Historic Old Northeast Neighborhood Newsletter Sept 2010

Page 1Historic Old NOrtheast NeighbOrhOOd News

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St. Pete’s Jewel on Tampa Bay

HONNA Neighborhood Meetings are held the third

Monday of each month (except August and December)

at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 126 11th Avenue NE

Social: 6:45pm—Business: 7pm

Volume 38 Issue 3 / September 2010 / www.honna.org Published Quarterly

UPCOMING MEETINGS Mark your calendar!

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September 20th Neighborhood Potluck Dinner

October 18th To Be AnnouncedNovember 15th

Eric Higgs, Designer of Centennial Parks Sundial

In thIs Issue

Sundial Project.............................5 & 26

Citizens on Patrol .... 6

Concert in the Park .................. 15The Answer Lady ... 18

Halloween in the ‘Hood ........... 21

Fall Walking Tour ... 23

Candlight Home Tour ................... 27

Calendar of Events .............................. 28

The Power

of 1

As the days become cooler and you find yourself heading outside more and more to relax, entertain, dine – or all three – make

the most of the season by thinking of your yard as an extension of your home. Creating an outdoor liv-ing space is no longer just about increasing property values or impressing the occasional guest. It’s about creating a warm, welcoming, nurturing place to come home to -- a place that soothes the stress out of daily life and brings us closer to nature and spirit.

One of my favorite things about The Old North-east neighborhood is that almost every home has a space that can be transformed into an outdoor room. Whether a formal living and dining space, a tropical poolside retreat or small reading nook carved into a sliver of available landscape, we have to remember that decorating our home should not stop inside our front door. That being said, here are a few steps to plan a comfy and welcoming retreat that can fit any budget.Identify goals and make a “big picture” plan

Before you add a patio or deck or begin clearing or shaping an existing landscape, determine how you

Jan Magray is a long-time music educator, having taught music to kindergarten to college-aged students for more

than 30 years. Jan came upon the Royal Theater Academy of the Arts (www.royaltheater-midtown.com), located in the Midtown neighborhood of St. Petersburg, two years ago while searching for a venue to teach music to several young boys who weren’t able to travel to her home-based studio where she teaches vocal and instrumental music lessons. She subsequently created an after-school music

Jan Magray, Youth Music Motivatorby Barbara Marshall

group that started with three six year olds and now has 20 students and a waiting list. The students do not pay a fee for this afterschool program; the Royal Theater receives charitable donations from public and private individuals and entities for its outreach to kids. Jan named the program “Music FUNdamentals” because of her belief that making music with others creates

Enjoy HONNA’s favorite “new” tradition

Our September Monthly Neighborhood Meeting is a

POTLUCKAn Informal Opportunity

to Enjoy Good Food and the Company of Neighbors and Friends, Both Old and New

Come to the third of this year’s Potluck Dinners in lieu of the usual monthly ”busi-ness-oriented” neighborhood meeting. The date is Monday, September 20th, at our regular gathering place, Westminster Presbyterian Church at 126 11th Avenue NE.

A Room with a Viewby Laura Fage

want to use the space. For outdoor dining? For entertaining a crowd? Are privacy and protec-tion from sun or wind important or is your idea of paradise a roofless room that allows you to stargaze at night?

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NOVEMBER 15TH - Speaker Eric HiggsDesigner of the Centennial Parks Sundial

Page 2 Historic Old NOrtheast NeighbOrhOOd News

*Preprinted inserts that you provide are delivered within the newsletter. Due to delivery restrictions, inserts are available on a limited basis.

The newsletter quarterly publication dates are March, June, September, and December. The deadline for accepting new ads and ad changes is three weeks prior to the publication month. The next deadline is November 7th. Payment for new ads should be submitted at the same time that the ad layout is provided and should be addressed to “HONNA Advertising.” The newsletter is distributed by mail to all homes in The Old Northeast (boundaries are 5th Ave N to 30th Ave N, and 4th St N to North Shore Dr/Coffee Pot Bayou Blvd). There are approximately 2,500 active home mailing addresses.

Contact Rachel Sartain: [email protected] space is limited so please make arrangements early.

Ad SIze 1 Qtr 2 Qtrs 3 Qtrs 1 Year Business card 50 93 128 1601/4 page (H 4.9” x w 3.7”) 100 186 256 3201/2 page (H 4.9” x w 7.8”) 200 372 512 640Full page 400 744 1024 1280Back Cover 1/2 page 1400*Inserts and Premium Placement: Rates Upon Request

Ad RATeS

Potluck from page 1

Published quarterly – March, June, September and December and mailed to all households in The Old Northeast

P.O. Box 76324, St. Petersburg, FL 33734 e-mail [email protected]

The Newsletter of the Historic Old Northeast Neighborhood Association

editor Rick Carson Columnists and Reporters

Mike PanettaJohn Gee

Circulation Joe O’ConnorContributors All our Old Northeast neighborsNewsletter Layout & design Sharon Bond: [email protected] Information Rachel Sartain: [email protected]

Mike DaileyYvonne Swanson

Jill McGrath Sue Strott

The President’s PerspectiveMary Alice LangeAssociation President

HONNA will provide the main entrée (meat and meatless), beverages and you can bring a favorite dish to tempt our palates.

Here’s our request of you. Depending on where you reside, here’s what you can bring:

Between 5th-9th: vegetable dish (hot or cold) 10th-14th: bread or appetizer 15th-22nd: a dessert 23rd-30th: a salad of some sort (eg: greens, pasta or Jell-O)Make enough to serve 6-8, depending on what it is you’re bring-

ing (of course, you get to take home any leftovers – unlikely!).If you are kitchen-challenged – or even if you’re not – we en-

courage you to bring a can or package of non-perishable food which we’ll donate to the church’s food pantry to pass along to

those in need.Plan to arrive between 6:45-7pm

so we can lay out all the food and begin dining by 7 or so. There will be no formal program – just neighborly conversation at tables over dinner. If you can’t arrive by 7, come when you can as the food should hold out until we start to close down around 8pm.

Not a HONNA member? You’re definitely invited anyway. And if you decide to join, we won’t stop you.

Many of you have probably seen the construction that is cur-rently underway in Vinoy and North Shore parks. As part of its Trail Program, the City is extending the North Bay Bike and Walking Trail northward. It will eventually connect with other sections of the trail also under construction from Coffee Pot Park to 78th Avenue.

The increased width of the path (12 feet) required that the light poles be moved back from the Trail. Although red dots on many of the trees caused concern for residents, City staff assured the Neighborhood Association that the dots identified trees for relocation, NOT removal. New trees are also being added to the landscaping as well – 36 Sabal palms and four Live Oaks.

When HONNA was notified of the Trail expansion, Board members Paul Boudreaux and Robin Reed accompanied me and we met with City staff to discuss what additional improvements the neighborhood would like to see included in the Trail plans. The City and HONNA agreed to:

• Removal of railroad ties from the plantings at the restrooms (tennis courts) and re-landscaping of the entire area.

• Replacement of mismatched benches along the Trail so that all benches will be the same as those in Vinoy Park (new trash containers will also be installed).

• Gaps in the hedge at the swimming pool will be filled in (or the area replanted).

• The substructure for the Centennial Sundial sculpture will be contributed to the memorial of the 100th anniversary of the Waterfront Parks.

Those of us who walk and bike, have children and grandchildren and who use the Trail can look forward to a safer journey in the future. Enhancements to the plantings and the amenities in the parks will complement the Trail and make it more aesthetically pleasing for everyone.

There are many exceptional opportunities to meet your neigh-bors and enjoy the neighborhood festivities such as the September 20th Pot Luck Dinner, Octo-ber 16th Florida Orchestra in the Park, October 24th Walk-ing Tour of the waterfront parks, Halloween weekend festivities, November 6th Sundial dedication and the December 12th Candlelight Tour of Homes.

Come join us.

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unfortunately, to be a non-event for this year. FYI. Concern has been

voiced about the large round orange Xs on a number of trees and palms in North Shore Park. No, these aren’t being marked for elimina-tion. They will be moved elsewhere in the park to make room for other new plant-ings in their place. Speaking of trees, have you noticed all the new plantings on the parkway and on the medians on 4th Street (right)? Looking good!

Paul Boudreaux is the newest vacancy appointment to the HONNA Board. He and his wife, Barri, moved here three years ago from Silver Spring, MD. A retired US civil servant, Paul is ac-tive with his condo association board, volunteers at the St. Pete Museum of History and plays senior softball. On the HONNA Board he is its representative to the Council of Neighborhood Associations (CONA).

Historic PreservationRobin Reed, ChairPlanning Awards

HONNA re-ceived second place for our new N e i g h b o r h o o d Plan at the annual Neighborhoods U S A ( N U S A ) c o n f e r e n c e i n Little Rock, AR, this past May. HONNA President Mary Alice Lange

and Board members L a r r y S m i t h and I rep-r e s e n t e d The Old Northeast at the awards luncheon that featured former President Bill Clinton as the keynote speaker. Susie Ajoc, director of the City’s Neighborhood Partnership Office, was on hand to lend support to The Old Northeast team.

