Good sports on the society scene

BY BARBARA HENDEL
BLADE SOCIETY EDITOR

Carol Zilba, center, with her daughters, from left: Lisa Zilba, Juliana Furay, and Mary Zilba.

Monday night was a fun time at Parkway Place. Owners George and Carol Zilba hosted a BCS national championship Notre Dame versus Alabama tailgate party. Folks in their favorite teams' colors roamed about sipping beverages and munching on tasty food as they watched Alabama's victory on a big screen TV.

Speaking of colorful events, Pardi Paws-Mardi Gras presented by the Toledo Animal Shelter is slated for Fat Tuesday, Feb. 12, at the Holiday Inn French Quarter in Perrysburg.

The New Orleans-style fun runs from 6 to 9 p.m. and includes Creole-inspired hors d'oeuvres and dinner with music by Ragtime Rick and the Chefs of Dixieland. Tickets are $75 each and can be purchased by calling 419-382-1130 or going to www.toledoanimalshelter.com.

Buckeye CableSystem has a new local cable sports channel -- BCSN2 -- and sponsors attended a launch party Jan. 4 on the ninth anniversary of BCSN. It was in Hollywood Casino Toledo's H Lounge. The new channel will showcase local high school, college, and professional sports in the Toledo area. The station premiered on Jan. 7 on channels 109/609HD with a live pre-game show followed by a high school girls basketball game featuring St. Ursula Academy at home against Notre Dame Academy.

Laura and John Guitteau from WRK advertising pose with Jessica Bovia, center.

At the launch, Tom Cole, host and community development coordinator for BCSN, and Allan Block, chairman of Block Communications, Inc., parent company of The Blade, thanked everyone for all they have done to build BCSN.

"BCSN is such a great success I wanted there to be a second channel to do a much better job fulfilling our mission to bring more quality local sports programming to the community," Mr. Block said.

"BCSN and now BCSN2 are a chance for kids to showcase their skills athletically, academically, and also give them a chance to give back to the community," said Mr. Cole.

"Someone once told me that kids are not what they used to be, and I said, 'you're right -- they're not what they used to be, they're better!' Kids are smarter, more athletically talented, and can persevere through any obstacle handed to them and come out on top," he said.