work gets done between December and April.

The Longboat Key Foundation, a separate 501(c)(3) that became independent in 2019, raises money for island improvements and has been closely involved in the Town Center Green project. Several people move between these organizations. On an island where a meaningful share of residents are here part of the year, the clubs are one of the more reliable ways of meeting neighbors you would otherwise only wave at.

Disclosure: Nick Gladding, Danielle Gladding's husband, was sworn in as District 3 Town Commissioner for the Town of Longboat Key in March 2026. He and Danielle Gladding both joined the Kiwanis Club of Longboat Key in early 2025.

Danielle Gladding took over as President of the Kiwanis Club of Longboat Key in September 2025, when Michael Garey handed over the gavel, and Alison Kanter has volunteered at the club's pancake breakfast fundraiser. Danielle Gladding also serves on the boards of Save Our Seabirds and the State College of Florida Foundation, and lives in Queens Harbour inside Bay Isles. She can be reached at (941) 539-8535 or through the contact page.