The neighborhood also received a Florida Trust for Historic Preservation award for the Plan in the category of Preservation Education/Media at the Trust’s annual

Association News & Activities

Committee Reports

A t t h e M a y monthly meeting we heard about a proposal to allow digital billboards within City limits. Tom O’Neill of Clear Channel Broadcast-ing made the case for such billboards, reporting that some 80 current billboards would be removed and would be re-placed by eight new digital displays on major thoroughfares

(e.g., I-275, 34th Street, Roosevelt and Tyrone Boulevards). Tra-vis Jarman (above), representing Citizens for a Scenic Florida, presented the opposing case, citing safety (e.g, distractions) and aesthetics among other reasons. A decision on the proposal awaits City Council action.

Our June gathering was a quarterly potluck, unfortunately timed during a seasonal downpour which a small but hardy band of hungry souls braved.

July’s meeting was an open forum at which time residents were encouraged to voice their pleasures and displeasures about life in the neighborhood and the performance of the HONNA Board. A couple dozen people took the time to participate in a sometimes lively give-and-take conversation about a diverse range of issues: HONNA opposition to the ill-fated “Westin” hotel project on 5th Avenue N, how the neighborhood is represented before official City bodies, prostitution on 4th Street, noisy events in the water-front parks, more trees in public spaces and rat traps in the alleys. As is customary, a representative of the Police Department was present to provide an overview of recent criminal activity in the neighborhood. Cautionary note: more home burglaries are occur-ring and through unlocked windows during daylight hours. There was no August meeting.

Rain was also the unwelcome guest on the 4th of July and suc-ceeded in canceling the annual Children’s Parade at Coffee Pot Park. A few patriots showed up, including the Fife & Drum Corps, but the monsoon downpour won out. HONNA sincerely thanks the law firm of Fudge & McArthur (neighbor Donna Fudge) and Smith & Associates Real Estate for sponsoring what turned out,

(l-r) Mary Alice Lange, Larry Smith, Robin Reed and Elton Gatewood, Presi-dent of NUSA


Candlelight Tour of Homes: Chair, Sharon KantnerC.O.N.A. Rep: Paul BoudreauxCrime & Safety: Jay Marshall Historic Preservation: Robin ReedMembership: Barbara MarshallPlanning/Neighborhood Design Review: Mary Alice LangeNewsletter: Rick CarsonPorch Parties: Larry SmithPrograms: OpenTraffic: Mark LawsonWebsite: Joe O’Connor (interim)

To contact a chair via e-mail, go to www.honna.org/board-and-committees.html

where you can click on the name of the person you wish to contact and send him/her a message.

Your volunteer involvement in one of our committees will help enhance your neighborhood and our association.

Please contact any committee chair for information.

Historic Old Northeast Neighborhood AssociationOFFICeRS and BOARd

President: Mary Alice Lange 251-2034Vice President: Maureen Stafford — Secretary: Larry Smith — Treasurer: Douglas Haan, 488-5514directors:Paul Boudreaux —Rick Carson 898-7834 Bob Hunter 898-7987Rick Kantner — Robin Reed 825-0480Mark Lawson 365-3155 Barbara Marshall 385-4746Ron Magray 502-9065 Jay Marshall —

To contact an officer or Board member via e-mail, go to www.honna.org/board-and-committees.html where you can click on the name of the person you wish to contact and send him/her a message.

HONNA Board meetings are held the second Monday of each month at 6:30pm at Westminster Presbyterian Church and are open to the public. Check beforehand with the Board president in case the meeting day has been re-scheduled.

Like our neighborhood?Want to make it even better?

Volunteer with one of our committees!

conference in Sanibel. It was the second time the Association has been recognized by the Florida Trust, winning in the same category last year for our book, Souvenir of St. Petersburg, Views from the Vinoy.

Mayor Bill Foster and the City Coun-cil recognized the neighborhood for both awards at a Council meeting in July. Council Chair Leslie Curran noted that both the Plan and our book were mod-els that she hoped other neighborhoods in the City would use as templates for their own plan updates and preservation education projects.

dolphin RestorationThe dolphins at the Venetian Steps in Granada Terrace have been

receiving some much-needed TLC of late. HONNA, in partner-ship with the City’s Parks Department, has undertaken a project of restoration and repainting for the dolphins and the Venetian Steps. Restorer Glenn Anderson removed the dolphin on the right, repaired the cracks and the split in the base and carefully returned it to its original site. Pressure washing prior to painting not only cleaned the surfaces but revealed some surprises – the dolphins were origi-nally painted in lively colors. The City’s preservation staff, Kim Hinder and Aimee Angel, have recommended that these colors be restored when we repaint. Hence, you will see that the dolphins are now sporting a teal shade of blue with brick-red eyes!

Historic Landmarks The Ridgely Residence, located at 600 Beach Drive NE, will be

the first of our neighborhood’s local landmarks to display a beauti-ful bronze plaque in honor of its architecture and contributions to the history of St. Petersburg. To promote an appreciation of these exceptional homes, the Neighborhood Association is making the plaques available at no cost to the owners. Congratulations to Bruce and Mary Sadler for having the first historic home in The Old Northeast to be recognized in this special way.

Crime & Safety CommitteeJay Marshall, Chair

Happy anniversary! Your Historic Old Northeast Neighborhood Crime Watch Program celebrates its first anniversary. Through the leadership of Maureen Stafford and the HONNA Board of Directors, and the hard work of Ron Magray, all whom gave shape to the pro-gram, our Crime Watch effort is recognized throughout the City as a model. In fact, we have been asked to sponsor next year National Night Out (NNO) for Police District Two, which covers over 40 separate neighborhoods. NNO is to honor residents who take an active role in Crime Watch and to recognize our partnership with law enforcement to make our community a safer place to live, work and play. For our neighborhood to be selected is one of the highest compliments.

This is a good time to let you know what accomplishments we have achieved and where we want to be when we celebrate or second anniversary. First, we need to recognize that The Historic Old Northeast neighborhood geographic area is huge, running from 5th Avenue to 30th Avenue N and from 4th Street N to North Shore Drive/Coffee Pot Boulevard. Our community can be reached by anyone at any time using street ways and alleys, totaling over 135 access points.

JOIN OUR COMMITTeeS Interested in working on publicity for the Association? Getting involved in upcoming special events like the easter egg Hunt or the 4th of July Children’s Parade? Contact Mary Alice Lange at [email protected] .

Mary Alice Lange with Florida Trust award


Judi Reed has been absolutely superb managing our Citizens on Patrol (COP) component. Through her diligence, we have trained over 40 individuals through the St. Petersburg Police Department to patrol our neighborhood and have deployed vehicle, biking and walking patrols. Most of you recognize these folks by their distinctive markings and lights, going out all times of the day, to report suspicious activities. We have made a great start by actively engaging these residents who take great pride in their community and its safety. We have 11 vehicle patrols and three walking patrols. Not a bad start. To all of you, a big thanks for your community services. But, we need more residents to patrol!

The biggest assets we have to prevent crime are your “eyes and ears,” telephone and e-mail. Complementing our COP component are ways to encourage all residents to notice and report suspicious activities and make visible signs throughout the area that we do just that. The City has placed four “Neighborhood Watch” signs at strategic locations around the perimeter of the neighborhood and more are expected. However, we have taken this one step further. Everyone is encouraged to consider posting your own Crime Watch sign on your own property. Many are already out there, but if you

Sundial Planned as Memorial to Waterfront Parks Centennial Year by Sydni Ann Shollenberger, Public Relations Consulting

As a memorial to the Waterfront Parks Centennial in 2010, sculptor Eric Higgs -- whose monumental sculptures have been installed and his works exhibited around the world, from France to Japan and from California to Florida -- has designed a one-of-a-kind stone sculpture, a human-scale sundial.

Robin Reed, who lives near the site where the Waterfront Parks Centennial Sundial will be placed, researched the history of ear-lier sundials at “Vista Point” in North Shore Park, where Tampa Bay and Coffee Pot Bayou meet. She approached Higgs, who was inspired by the possibilities of creating a lasting monument to the Waterfront Parks Centennial year.

Eric is contributing the design and his installation expertise to the project, and the City of St. Petersburg will provide both the in-frastructure and landscaping when the sundial is installed next to the Pinellas Trail at Vista Point this fall. The dedication is planned for Saturday, November 6th, during the 100th all-day birthday party, taking place in all 12 of the downtown waterfront parks. HONNA was the first donor, setting aside $1,000 toward the project. The Old Northeast Garden Club and its members contributed almost as much, and additional donations have since been received.

Save the date and join the fun – November 6th -- Party in the Parks![The “Neighborhood Times” section of the 8/15 St. Petersburg Times ran an article by Sandra Gadsden, Assistant Metro Editor/

Community News, “Time for an artistic sundial.” The piece gave some history about plans for the sundial sculpture to be erected near the North Shore Drive-Coffee Pot Boulevard curve in the road. Old NE resident and sculptor Eric Higgs was approached by HONNA Historical Preservation chair Robin Reed about creating something special for this spot, and since a sundial was once located here the idea developed to create a “human” sundial. There will be a semi-circle of markers in the ground marking each hour, and when someone stands in front of the half-circle facing north a shadow will fall upon the appropri-ate hour marker. The cost of the project is estimated to be about $17,000 and valued at $35,000 with Eric donating his time “as a gift to the neighborhood.” To be known as Vista Point, it’s scheduled to be finished along with the North Shore Trail with a target date of November 6th.]

