ANNA MARIA – Every year the Anna Maria Elementary School PTO holds a number of fundraisers, but only one of them involves the parents only, and last week they stepped back almost 50 years to celebrate the "Psychedelic Sixties."

Those attending came in go-go boots, mini skirts, afro hairdos, platform shoes and lots of dark sunglasses. Chris Grumley had them bopping to the tunes of the decade; Amy Talucci and Nicole Coleman had the Anna Maria Island Community Center decorated to a T, including grass at every table in the form of sod, and there was enough food to feed an army of men who never burned a draft card. In fact, the hors d'ouerves were so great, it was hard to save room for the equally great dinner. All the food came from local restaurants and outlets.

Artist Cheetah had an easel onstage and painted a picture, with the help of Beth Warmath, which was sold during the live auction. Some of the whacky castaways from Gilligan's Island were also on hand, but the closest we came to having rock stars were a bunch of framed, black and white pictures of some that were sold for $5 each.

After the silent auction ended, Grumley cranked it up and the audience started dancing. It wasn't the music known as acid rock back then, but it had a beat, and the women became familiar with dancing in go-go boots. Principal David Marshall, who sported long locks of hair, and his wife enjoyed the music as well. He also expressed surprise at the care the attendees took to dress up for the event, another benefit of leading a school with a strong record of parental support.