Monthly Meetings - our speakers & event Reservations

Berkeley Grimball

Podharpist

Our annual Holiday Luncheon will once again feature delightful live music from Berkeley Grimball.

Fine jeweler and multi-instrument musician Berkeley Grimball is "the world's greatest podharp player." In fact, he invented the podharp. In early 2021, he found a seed pod on the ground in his yard and wondered if it had any interesting sonic qualities. He crafted a 21-stringed, five-foot-tall harp from that palm tree seed pod; it combines elements of traditional stringed instruments and percussion, and is loosely based on the Kora, a West African harp.   

You can usually find Mr. Grimball playing his podharp on Tuesdays from 11 a.m. to 1p.m. outside SumitrA Espresso Lounge + and restaurant, 2838 Beach Blvd. S. in Gulfport.

Manny Leto

Executive Director

Preserve the 'Burg

Manny has been embedded in Tampa Bay’s cultural community for more than two decades, serving in a variety of capacities - from employee to board member to volunteer - for a host of local organizations.

As the executive director of Preserve the ‘Burg, Manny helps St. Pete’s nonprofit preservation organization realize its strategic vision. Since joining PTB earlier this year, he has focused on fundraising, membership and relaunching public programs such as Movies in the Park and walking tours, while planning for 2022.

Manny previously served as the Tampa Bay History Center’s director of marketing and communications. As a member of the museum’s senior leadership team, Manny was part of the opening of the History Center in 2009 and helped guide the organization through a rebrand and expansion of the facility in 2017. 

In the early 2000s, he served as Assistant Director of the Ybor City Museum Society, a non-profit organization charged with supporting the Ybor City State Museum, where he was responsible for public programming and special exhibitions. 

He is a graduate of Leadership Tampa (2020) and the Smithsonian Museum Leadership Program (2016). He served on the Gasparilla Music Festival Board of Directors (2013-2014) and Gasparilla Music Festival Advisory Board (2015-Present); Ybor City Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors (2007-09); and the American Institute of Architects Cultural Heritage Committee (2005-2009). He currently serves as a board member of the Tampa Bay Center for Architecture and Design.