See related article page 26.

would like to have your own sign, all you have to do is go to the HONNA website (www.honna.org/contact-us) and let us know.

If you see someone who is acting suspiciously, call the police at 727/893-7780 and report. If you can, please go to the HONNA website (www.honna.org/crime-watch) and let us know so we can alert your neighbors about the suspicious activ-ity through e-mail blasts. It will only take a few minutes and will be well worth your time to keep someone from burglarizing a residence, stealing property or robbing

Vista Point Sundial proposal draft; design by Eric Higgs

copyright 2010


a neighbor. If you don’t report, then everyone suffers. If you have not opted in to receive crime watch messages and e-mail blasts, please go to www.honna.org/crime-watch and register. We will send you timely information about suspicious activities so you can be prepared and will notify you of Crime Watch events and opportunities.

Another accomplishment is our work with the Council of Neighborhood Associations (CONA) to push passage of the street vendor ordinance, which prohibits soliciting from the motor ways. As you may notice, we have dramatically reduced the number of panhandlers soliciting monies from the streets. Although this still exists to a lesser degree, especially in the downtown area, isn’t it nice to drive around town without seeing folks at intersections asking for money?

Your Crime Watch Program made a presentation at the Florida Neighborhoods Conference held in St. Petersburg in July to help educate crime watch representatives and other neighborhood officials from throughout the state. Once again, The Historic Old Northeast is so well respected for our community-police partnership and our accomplishments that we are in the position to help others grow and sustain their programs.

And we have a monthly Crime Watch meeting, held the sec-ond Thursday of each month (except August and December) at Westminster Palms. Our guest speakers address crime and code issues and we talk about crime trends and prevention measures and look for new ways to make our neighborhood safer.

The above is just a snapshot of your Crime Watch Program, serving you every day. However, our goal for this year is to put in place sector or block captains so that, throughout all of The Historic Old Northeast, we have crime watch coverage all of the time. We can only do this through your active support. Over the next few months, your Crime Watch Committee will be reaching out to you to ask for a little bit of your time to make a big difference. To volunteer or for more information, e-mail [email protected].

The following are thoughts from Judi Reed, one of our long time residents of the ‘hood and who serves as a Crime Watch coordinator and manages our Citizens on Patrol. She captures the essence of why it is important for us to dedicate a little of our time to community service by joining Crime Watch.

Citizens on Patrolby Judi Reed

One of The Old Northeast Crime Watch patrollers the other evening said that we “Need to take back the neighborhood,” and it made me reflect on how our neighborhood has changed throughout the years regarding neighborhood crime. Were they right or was I forgetting how it was here 20 years ago?

Of course, for 14 of those 20 years I only lived here on weekends, having a career that sent me somewhere every week and most of the time I didn’t know until the last minute where I was headed. However, I don’t remember people breaking into homes or cars at the rate they do now or having so many panhandlers and vagrants. And there wasn’t a need or thought for having a Crime Watch program.

Times have changed though, and I’m home most days now and somewhat settled into a more “normal” lifestyle. And I guess the other world has changed as well. Now I find myself in my spare time volunteering to run The Old Northeast neighborhood Citizens on Patrol. We are a group of volunteers who care enough about our community to give our time to patrol. Our mission is to work with the St Petersburg Police Department and our neighbors to help keep our community free of crime.

We’re not out there patrolling to capture or corral anyone -- we’re out there to report any suspicious criminal activity, to report street lights not working or malfunctioning or to report egregious code violations that would facilitate crime in our community. Volunteers

drive cars, ride bikes and scooters and walk throughout our neighborhood. We have certain areas we’re assigned, usually our own backyard areas we reside in, but we’re not restricted such that we can’t help out or go elsewhere.

The people who volunteer are only asked to give one hour a week or whatever they can spare. The training is condensed into one evening and it teaches you not only how to look out for potential problems but provides information that you can use on how to look out for your own family and residence.

Volunteers come from many different professions and many different parts of the country or world. Some are retired and some are still working at two jobs. For instance, there is a retired Air Force fighter pilot and his wife, a surgeon, someone who’s worked all over the Middle East for the oil companies, another who works for a ministry, a person running a limo service in another state, government contractors, Realtors and many others from vari-ous professions. They are all different and interesting but what they all have in common is an interest and desire to make The Old Northeast the wonderful and safe community that it should be and was meant to be.

So please join with us in any way you can and help “take back our neighborhood.” Make The Historic Old Northeast not only beautiful but a safe place for our families, our friends, our neighbors and our loved ones (the furry ones, too). If you can donate just a little of your time to make things safer, we’d love for you to join us. We encourage dog and cat walkers to take part. Turn your morning or evening stroll into a little something different. It’s all for a wonderful cause, and it could be for your own as well. To volunteer or for more informa-tion, e-mail [email protected].

Thank you all, and stay safe!Judi with Officer Gabe Lopez


The Historic Old Northeast Neighborhood Associa-tion has joined the social

networking world to enable us to better interact with our members and residents. Come join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/honnaorg. Several pages have been created for various other “Old Northeast”s so watch for the HONNA logo. This is a great way to exchange information and discuss topics concerning our neighbor-hood.Look for Us on Facebook!

Crime Watch Fact SheetName __________________________________________

Address ______________________________________Zip ___________

Home Phone:_______________ Office Phone:_________________

Cell Phone:_________________ E-mail:_______________________

Emergency Contact Person _____________________________________

Contact’s Phone # ________________________________

HONNA Member: Yes____ No____

Would like more info on membership Yes___ No___

Signed: ________________________________________HONNA, PO Box 76324, St. Petersburg, FL 33734

CLIP AND MAIL


Power of One from page 1

fun, along with opportunity for skill achievement and develop-ment of a positive self worth through collaborative and supportive group interaction.

Music FUNdamentals follows the school year calendar with a fall, winter and spring module. Jan meets several times a week with each child in both a small group of two or three for 30 min-utes and also a large group of ten once a week for 45 minutes. The culmination is a filmed recital held in the spring of individual and group performances before the children’s family members.

Jan’s music and ministry careers align in her outreach to help kids feel included in their “singing” community and to feel valued by peers and family. She uses her music styles and own compositions to connect, unite and heal individuals and groups in an emotional and communal way. She teaches group support of a soloist’s individualism, having her students listen carefully to the soloist’s vocal inflection — a practice that transfers into everyday life where kids are challenged to understand one another. To teach that each child is honored with his turn to perform instills a sense of ease and diffuses the need to “fight” for one’s rightful opportunity. She also instills in her students the need to demonstrate patience

while other students attempt to match tones or find a key on the piano with her students repeating, “There are no wrong notes.” Jan helps them create their own music, gaining confidence in ex-pressing themselves. A tradition is to begin and end the children’s music programs with one of Jan’s compositions, “Join Together.”

The words say it all: “Join together, one another, raise your voices high; sing together, hear the music, reach up to the sky.”

Her curriculum, which often in-cludes a simple children’s chant or play party song that Jan’s composed, features different soundscapes also created by her to evoke action and emotion, allowing students to respond with moving about freely, clapping and vocalizing supportive sounds, and also playing instruments like drums and piano. Jan’s message to the kids: If you don’t express, you depress.

Jan’s goal is to get other after-school programs, both locally and

nationally, to incorporate her music curriculum. And she would also like to see it used in home school programs and at children’s hospitals. She plans to create a con-tinuing curriculum for her students at the Royal Theater who were enrolled for the first two years. Interested musicians or teachers who would like to volunteer can reach Jan at [email protected].

Jan lives in The Historic Old Northeast with her husband, Ron. She holds a BS in Music Education from the University of Minnesota; a graduate cer-tificate in Music Education, specializing in the Kodaly methodology from the New England Conservatory and University of Massachusetts; is a graduate of the Music for People “Leadership and Musicianship International Program” and also has a Master’s in Pastoral Ministry from Boston College.

Barbara Marshall serves on The Historic Old Northeast Neighborhood Association (HONNA) Board of Directors and is chair of its Membership Committee.

A version of this article appears in the September 2010 issue of The Northeast Journal.

