BRADENTON BEACH – Long known for their efforts in assisting kids and community, the Anna Maria Island Privateers turned to the community they have long served as part of their efforts to raise funds to build a new holiday sleigh.

Taking place at the Drift In in Bradenton Beach the Privateers’ annual Christmas in July event raised $1,863 of the estimated $5,000 needed to build a new sleigh to replace the club’s previous sleigh that was lost during a recent legal dispute with a former Privateer.

Driven by Santa, and pulled in a fashion similar to trailer, the Privateer’s use their sleigh for parades, festivals, holiday deliveries and other special events.

The Christmas in July celebration included live music by Dana and the Dragonflies, a potluck supper, raffle baskets, the infamous lotto board, and a visit from Santa himself, who found himself surrounded by loads of gnarly pirates and hot pirate babes.

Now a staple of the Drift In’s fund raising efforts, the lotto board is a large bulletin board filled with numerous and various lottery tickets. The winner of Saturday’s lotto board raffle was Eric Howard, a visiting tourist who bought his tickets five minutes before the drawing took place.

Hoard won $180 in scratch off tickets and $100 cash.

With their legal battle now in the rear view mirror, the well-intended pirates have set their sights on the journeys that lie ahead.

Serving in his final week as the club’s vice president, Roger “HooDat” Murphree said, “We’re here today raising money for our build-a-sleigh fund, trying to replace the sleigh we lost. It’s Christmas in July, and we’re having a lot of fun. We’re trying to raise $5,000. We want to make the new sleigh out of fiberglass and make it look real cool, with a lot of flowing shapes. We’re going for a Dr. Seuss look.”

Tim “Hammer” Thompson said, “We lost the lawsuit, so we don’t have a sleigh. Today’s event is all about raising money so we can build a new sleigh, so Santa can be in the Christmas parade and we can use it when we adopt our Christmas family.

"The Privateers have been on this Island for 43, going on 44 years, and the community support has just been amazing. It’s all about ‘Pirates for kids and community’ and the tradition will continue.”

Serving in her final week as club president, Mary Ann “Maz” Zyla said, “Each year, the Drift In graciously hosts a Christmas in July fundraiser for us. Today’s event will help us have another sleigh ready for the holidays. The community support continues to be fabulous.

When we had to pay our legal fees, we raised enough money in a short period of time and still have enough to give out scholarships, which we weren’t sure we’d be able to do this year.”

Zyla was especially appreciative of the efforts made by volunteers Shari Urbano and Ellen Scott for their efforts pertaining to the lotto board raffle ticket sales.

This week, President-elect Bob “Stitch” Dominas will take over as club president, with Bill “Sparkles” Rosencrantz serving as the Privateer’s new vice president.