Posted on

St. Pete Beach Things to Do in April 2019

With Spring in full swing there’s no better time to hit the beach. And that’s not the only fun thing to do here in April! This month is jam packed with sporting events and festivals galore.  Whether your jam is Orchids, Sugar Sand, or Soccer, there’s no shortage of great times!

Tampa Bay Rays

All Month

Rays UP! Tropicana Field hosts our hometown MLB Baseball team for showdowns against the San Francisco Giants, Chicago White Sox Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, Kansas City Royals and Baltimore Orioles this month. What a fun addition to your spring St. Pete Beach vacation!

https://www.mlb.com/rays/schedule/2019-04

Corey Avenue Sunday Market

Every Sunday

Held every Sunday between October and May from 10am-2pm, the Corey Avenue Sunday Market supports 50 – 80 vendors and caters to the greater St. Petersburg Beach area. The market supports local vendors who sell a variety of locally produced and homemade produce, plants, take-home foods, ready to eat lunch bites, handcrafts, eco-friendly and fair trade products and more. Come and join us for a morning of live music, shopping, and a delicious breakfast, brunch or lunch at one of the many area restaurants – all within walking distance. The Corey Area shops, boutiques, and galleries are open for shopping! Hope to see you on Sundays for a Market-goers day of fun, relaxation in our unique shopping and dining district!

http://tampabaymarkets.com/corey-avenue-sunday-market

Tampa Bay Rowdies

April 6 and April 13

Join in the fun as Tampa Bay’s professional soccer team takes on teams from all over the world. Join Pete the Pelican to cheer on the Rowdies- April’s home matches are at Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg, and kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.

https://www.rowdiessoccer.com/2019matches

Orchid Festival

April 7th

Bloom into spring at the annual Orchid Festival at Sunken Gardens! Today from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., you’ll learn about orchid care and meet with multiple vendors while being surrounded by more orchids than you can imagine in one place! This event is free with paid gardens admission or membership.

SunLit Festival

April 11th- 28th

The fifth annual SunLit Festival brings together cultural organizations, writers, artists, and businesses for 18 days of “litertainment.” April 11th through 28th. Produced by Keep St. Pete Lit events range from conversations with authors to interactive storytelling to poetry at The Dali and more.

https://keepstpetelit.org/sunlit-festival/

Pier 60 Sugar Sand Festival

April 12th-28th

There’s no better way to see Clearwater Beach’s famous white sand in action than the Pier 60 Sugar Sand Festival. Kick-off this 17-day festival as artists begin to work their magic on the 1000 tons of sand to go with this year’s theme, “Sea the World, a Journey Around the Globe.” Let the kiddos make their mark in the Giant Sand Box and watch buskers perform tricks, unlike any other April 12th through 28th!

https://sugarsandfestival.com/

St. Pete Earth Day

April 13

On April 13, 2019, St. Petersburg will celebrate Earth Day with a community celebration to be held in Historic Williams Park. Earth Day is celebrated by over a billion people in hundreds of countries around the globe. By celebrating Earth Day we join with others and share our common reverence and respect for this beautiful but fragile planet.
This free event is Hosted by Chart 411 and The City Of St Petersburg along with many other environmental and civic organizations.


https://www.facebook.com/events/600111037077007/?active_tab=about

St. Pete Wing Fest

April 19th

Bring your appetite to Vinoy Park April 19th for this food truck rally featuring chicken wings and craft beer! From 6 – 11 p.m., more than 15 food trucks will be dishing out special chicken wings and chicken inspired dishes as well as their normal cuisine. Live music, beer, and craft vendors. This event is free admission and family and pet friendly.

https://www.facebook.com/events/271734896716146/

The Sunscreen Film Festival

April 25th – 28th

The Sunscreen Film Festival is back for, yet another year of star studded fun! This annual film festival hosted by the St. Petersburg-Clearwater Film Society is an internationally recognized event with an annual attendance of over 10,000 stars and film makers!

http://sunscreenfilmfestival.com/

St. Anthony’s Triathlon

April 27-28
Named as one of “10 Great Destination Triathlons” by Complete Tri, St. Anthony’s Triathlon celebrates its 36th year in 2019 with a beautiful St. Petersburg setting, great fan support, and tremendous competition. Here at the Alden, we have some athletes that have been staying with us for a long time.  This is a premier event that kicks off the season for the whole country.

https://satriathlon.com/

We hope you enjoy the festival fun this month at the Alden! If you have any suggestions of more great events leave a comment below.

Posted on

The Alden Gives Back, more than EVER, in 2019!

Here at Alden Suites Beachfront Resort, we are honored to participate in our St. Pete Beach community by supporting meaningful local causes. It means so much to us that we have the opportunity to give back, and over the years, we’ve donated millions, both in dollars and in-kind donations, to causes that benefit St. Pete Beach and beyond. To celebrate our 50th anniversary of ownership by the Renfrow family in 2019, we are taking it up a notch with some major new charity initiatives.

Mary Ann Renfrow, the Alden’s Director of Community Relations, serves as the Chairman of the Board of the Tampa Bay Watch. We’ve supported the Tampa Bay Watch with monetary giving every year, including a $25,000 donation in 2018. In April 2019, Tampa Bay Watch will be featured on-site at the Alden, with demonstrations, displays, and opportunities for guests to learn more about the vital work that the Watch does to keep our waterways and beaches clean and healthy.

Our President, Gary Renfrow, led an Alden-sponsored team of golfers in this year’s First Tee of St. Petersburg Brittany & Friends Celebrity Pro-Am this past January. The Alden also sponsored lunch for this charity golf tournament, raising funds to teach golf to youth in the area. And the best part is, our Alden Suites team walked away with the first prize trophy!

And in February, Mary Ann Renfrow bicycled all the way from Tampa to Tallahassee, raising funds for the Moffitt Cancer Center with the Cure on Wheels. Riders bicycled for 325+ miles over 4 days later to arrive at the Florida State Capitol. Upon arrival the riders were greeted with a Moffitt Day Celebration and a meet and greet with Moffitt leadership and various lawmakers. Mary Ann and the Cure on Wheels team were also able to lobby with the “Speak out for Moffitt” group, followed by a reception on the top floor of the Capitol.

Leigh Renfrow and Jennie Renfrow Ibarguen participate in our charitable giving by researching and selecting causes to support. They give to the Alzheimer’s Foundation and to lung cancer-related causes in honor of their parents, Bob and Gennifer Renfrow. In addition to these hands-on charitable efforts, we provide in-kind donations via two-night stay certificates. Charities use the certificates for auctions and raffles to raise money for their causes. Just in the past year, we donated to CASA, the Pinellas County School Board, the Optimist Club, Boys and Girls Club, Elk’s Lodge, the Museum of Fine Arts of St. Petersburg, Largo High School, the Breast Cancer Foundation, and many others.

The Alden also donates used furniture and appliances to Habitat for Humanity and PARC. We give blankets to the SPCA and Pet Pal Rescue to help them support shelter animals. And our partially used soaps and other toiletries are recycled to help people in Haiti via Clean the World!

When you stay at the Alden, your dollars go not only to support our employees and their families, but also our community at large. Beach restoration, cancer patients, homeless animals and domestic abuse survivors are all receiving help this year because of you. We couldn’t give back to these great causes without your help, so we thank you, from the bottom of our hearts!