New Members

Laurence & Emily Fasan .........................19th Avenue NEJonathan Coleman, Rick Kerby ......... Andalusia Way NEAmy Robison & Doug Robison ...............13th Avenue NESusan & Mark McGarry ...........................23rd Avenue NEJ. Warren Alessi & Linda Reifler-Alessi ......13th Avenue NEPat Byars .......................................North Shore Drive NEBrooke &Todd Himot ..............................12th Avenue NEAnne McDaniel ........................................14th Avenue NEJohn & Rebecca Barie ...................................1st Street NECara & Wade Cooper ................................. 29th Avenue N


Do some research before you get started. Read design and gar-dening magazines, talk to friends and acquaintances, visit home and garden stores and sign up for garden tours in your favorite neighborhoods. Start a scrapbook of images that depict the style that’s most appealing. Write down your goals and decide your budget. Then, on your own or with a professional who can provide additional insight, sketch out your long-range plan. Even if you’ll be doing the job in phases, it’s important to see the final vision.Match the outdoor room to your home’s architectural style

Ideally, your outdoor room should reflect the exterior design of your home so look for ideas, furnishings and hardscapes (i.e., hard flat surfaces) that connect and complement for the most cohesive transition. An informal courtyard enhances a Mediterranean-style home while a formal English-style outdoor room suits a traditional home and a woodsy brick-paved area is an ideal fit for a Craftsman bungalow. Use your house’s trim color in the outdoor room to tie the spaces together.Build the space

In order to give the sense and security of a “room,” you should pro-vide some structure in the form of walls. No construction is needed for this room, just some cre-ative ideas. Obviously the walls of the house, garage or other small structure would be ideal, but walls can also be created from fencing, lattice panels, outdoor curtains, a row of planters, a living fence of dense shrubs or myriad potted containers. The walls need not be solid structures; just the mere illusion of a wall is enough. Gates, pergolas and pathways are hallmarks of charming garden design and can finish the look. Provide as many of them as your outdoor space allows! Flooring should follow in the style best suited to that of your home’s exterior design whether it is layered decking, a tiled courtyard or pea gravel winding path leading into a secret garden.Budget for landscaping

Adding plants is usually the last thing that happens in an outdoor room project, so people generally spend too little on this part. Plan to spend around one-fifth of your budget so you can buy plants that are mature and healthy to offer more immediate privacy. Ornamen-tal trees are a nice addition to any space. Evergreen shrubs and roses, herbs, perennials and flowering annuals bring color, scent and movement. Match your plant varieties and potted containers to the style of the space and group them for added impact.Add the final touches...

You’re much more likely to use an outdoor room if you incor-porate elements you love. Consider both new and vintage finds to add character in the outfitting of your outdoor space.

Furnishings Dress up outdoor furniture with weather-resistant, no-fade fabric cushions. A durable area rug in an outdoor-friendly material adds an elegant touch and can help frame the space. When

weather permits or for special occasions, add interesting toss pil-lows and a comfy throw to complete the look. And always arrange your furniture to capture the best views.

Lighting Light up the night with flickering candles, glowing Japanese lanterns, strings of white lights or a sparkling chandelier. As the weather cools, a fireplace or fire pit can both be functional and enhance the mood. dining

One or a variety of dining areas may be appropriate based on your space and use of the room. A traditional dining table sur-rounded by chairs or cushioned benches, a couple of round bistro tables set in front of an outdoor sofa, upholstered cushions or cubes surrounding a coffee table or low dining table could work alone or in combination. Consider a console or buffet table, a wheeled trolley or a smaller side table for serving. Storage/display

A small side table or set of nesting tables — both are ideal for displaying your accessories, as is a metal or wooden rack.

They’re also convenient for holding the books, drinks and small items you take outside with you to lounge.decorative touches

Look for art or ar-chitectural pieces, such as a fountain, birdbath or statuary that capture your interest. These piec-es add personality. A terra-cotta tile floor in an outdoor courtyard shrugs off the splash of a foun-tain or the occasional soil spill from a potted plant. Fresh flowers, candles and tablecloths are musts for outdoor tables. Flea markets and yard sales

can yield great decorating treasures, but a treasure hunt in your own house or garage may turn up furniture and accessories that can be reinvented as outdoor décor (remember…spray paint is our friend!).

You know in your heart when you feel welcome somewhere. Often it takes just a smile and an authentic “Glad you’re here.” But if you’re lucky, your host provides something extra – a fresh bouquet, a sumptuous pillow – that makes you feel pampered. Your outdoor room is an extension of your home, and whether you’re creating a place to entertain, cook for your family or unwind alone, a secluded outdoor space is the perfect antidote for hectic days. Enjoy your new-found room!

And on a more personal note, my husband, Frank, and I recently moved into our dream home in The Old Northeast and are in the process of revitalizing our many outdoor spaces – just in time for Fall’s glorious weather. We look forward to seeing you in the neighborhood!

A resident of the Old Northeast, Laura Fage is the proprietor of Casa Terra Design (www.casaterradesign.com; [email protected]) which specializes in curb appeal; outdoor rooms; interior redesign; staging for sale and inspiring home owners to live a more beautiful life. She has owned a home and garden boutique, hosted a garden TV show and conducted workshops on all aspects of home décor.

Room With a View from page 1


Resident for 10 years

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by Courtney Ellis, MA, RMHCI

Pulling the Weeds of WorryFor some reason, the song “War” by Edwinn Starr comes into

my head whenever I find myself worrying too much. Replace the word “war” with “worry” and you’ve got yourself a hit. “Worry – what is it good for? Absolutely Nothing!”

Don’t get me wrong -- a little worry is natural and even good at times. “Eustress,” as it is called, is the healthy kind of stress that motivates us. Unfortunately, what we spend most of our times drowning in is “distress” – the unhealthy anxiety that can consume our thinking and, in turn, our emotions and behaviors. While we can spend copious amounts of time making lists and planning ahead, we can never quite control life enough to avoid worry. If just one thing comes along that is outside our realm of power, the feelings of anxiety and panic rear their ugly heads. So how do we stop this? Just like pulling weeds we need to get down to the roots to actually make any sort of progress.

Imagine a dandelion if you will. An innocent-looking weed that is often mistaken for a flower, the dandelion secretly steals nutrients and weakens what was once a healthy lawn. Similar to a flower, the dandelion is made up of three main parts: the flowering head, the stem and the roots. The flowering head is what we look at, the stem is what holds up that head and the roots provide the foundation to the plant as a whole. In the same way, our lives are made up of three main elements: our behaviors, our feelings and our thoughts. Just like the dandelion, our behaviors are the things people see (flowering head), our emotions allow those behaviors to grow (stem) and our thoughts are where it all begins (roots). In order to change the behavior, then, we need to get down to the negative thinking that allows this life-sucking weed to grow.

Worry in itself is an action often accompanied by other behav-iors such as yelling, loss of sleep, forgetfulness and irritability. While it seems like we should be able to simply change these behaviors with a little discipline, again we need to look deeper to have any sort of effect. In many ways, our behaviors are just outward expressions of what we are experiencing on the inside.

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Right below the flowering head, then, we find the stem of the dan-delion which influences what the flowering head will look like. In life, this stem is made up of our emotions. Emotions experienced with worry can include fear, frustration, helplessness, anger and hopelessness. When worrying, we often feel that we are victims to our emotions. They control us rather than us controlling them. We cannot always trust our feelings, however, and must recognize that we do have a choice in how we feel. That choice begins at the roots – our thoughts.

Some of the main beliefs from which worry originates are: a) “I am able to be in control of everything” and b) If I am not in control, everything will fall apart.” We have this deep-seated need to be in control and therefore spend half of our time anticipating and preparing for things that may never actually happen. I recently read the book Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, which provided me with a great excerpt about the magnitude of our thoughts. In the book, Elizabeth meets a friend named Richard. Richard, frustrated with Elizabeth’s constant brooding and worry, exclaims:

…You need to learn how to select your thoughts just the same way you select what clothes you’re going to wear every day. This is a power you can cultivate. If you want to control things in your life so bad, work on the mind. That’s the only thing you should be trying to control. Drop everything else but that. Because if you can’t learn to master your thinking, you’re in deep trouble forever.1

Elizabeth’s positive response in the book is to start living by the vow: I will not harbor unhealthy thoughts anymore. She realizes that the sky will not fall down around her if she forgets to hold it up and suddenly is able to experience the moment rather than worry about what is to come. What a peaceful way to live – one which

we can all experience once we strip away the unhealthy thoughts that provide the roots to our own worry. Recognizing that a) “I am not able to be in control of everything” and b) “If I am not in control, things will turn out okay” are much healthier be-lief systems to adopt. These thoughts will lead to healthy emotions such as peace, happiness, thankfulness and contentment. These emotions will then lead to healthy behaviors such as kindness, productivity, rest and fun! Think better, feel better. Feel better, behave better. Do what you can and let go of the rest. It will lead

to a healthier you.

1 Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love (New York: Penguin Group, 2006), p. 178

Courtney Ellis is a Registered Mental Health Counselor Intern who pro-vides individual and couples coun-seling to the Tampa Bay area. She lives in a cute bungalow in The Old Northeast with her husband and two dogs. She tries to spend as much time on her front porch as possible.


Over The Back Fence…is a collection of what we’ve heard exchanged in the aisles of the supermarkets,

shared waiting in line to pick up the kids from school, read in the papers, overheard in the pew behind us in church and, yes, even passed over the back fence. If you have something you’d like to share about a special recognition, award received, birth, graduation, good-deed-done or observation around the neighborhood please pass it along to the Editor. “Over the Back Fence” is only going to be interesting if we hear from you!

S S and by

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e-mail: [email protected]

Clothes to Kids... This organi-zation is critically short of school uniforms. Twenty-three Pinellas County schools now require their student bodies to wear uniforms. A large majority of these children cannot afford a single uniform! For Clothes to Kids to properly help these needy children, they will need many uniform donations as well as cash to purchase uni-form pants and polo shirts. Their current supply is critically low.

