Work hard, play hard

 Queen Diane May

BY C.S. GILBERT

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

Queen Diane May raised three children in Reston, Va., before moving to Key West about 10 years ago. “Friends from Maryland moved here and I came down to visit them and fell in love. We literally bought our house on the way to the airport.” Sadly, her husband died five years ago but she just kept keeping on, she said. ”I thought I was past remodeling houses. Still — I just finished one a couple of months ago.”

The 2013 Fantasy Fest Queen has “done fundraising for a long time, including for an AIDS organization in the D.C. area. It was a natural fit.” She serves on the AIDS Help Board of Directors and also on the Waterfront Playhouse board, “but I have a dozen favorites; there are wonderful, wonderful organizations here in Key West,” including the Woman’s Club, she said.

May’s campaign sponsored or participated in about two dozen events and as queen has represented the city and the festival in a dozen more. Her motto has always been “work hard, play hard.” She found it hard to choose a favorite event. “Wow,” she said. “They were all so much fun! One of my favorites, though, was when Rick Worth painted one of the Bourbon Street dancers and pressed him against canvases. A dozen pressings were auctioned off at Gingerbread Square’s garden” to benefit the campaign. Another favorite was the Martini Mixathon, during which “Marty from Rick’s came up with the most amazing fresh watermelon martini.”

Last year’s campaign was very successful, May said. The four candidates raised $215,000 and with federal and state matching funds earned just under $1 million for the organization. “They never tell individual totals,” she said. ”Every year is different and we don’t want to discourage anyone.”

Her advice to future candidates is direct. “Work smart. Use your head instead of your feet,” which means coming up with creative events and recruiting active volunteers. Her “Dream Team” is an example. “They still wanted to keep on partying after it was all over; we were having such a good time. We’re all still friends.”

The queen especially thanks her Dream Team and reports that “everybody at AIDS Help has been wonderful; they’re such a dedicated group.” The team (“They do such good work!”) is “still together — some are working on other people’s teams” now.

AIDS Help is still relevant, she said. “I feel strongly that AIDS can be treated more successfully but medications are so expensive that without AIDS Help people couldn’t afford the meds.” In addition, she believed the organization “houses others with long-term disabilities.”

Anyone who wishes to run for Fantasy Fest royalty may sign up before noon on the day of the official campaign kick-off, Aug. 22, by visiting www.aidshelp.cc or telephoning staffer Jeremy Wilkerson at 305-440-2300.

 

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