INDIAN ROCKS BEACH \u2014 Marianne Fisher had gotten hints that Greater Seminole Area Chamber of Commerce directors chose her as Ms. Seminole. It didn\u2019t quite sink in.<\/p>\n
Even when last year\u2019s Mr. Seminole, George Bessler, announced the president and CEO of Safe Harbor Elder Care Services as the winner March 7 at the Holiday Inn Harbourside, it took husband Dr. David Moore to nudge her along.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy husband said, \u2018He\u2019s talking about you, Marianne,\u2019\u201d Fisher recalled. \u201c\u2019Stand up.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Fisher was the top honoree at the 61st annual Greater Seminole Area Chamber of Commerce Awards Dinner, themed \u201cLegacy Under the Stars.\u201d The chamber also recognized six other individuals and businesses for their contributions to the community.<\/p>\n
Master of Ceremonies Gerry Cachia, Mr. Seminole 2018, and Dr. Stephen Nickse, Mr. Seminole 2015, led a tribute to chamber members Peter Hofstra, Paul King, Richard Caton and Paul Cavonis, who died in the past year.<\/p>\n
Past Mr. and Ms. Seminole honorees in attendance included Dr. Claude McMullen (1984), Dennis DeLoach (1993), Ken Burke (2000), Eva Jones (2001), Tim Schuler (2002), Wilda Whittle (2004), Robert Castles (2006), Harold Vardy (2011), Dennis Jones (2012), Gene Stern (2013), Fred Zinda (2014), Sandy Hartmann (2016), Thom Barnhorn (2023) and Vivian Lurie (2024).<\/p>\n
A career built on advocacy<\/p>\n
As well-wishers lined up to congratulate her, Fisher said the honor left her speechless.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know what to say,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Her humility tracks with a career spent in quiet, dogged advocacy for the elderly.<\/p>\n
Less than two weeks after she retired as CEO of Clarkson & Collins, D.O., P.A., after more than 20 years, she found herself sitting across from attorneys, certified public accountants and financial planners.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018So, we heard you retired,\u2019\u201d she recalled them saying. \u201c\u2018We don\u2019t think that\u2019s going to work for you. \u2026 You bring a special talent to elder care that\u2019s seldom seen. We might need to go into business together.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
In another case, Fisher helped a brother \u2014 who had been his sister\u2019s sole caretaker \u2014 reunite with her after the sister was placed in a facility and effectively cut off from contact. After the brother was able to say his goodbyes, he asked Fisher to handle his affairs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told him I would be honored,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
As a patient advocate, Fisher has helped seniors preserve their legacies and their dignity. She helps prevent elder scams and exploitation, which remain rampant.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy tagline is protecting the rights and welfare of our seniors,\u201d Fisher said. \u201cSeniors are living longer. Now, it\u2019s so easy for a senior who suffers from dementia to be without any rights, and that\u2019s very, very hard to swallow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bessler said Fisher had \u201ca servant\u2019s heart.\u201d Cachia said she was doing \u201cGod\u2019s work\u201d and noted she had broad support among chamber members for the honor.<\/p>\n
Her attention to detail bears that out. During one-on-one meetings with potential clients, she said she changes the volume of her voice to test whether they can hear her. During COVID, she brought seniors mechanical animals that barked and meowed so they would have company.<\/p>\n
Her clients now span as far as Canada, Spain and Finland.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want people to know if they feel somebody is taking advantage of them that they should say something to someone they trust,\u201d she said. \u201cAm I an advocate? Absolutely. It really is a passion.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"INDIAN ROCKS BEACH \u2014 Marianne Fisher had gotten hints that Greater Seminole Area Chamber of Commerce directors chose…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":188600,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[88360,27392,88361,596,202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-188599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-greater-seminole-chamber-of-commerce","tag-indian-rocks-beach","tag-ms-seminole","tag-pinellas-county","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=188599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/188600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}