The mission of Clothes to Kids is to provide clothing free of charge to low-income school-age children in Pinellas County. They appreciate donations of new and gently used clothing, shoes and school uniforms for school age children from kindergarten through 12th grade. This is a year-round program, and they are always in need of clothing and shoes. All donations, clothing and cash can be dropped off from 9am to 5pm Monday-Friday at the Clearwater (1059 N. Hercules Avenue) or St. Pete (3251 3rd Avenue N Suite 145) store locations. For more information, contact Lynne McCaskill at 461-3645 or visit the website at www.clothestokids.org.

Our own “newswatcher”... Neighbor Linda Dobbs has become a “news watcher” for the St. Petersburg Times’ new (as of June) daily online newspaper. Her “beat” is our neighborhood, a place she knows well from her years contributing articles to this newsletter and the Northeast Journal. Got a lead on a story? Anything about a neighbor-hood business, people or anything of interest to us locals? Contact Linda at [email protected].

Fundraiser for Tampa Bay Watch... We’ve heard that Energize Tampa Bay is holding an all-day fundraiser on Saturday, September 25th, at the Push Ultra Lounge (128 3rd Street S). For a minimum donation of $10 ($5 for kids) you can participate in yoga and fitness classes geared to all ages and skill levels. Contribu-tions will go to Tampa Bay Watch, the non-profit stewardship program dedicated exclusively to the protection and restoration of the marine and wetland environments of the Tampa Bay estuary through scientific and educational programs. So be part of Tampa Bay’s health and wellness community’s ef-forts to positively impact an important local need. For more info, go to www.energizetampabay.com.

Dog walking Ps and Qs... If you’re one to walk your dog off leash, be reminded that the City has a leash law. Your sweet Fido may be an angel, but that approaching mutt may not be. Or Fido

might decide to take a preemptory lunge without any pre-sniffing niceties. Best to be able to keep Fido under control at all times (for Fido’s safety and your peace-of-mind). Sure, the open spaces of North Shore or Crescent Lake parks are tempting but that’s why we have convenient dog parks at both these locations.

Museum of Fine Arts dates... Some upcoming dates to re-member at the Museum of Fine Arts. Exhibitions: A Passion for Photography: Selections from the Carol A. Upham Donation and Changing Identities: The Len Prince Photographs of Jessie Mann (through September 26th); A Decade of Collecting for the Community (began July 31st); Transcending Vision: American Impressionism 1870-1940 (provided by Bank of America Art in our Communities program) August 28th-January 9th, 2011. During September there are programs like “Coffee Talks,” “Discovery Hour,” “Encore,” “World of Imagination Storytelling,” “Friends of Photography” and the “Arts Alive Free Museum Day” on Sep-tember 25th. Go to www.fine-arts.org for details.

Rhode in the news... Old NE resident and architect Tim Rhode was the “resident expert” in a feature series on older homes called “Attention to Details” which ran in the St. Petersburg Times over a period of four weeks in July’s Saturday “HomeLink” section. His articles, complete with explanatory photographs, were on the topics of columns and entries, windows, brackets and overhangs and gables. Check out his website at www.trhode.com.

Westminster makeover... The soon-to-open Westminster Palms Palm View is looking good after its major makeover. New parking

areas have been paved and fresh land-scaping is in place. This continuing care retirement community, which now en-compasses the better part of two blocks, has opportunities for volunteers. If that’s something that interests you, contact Anne Osborne, Director of Volunteers, at 894-2102 x251.

“Speak Up, Speak Now”... Neighbor Tracey Locke, who was featured in the inaugural feature “The Power of 1” in the June issue of this newsletter for her work creating the Paris Project, was in the spotlight recently for the “Speak Up, Speak Now” project at the Florida Holo-

caust Museum. The eight-week summer project, whose objective is to get middle school students to understand the importance of civic responsibility and not tolerating intolerance, was written up in an August 4th St. Petersburg Times article, “Youths Urged to Speak Up.” As a museum volunteer, Tracey wanted to create a program that tied in the museum’s message with the realities of our local community today. A students’ art exhibit is on display at the museum (55 5th Street S) through October 10th. For more info, go to www.speakupspeaknow.org.


Lemons for Leukemia ... The front page of the 7/14 “Tampa Bay” sec-tion of the St. Petersburg Times ran a large photo of Jud Cummings who set up a summertime lemonade stand in front of his home at 16th Avenue NE and Beach Drive to raise funds for a classmate’s mother diag-nosed with leukemia. In a bit over two weeks the seven year old raised $900 toward his original target of $1,000 but then upped the figure to $2,000. Check out his Facebook page (JC’s Lemons for Leukemia), and donations for Sarah Adams can be made by going to www.clfinc.org/web/28/

supportsarah.asp. Jud’s proud parents are Dax and Stacy. Farewell... We say “good-bye” to another friend who has con-

tributed much to the neighborhood. Craig Hyde, former HONNA Board member and valued contributor to numerous Old NE proj-ects and events, has closed his business (Urban Environments landscaping) and is moving back to the German Village section of Columbus, OH, to pursue other opportunities. He sold his home on 1st Street in three days (!). Those who remember the quality renovation of a three-unit dwelling into a single family residence

with guest house (with interior design by another former Old NE resident, Peter Stanhope) -- featured on both the Candlelight Tour of Homes and Garden Stroll – will understand why it was snapped up so quickly. We are sad to see him go but know that because he has so many good friends here that he will be a frequent visitor to St. Pete. Good luck, Craig!

Stressed?... Feeling stressed out? You’re not alone. Forbes.com (8/17) has pegged the Tampa Bay area as fourth among “Most Stressful Cities 2010.” The dubious honor was based on: high unemployment (rank: 5), long commute times (rank: 17), long working hours (rank: 10), limited health care (rank: 13), poor physical health (rank: 4) and limited exercise (rank: 9). Only Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Houston are “better” at being stressed out than we are.


Neighborhood Book Group

As The Pages Turn...by Susan Coffey

ONE Great Book Club meets every other month, the second Thursday of that month in the evening. There con-tinues to be a waiting list; I can be reached at [email protected]. Our sister/brother book club meets the last Wednesday of each month in the afternoon. Contact Colleen Grant at [email protected] for more information.

One Great Book Club met in July at the home of Susan Engler (20th Avenue NE). The book Susan chose is the country’s most popular book club pick right now -- The Help, by Kathryn Stockett -- and what an amazing book it is. It led our group to a spirited discussion of growing up in the South versus the North, civil rights and would one have the courage to take an unpopular stand even if it was the right thing to do.

The book is set in the ‘60s in segregated Mississippi. The novel is not only about black maids raising the children of their white em-ployers but about the complete divide between blacks and whites during that time, particularly in the South. Stockett, who grew up in Mississippi, reminds us of the injustices that blacks had to face back then: not being able to eat at the same table as whites, drink from the same water fountain, swim at the same pool or even use the same restroom as the whites. She also reminds us of the sit-in at the Woolworth’s counter by four black men, Rosa Parks taking a seat in the front of the bus and having the courage to speak up when they needed to be heard. Despite terrible consequences, blacks and some whites continued with their cause of reaching equality.

Stockett delivers her message to us through three main charac-ters. Miss Skeeter, who is a recent graduate of “Ole Miss,” returns back home to her family, who also has a black maid. She befriends two black maids. One is Abilene, who is older and has tragically lost a son, and the other is Minnie, younger and outspoken who has a family of her own to raise and a violent husband. Together

they decide to write a book about being “the help” and about the twisted thinking of their employ-ers. It’s all done in secrecy and written anonymously by Skeeter. She begins to change when she sees things through the eyes of the black maids. For instance, they are trusted to raise the white children but must use the bath-room made for them outside. They are never allowed to sit at the same table of their employer and can only speak when spoken to. Through these meetings with one another to write the book their lives are changed in ways they never could see coming.

Of course, this led the group into quite a discussion, which made us all take a look at ourselves and our own thoughts regarding race. The discussion went from the ‘60s to the present day and what we had experienced ourselves. What made it especially interesting was the fact that most of us are from the North, South and Midwest.

This novel is poignant and thought-provoking and the group gave it a thumbs up.

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For the last 17 years, long-time music lover and Old Northeast resi-dent Helen Torres has generously underwrit-ten the free “Pops in the Park” concert featuring The Florida Orchestra at Vinoy Park. She invites the community to join the orchestra again on Saturday, October 16th, at 7pm for a program of beautiful and familiar favorites by Brahms, Dvorak and Offenbach along with selections from “South Pacific” and “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,”

ending the evening with Tchaikovsky’s explosive “1812 Overture.” As a devotee and title sponsor of Opera Tampa, Helen has also helped to arrange for vocalists from the opera company to perform some best-loved opera arias and a duet as part of the program.

To kick off the evening, VSA Florida (the International Orga-nization on Arts and Disability) will again provide a pre-concert performance by some of its gifted young artists beginning at 6pm. Concertgoers are encouraged to bring non-perishable food

items as Tampa Bay Harvest volunteers will be on hand to collect donations for their food bank services in the Tampa Bay area.

Those wishing to join Helen to help her celebrate her 17th year as the major sponsor for this event and support the “Pops in the Park” concert may become one of Helen’s Buddies! A donation of $125 or more will secure you seating directly in front of the stage in Helen’s specially-designated area and recognition in the concert program. To become one of Helen’s Buddies, please con-tact Helen at 727/895-4353 or [email protected] or go online to www.floridaorchestra.org/donate-now.asp.

See you October 16th at 6pm for the VSA pre-concert perfor-mance to be followed by the Florida Orchestra’s 7pm perfor-mance.

Annual Concert in the Park


Property TransfersFollowing is a listing of recent property transfers in

our North Shore neighborhood. The individuals listed are new owners of the properties cited but not neces-sarily the residents of those properties. The properties are listed in chronological avenue and chronological and alphabetical street order.

If any of these folks live near you, make sure you wel-come them to the neighborhood.555 5th Avenue NE #621 ........................... Jaleen Hartney145 6th Avenue NE .................. Michael and Cynthia Yates114 7th Avenue N ................................... George Calamari155 8th Avenue NE ....................................... Jon Shawkey1124 Bay Street NE ...............................Eleni Rakopoulos231 12th Avenue N .................................... Matthew Jones221 13th Avenue NE ................................ Elizabeth Barnes526 13th Avenue NE .............................Linda Reifler-Alessi556 13th Avenue NE .......................Gregory & Jamie Davis206 17th Avenue NE ........................................Martin Zeller303 20th Avenue N ....................................... Bryan Frankel515 20th Avenue NE ................................... Dennis Lehane165 21st Avenue NE .................................... Nancy Templin130 22nd Avenue NE ....................................Lynne Savage321 26th Avenue N .......................Joshua and Emily Jones1502 2nd Street N ..................................... Solomon Kilgroe837 3rd Street N ........................................ Pamela Jenkins

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Join Sunken Gardens for a Day Trip to McKee Botanical Garden, Vero BeachThursday, October 28, 2010 7:00am – 5:30pm

Members: $50 / Non-members: $58Includes round trip transportation via 47 passenger air-conditioned motor coach, guided

tour of the gardens, snacks and bottled water. Lunch will be dutch treat at the Riverside Café in Vero Beach before we head home.

McKee Botanical Garden, Inc. is a private, not-for-profit cultural organization located at the southern gateway to Vero Beach, Florida, with the mission of “nurturing and enhancing a historic garden in a

unique tropical setting for the education, enjoyment and enrichment of all.” The garden is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a historic Florida landmark. It

has been endorsed by The Garden Conservancy as a project of National Significance and received the Florida Trust’s “Outstanding Achievement in Landscape Architecture” in 2002.

McKee Botanical Garden is known for its 18-acre subtropical jungle hammock, filled with plants appropriate for horticultural growing zone 9B. This dense and diverse collection also features several

restored architectural treasures. Your PAID REGISTRATION holds your spot.

REGISTER by calling Sunken Gardens at 727-551-3102 to reserve your space via credit card or stop by the Gardens during business hours to register with the

cashiers. First come, first served.

DEADLINE FOR REGISTRATION IS OCTOBER 12TH! MUST HAVE a minimum of 35 participants in order for trip to go.

Don’t miss out. Tell your friends.


Are you one of those people who goes about your day-to-day life noticing things happening around you (or not hap-pening) in the neighborhood and our City and you wonder why (or why not) but never get around to discovering the answer? We’ve decided to ask one of our neighbors, Sue Strott, who’s lived in The Old Northeast almost forever, to track down the explanations for some of those puzzling questions which bug, bedevil and frustrate us.

So here’s a start with some of those nagging, niggling WHYs? and WHAT’s?. Let us know if you have a particular issue or query you’d like The Answer Lady to check out and we’ll see what she can learn. Like FiOS... will we ever “hear them now”? Contact The Answer Lady at [email protected].

by Sue Strott

Watering After a RainMost residents are aware of the request that we change our

sprinkler timers after a substantial rain to conserve water. But, some of us have wondered why the City tanker trucks and some other contracted company tanker trucks water City property after a rain.

Kathy Markiewicz, Parks Operations Foreman, explained that all the water they use is reclaimed water (recycled). However, her department is very aware of the weather and the depth of that rain all across town. Sometimes it will rain in The Old Northeast and hardly rain at all in the northwest part of the City or elsewhere.

Ms. Markiewicz pointed out that if plantings are new, the regulation for the material is to water every day for 30 days, every other day for 90 and then once a week for the pre-scribed establishment period. She said that some new trees are 100 gallon users, and even in a downpour enough water may not be realized. So they are being good watchmen and watchwomenOvergrown Property

As many rental properties in the neighborhood are run by absen-tee landlords and many residents are considered snowbirds during

this summer season -- as well as the fact that some properties are in forec lo-sure – many of these prop-erties may be o v e r g r o w n w i t h g r a s s and weeds. We checked w i t h G a r y Bush, Direc-tor of Codes

Compliance for the City, to determine a height limitation of grasses and foliage.

Mr. Bush said that the height limitation is 10”, which is stipu-lated by a City ordinance. Anyone can report a violation to the City main codes at 893-7373. By the next business day, that property will be cited and noted that the overgrown foliage must be cut by a specific date. If this is not complied with, the City Sanitation Department will do the cutting and a special assessment lien will be placed on the property, where it will remain until paid or when the property is sold. Yard Signs

In case you’re wondering who has been removing your yard signs or notices from the curbside or on posts, the City employs a person to remove and dispose of them. The City has an ordinance against advertisements anywhere they are not permitted. As the political campaign season gears up, remember that yard signs (of any sort) may not be erected on the parkway – which is that area between the curb and the sidewalk.

Bob Turner of the City says that “For Rent” or “For Sale” signs are allowed on the property affected but they may not be placed within “an arm’s reach of the street,” which is about three-four feet from a roadway. Mr. Turner may be reached at 893-7394.Fire Hydrant Flushing

From “Your Let ters” in the 8 /15 edi t ion of the “Neighborhood Times” section of the St. Petersburg Times; a letter from William R. (Bill) Buckholder of south St. Petersburg: “Have you noticed the water gushing from fire hydrants almost daily for several weeks…I see literally thousands of gallons dumped out of hydrants and draining into the bay….Water is flushed from the hydrants to clean out the system because the water may not be safe. Thousands of gallons of this ‘unsafe’ drinking water go into the bay. An employee is paid to sit and watch it flow out…It would seem that (1) the water being flushed could be made more pure in the first place, (2) it could be put back in the system and purified again, or (3) pumped into the trucks used to water city landscaping. This all becomes a disincentive to be frugal in our water usage.”

Why do we seem to still be “wasting water” by flushing fire


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Sue was born in Chicago and lived in Canada before moving to The Old NE in 1973 where she continues to run an apartment rental business. She lives with her dog, Foxy Lady, and is one of those people who enjoys being busy!

September/ october/ november Special

hydrants when everyone is so water conscious and conservative lately?

City residents use approximately 24 million gallons of water a day, but the pipes through which the water flows were built for three times that amount. (During the ‘50s and ‘60s large pipes were installed on our South Side, presuming such a need for potable water to be used for drinking, irrigation and fire protection; however, the area did not grow as anticipated.)

Without flushing, St. Petersburg officials say that residents would run the risk of poor water quality, as the water can stagnate in these large pipes which would allow bacteria to grow.

We here in St. Pete and six other governments purchase our water from Tampa Bay Water, and they have been adding chloramine since 2002 to purify the water. This chloramine is weaker than regular chlorine and therefore becomes less potent in less time. The flushing from the source through to the South Side allows it to remain at its specified potency. This is why we see more flushing at that end of town.

The City flushes about 30 million gallons a month to keep it safe. The thought of capturing it as it is flushed has been discussed and debated for a long time. In speaking to City Supervisor Jim Kinard, he noted that it would take maybe 15 minutes to fill a tanker truck and a whole fleet would have to be standing by. It is also not fea-sible to direct the water to nearby lawns due to the quantity and pressure.

The thought that the flushed water could be funneled to the storm drain system, which in turn would get treated and recycled, is a theory on which the City has been working for some time. Unfortunately, in our economy, some of the costs to ensure that the water trail hits its mark might be prohibitive for now.

Mr. Kinard mentioned that we must comply with fire codes, as well, and that all hydrants must be flushed for one minute annually. The hydrants

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are also checked for maintenance and are purged of older water at that time. Because we do this and even paint the hydrants for visibility regularly, we maintain a Class A fire rating with insur-ance companies.

Mr. Kinard stated that the City is “keenly aware of the issue” and of all of the ideas yet put forth and will continue

to pursue other solutions. For further in-formation or to suggest other ideas, you may contact Mr. Kinard at 892-5105.

September/ october/ november Special


P O R C h PA R t I e sPorch Parties are held the third Friday of the month from 7:30-10pm (except December). Porch Parties are strictly social and provide and informal and fun way to mix and mingle with your neighbors. Bring your own beverage. Cups, ice and light snacks are provided. Ask a neighbor to ride or walk over with you. For more info, contact Larry Smith, [email protected].

You’reInvited

September 17Bob and Linda Dobbs

2296 Coffee Pot Boulevard

October 15Steve Deal and Frank Hay

Annual Halloween Rehearsal and Costume Tryout

315 8th Avenue NE

November 19Mark and Susan Williams

635 15th Avenue NE

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Check the HONNA website – www.honna.org -- for updated details about the annual house decorating contest, special block

extravaganzas and other ghastly plans for Halloween Central in The Old Northeast…

the place to be for Halloween festivities.

For information about the planned activities and to volunteer, contact Cynthia Serra;

[email protected], 727/580-3335 (cell) or 727/342-3800 (office).

Halloween in The Hood


A recent gardening article in the St. Petersburg Times reported, “The Live Oak…, if properly cared for, could be enjoyed by your baby’s grandchildren and great

grandchildren.” This statement reflects the ages of two Live Oaks which flank our 1910 cottage and were probably planted when the house was built. The oaks stand as giant guardians, one to the east, one to the west -- offering shade, the mysterious-appearing Spanish moss, limbs to climb and hanger access for dripping plant garlands. Bromeliads are bountiful in the oak to the east. For our 6th Avenue NE animal kingdom, the trees offer protection and a playground. Also, according to the Times, Live Oaks can spread their branches as much as 120 feet and can grow as tall as 80 feet high. They have deep roots, are hurricane resistant and thrive in this climate, through winter despair and summer fever.

Our Live Oaks (Quercus virginianas) have provided us with more nature entertainment than many a NatGeo program. The oaks have hosted circus squirrels, an acrobatic mother opos-sum and her babies, nests of inexperienced Blue Jay parents, nervous Mourning Doves, pigeons and people. They also offer hiding places for smaller bird species as hungry hawks peruse overhead and sometimes land to have a better view of possible meals. For a few hours one winter afternoon, a Sharp-shinned hawk alighted on a branch and ate his catch while staring in at my husband who was working at his desk.

Squirrels deftly chase one another up and down, and jump from tree limb to tree limb along the spreading branches as though the oak was a mere walking trail. Why none of the squirrels has hit the ground during their agile races is a testa-ment to their athletic abilities. We have yet to see a squirrel hanging on for dear life nor have we found one lying on the

ground with a headache. One resident squirrel, aptly named “Rocky” by a neighbor, will run right up the side of your body to collect a peanut from a shirt pocket. This year the oaks produced an extraordinary crop of acorns so our grounds are covered with tiny prairie-dog-looking holes where the bounty has been stored for future feasting. The acorn bounty has also contributed to a squirrel game, called “pelt the human.” There were so many acorns that the gray rodents had to do something to amuse themselves after the gorging. Squirrels have pups only once a year but there seems to be a healthy and continual population.

One morning we found our three dogs standing at attention pointing at one of our garden shrubs, obviously fascinated by something unusual. Upon closer inspection we learned the ob-ject of their interest -- a mother opossum with several pinkish babies clinging to her back. The mother tried to look “dead” as opossums do, and did not move one muscle, resembling a new garden ornament…which smelled differently to the dogs. The dogs lost interest and followed us back inside. When we peered from one of the windows, mom and babes were no longer there. Several weeks later, arborists were cutting oak branches from our roof and found, nestled in a web of branches, the mother opossum and her babies, again playing dead.

Several years ago a pair of Blue Jays built a nest and their eggs hatched. One of the very young jays fell out of the nest, and despite our best efforts became food for either a feral cat or the hawk. The next year there was a repeat of this scenario and our efforts worked for a few days. We watched the parents swoop down and feed the little jay and we put the baby jay into a cat carrier every night. Again, the youngster disappeared into a predator’s mouth. The parents must have learned to make a better nest because there have been no more premature fledglings hiding in the grass under the oak. Geckos scurry around the trunk and b r anches , w h i c h d e l i g h t children who at-tempt to catch them. The Live Oaks make for natural zoos with disparate inhabit-ants.

The Mourn -ing Doves tee-ter along the oak b ranches wi th the i r ch icken-like dance steps. M o r e d o v e s a p p e a r a n d i t seems as though a meeting is be-ing held as they teeter back and for th together. Their soft “coo”

Of Oaks and Animals in The Old Northeastby Jill McGrath


sounds can be very haunting through an open window. Sadly, the number of Mourning Doves declines when the hawk appears.

The green spaces between the side-walks and the streets and avenues in The Old Northeast belong to the City but it is up to the homeowner to maintain and be responsible for those spaces. A neighbor reported that the majestic Live Oak, which inhabits our western green space, sported a child’s swing while we were away on vacation. I called the City and spoke to an official who assured me that even though the City owns the green space no one can infringe upon the adjacent homeowner’s shrubs, trees or plantings within that space. There is also a liability issue because any child in a swing that close in proximity to a street or sidewalk could tumble out and be severely injured. The tree remains a safe and mighty hanger of Spanish moss only.

Our eastern Live Oak shades our terrace area and hosts orchids and trumpet vines. An extraordinary num-ber of flowering bromeliads live within the towering branches, a veritable garden in the sky. The pleasure which our two Live Oaks give us is just another example of why we love living in The Historic Old Northeast.

The Waterfront Parks continued. . .

Fall Walking Tour

Sunday, October 24th 1:30 pmMeet at 15th and North Shore

(on the parkland side)

“Who were Flora Wylie and Elva Rouse anyway?”

We hope you will join Rob Wertz and Mike Dailey, our neighborhood architecture gurus, for the HONNA Planning/Preservation Committee’s fall walking tour.

This season’s tour will delve fur-ther into the history of our waterfront parks that are celebrating their 100th anniversary, and discuss some of the mid-century condominiums along North Shore Drive.

Jill and Ed McGrath (who grew up together in the Hudson River Valley of New York) are restoring a 1910 cottage on the corner of Bay Street and 6th Avenue NE. This is Jill’s fifth (Ed’s third) complete house restoration project and they have promised each other that it will be their last.


“Those That don’t Learn from History are Bound to Repeat It”

Seeing the large populist “green” movement penetrating at so many levels is quite a welcome coming of age. I recently attended three national professional conferences

and at least 80% of the content focused on sustainable and low impact architecture, conservation, alternative energy, revolution-ary products and reducing the toxicity of our environment -- very positive stuff.

This is almost deja vu from a brief period in the late 1970s when archi-tecture schools and the profession focused on energy performance, solar power, experimental materials and ecologically balanced buildings long before green was “green.” Then the oil embargo ended, gas lines were forgotten, OPEC’s cheap oil surged and the environmental movement withered and lost till we reached the millennium.

As an old school environmentalist and tree hugger, I celebrate Earth Day every year, except this year with great irony. The Deepwater Horizon sank in the Gulf on April 22nd with some ghostly symmetry: 41 years ago, a rupture on an off-shore rig blackened California’s Channel Islands and the beaches of Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara. It ignited the public’s ire and a fierce public backlash to what was (then) unimaginable destruction and became the catalyst for the first “Earth Day” in 1970. A mere 2 million gallons spilled over 12 short days, it was truly a leak compared to the Deepwater Horizon’s 2.23 million gallons a day for over 85 days. Think about it: less than a day of Gulf oil = Earth Day.

Over 5 million barrels -- 210 million gallons -- flowed into the Gulf. That one Exxon Valdez (270,000 barrels, 11 million gallons

or 17 Olympic pools) every 4.5 days or 18.5 EV’s total. Hopefully, we have marked the end of more oil.

What was amazing for me, everyone I knew was also emotion-ally invested in what was unfolding. The Gulf was the center of discussion. Like many, every day the Internet searching was al-most ritualistic looking for the latest NOAA, EPA, NRDC reports, robots and talking heads. I also wandered into what happened in the years or decades that followed events that bonded me to en-vironmentalism (I am a metro tree-hugger, broadband has come to the forest).

With the disaster contained, everyone finally breathed out. We witnessed almost pure science fiction but not The End to the story. But is there a beginning, too? Maybe to a debate on how to insure the environmental and personal long term impacts are fully provided for, and finally resolve historic issues and politics that brought us to this point, maybe like 40 years ago.

To help stir the inquisitive and weekend tree-huggers with facts, parallels and events hidden by time, some historic green facts and timelines.

Early 20th century: The conserva-tionist movement is with a great vision to protect and preserve nature from the pressures of the coming industrial era.

Late 1950s: Under President Eisen-hower, the first presidential white pa-pers indicating our need for new energy sources were developed.

1959 The Food & Drug Admin-istration finally gets some teeth: An amendment to the law is passed stating “No additive shall be deemed safe if it is found to induce cancer when ingested by man or animal.”

1962 Rachel Carson: Her book Silent Spring focuses the public’s atten-tion on the unregulated and unbridled misconducts of the chemical industry.

1969: Gas was 35 cents a gallon and the environmental movement was ignited with the Santa Barbara coastline

spill mentioned above.1970, April 22: Earth Day is born with “teach-ins” to inform

our nation about the consequences of human’s impact on the global ecosystem.

1969-1974: While Roosevelt is the father of Conservation, Richard Nixon is arguably the Father of Environmentalism. He delivered progressive and historic landmark regulations and laws:

The GREEN

PAGe

by Michael Panetta


the Endangered Species Act was passed, the Environmen-tal Protection Agency (EPA) was born, car mileage stan-dards were mandated, lead was eliminated from our gas and the Clean Air Act, Clean Water and Energy Star were implemented.

1976 Love Canal: Highly toxic material was buried in an abandoned canal for two decades; 40 years later 21 tons of degraded barrels had slowly leached toxins into groundwater, flooded basements, puddles and seeped into pools. Significant cancer cluster popped up in surrounding communities that pointed to a gross neglect and cover-up and led to the Superfund Act.

1979 Ixtoc 1: A blowout preventer failed on an exploratory well in Mexico’s Bay of Campeche for 290 days, totaling around 3.3 million barrels of oil dumped into Gulf. This was the largest ocean spill prior to Deepwater.

1984, December 3: The world’s worst industrial catastrophe occurred in Bhopal, India, at a Union Carbide pesticide plant producing methyl isocyanate (MIC). Ne-glected equipment, failed control systems, inadequate maintenance and training, short cutting, higher profits and disregard for the safety of workers or the public lead to a chain reaction that leaked 41 tons of MIC. It flowed from the plant down-slope over surrounding slums in the middle of the night and 3,000 people were killed instantly. Conservatively, 8,000 died within the first weeks, another 8,000 since.

1989 Exxon Valdez spill: Exxon vigorously fought require-ments for double shell hulls on ocean going oil tankers because “it’s too expensive to build a boat within a boat” and “the cost of mitigating a small potential risk will unfairly burden business and consumers with higher cost.” The Valdez then ran aground in Prince William Sound, fouling 1,100 miles of Alaska’s coastline. In 1989, Exxon executives promised to take care of everyone affected by the spill. $5 billion in punitive damages was originally awarded in 1994 to fishermen, Alaska natives, business owners. Exxon launched a series of appeals and in 2006 a jury agreed to cut the settlement in half. Finally, 20 years later, in June 2009, the Supreme Court ruled for a fraction of the initial settlement -- $507.5 million amounting to about $400,000 per litigant. The whole cleanup cost Exxon $2.5 billion. Looking back, Exxon never stepped up and took responsibility for it’s action or consequences and it’s clear that it’s only concern was the bottom line (a very comprehensive memory of Valdez, www.blackwavethefilm.com).

2010 Now: Reports indicate a great deal of oil remains, pooling on the sea floor. Blue Crab larvae were found to have ominous signs that the crude has already infiltrated the Gulf’s vast food chain and could affect it for years to come. The Ixtoc environment recovered better then anyone expected, but there is no way to predict who or how the oil will affect the delicate web of life in the gulf. We are on chapter one.

Do events sound familiar/similar? Patterns emerge? Messages in comparisons and parallels? Are there teachable moments from

lessons learned or not? We can’t view all indus-trial giants as the same -- some are vanguards and others are the ogres (sorry Shrek) and no two events are the same. What is left is the wisdom from his-tory to not re-learn some-thing you don’t want to learn in the first place.

Deepwater Horizon can never be un-done.

The oil may be of sight, but not out of our lives. The spill is a legacy, it is un-precedented and we can’t understand or predict the consequences of the oil and the dispersants on how the sea life or the greater eco-system that we are part of will react. We need vigilance.

I think our society is at a “moment.” We are being confronted with many conflicting priorities and choices, and some mind-numbing realities. How we act, what we support, who we elect, what we trust in will all matter in how we will look back on this day. Be inquisitive, be informed, be well.

Time to head back to the tree house. Peace!

M i c h a e l P a n e t -ta moved to The Old Northeast In 1998 and is president of his architec-tural practice, Panetta + Associates, Inc. For additional information, comments or fact checks he can be contacted at [email protected].


CELEBRATING THE WATERFRONT PARKS’ 100th BIRTHDAY

Even though it’s steamy mid-summer in St. Petersburg, there’s a lot of planning underway for cool projects and events this fall celebrating the Waterfront Parks Centennial.

SUNDIAL TO MEASURE TIME FOR THE NEXT 100 YEARSOn the drawing boards for placement this fall is a one-of-a-kind stone sculpture, a sundial designed by sculptor Eric Higgs and

scheduled to be placed in North Shore Park as a lasting memorial to the Parks Centennial year. Higgs’ design includes educational components and symbols of St. Petersburg’s history, from the coquina shells to be used in the concrete base to one element of the sundial reflecting the city’s sister city in Japan.

The project affords an opportunity for neighborhood associations throughout the city to make a contribution to financing this project for which artist Higgs is donating his design and installation expertise. [See related article page 5]

PARTY IN THE PARKS — A CENTENNIAL CELEBRATIONSATURDAY, NOvEMBER 6th

For the first time in St. Petersburg’s history, there will be one day of ongoing events, exhibits, and activities in all 12 of the City’s downtown waterfront parks, stretching from North Shore to Albert Whitted. At latest count, over 100 activities and groups are on tap to entertain, amuse, delight, educate, and feed people and families visiting the waterfront on Saturday, November 6.

• The Saturday Morning Market will be open in the Al Lang Stadium parking lot. Vinoy Park will host the St. Petersburg International Folk Festival Society (SPIFFS) event. Albert Whitted Airport will hold its Airfest, beginning the day with a benefit pancake breakfast at the Hangar Restaurant. At Spa Beach, the Pier Aquarium will host an event. North Shore Park will have volleyball games and tennis experts on hand at the courts.

• A Coast Guard cutter will be docked at The Pier for tours, and at Albert Whitted, the Army Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard will all have exhibits and booths. An Air Force flyover with craft from MacDill Air Force Base is also scheduled.

• Food vendors are set to offer a variety of foods and beverages. Cary’s Pretzels will have refreshments to purchase in several of the parks, and 400 Beach Seafood & Taphouse and Ferg’s Sports Bar will also be offering their fare for sale.

• Entertainment will include music for every taste, from rock to polka to jazz. Photo buffs will see award-winning pictures as winners of the Waterfront Centennial “Picture Your Parks” photo contest are announced. Dance enthusiasts may find music to dance to as well as dance groups to watch.

For more information on the history of St. Petersburg’s waterfront parks or to volunteer to be involved, visit www.stpeteparks100.org Tax-deductible contributions to support Waterfront Parks Centennial events can be sent to Centennial Celebration, 200 Second Avenue South, #100, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.


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The Spirit of the Holidays -- The Historic Old Northeast Neighborhood Candlelight Tour of Homes

Nothing exudes the spirit of the holiday season more than the annual Historic Old Northeast Neighborhood Candlelight Tour of Homes. Taking place from 3-8pm

on Sunday, December 12th, this 13th annual yule-tide tradition offers self-guided tours of some of our historic neighborhood’s most charming homes, all decked out in their holiday finery.

Celebrate the season by strolling the oak-lined, brick streets of The Historic Old North-east. Tickets will be $20 in advance and $25 on the day of the tour. Partial proceeds from ticket sales support The Historic Old Northeast

Neighborhood Association, dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of this

treasured community. For more information on the Candlelight Tour of Homes,

visit honna.org.

Sunken Gardens has received a $25,000 grant which will go towards developing a master plan. The funds were made available through the Department of the Interior/National Park Service’s Preserve America grant program. [source: St. Petersburg Times, 8/4]

Police officer Jason Deary (r), a familiar (and imposing) figure at neighborhood association monthly meetings over the years as The Old Northeast’s Community Police Officer, was wounded slightly during a drug and weapons raid on a 19th Avenue S house August 4th. Fortunately for him the .40 caliber bullet didn’t pierce the skin on his upper thigh but did leave a large welt. [source: St. Petersburg Times, 8/6]

In Case You Missed It: Updates and Follow UpsKeeping You Current on Some Neighborhood Stories That Have Been in the News


SePTeMBeR 1Coffee With a Curator, Dali Museum; 823-3767

SePTeMBeR 1-30Bob Preston: A Life in Photographs, St. Peters-burg Museum of History; 894-1052

SePTeMBeR 1 - OCTOBeR 10Speak Up, Speak Now Florida Holocaust Mu-seum; 820-0100

SePTeMBeR 3-25Margaret Steward: Celebration of Life Morean Arts Center; 822-7872The Way Forward: Roads Less Traveled – 2010 Members’ Exhibition Morean Arts Center; 822-7872

SePTeMBeR 4Inventors’ Fair The Pier; 821-6443Corvettes on The Pier The Pier; 821-6443

SePTeMBeR 5Photography Hike Weedon Island Preserve; 463-6500

SePTeMBeR 6Salsa en St. Pete Labor Day Celebration; The Pier

SePTeMBeR 9Wee-Time Weedon Island Preserve; 463-6500Public Hearing to Adopt the City Budget City Hall

SePTeMBeR 9HONNA CRIMe WATCH MeeTING

SePTeMBeR 10The Great Weedon Bird Quest Weedon Island Preserve; 463-6500

SePTeMBeR 11AIdS Walk St. Petersburg North Shores Park; 532-2437SurReALIze the dream Dali Museum; 823-3767CBS Taste of Home Cooking School & expo Mahaffey Theatre

SePTeMBeR 16Peer to Pier Speed Networking The Pier

SePTeMBeR 17 PORCH PARTY (see page 20)

SePTeMBeR 18One Step Closer to the Cure 5K Run/Walk Celma Mastry Run Albert Whitted ParkQuarterly Classic Auto Show The Pier; 821-6443Super Special Saturday Family day Museum of Fine Arts; 896-2667

SePTeMBeR 20Tampa Bay Job Fair Coliseum; 892-5202

NeIGHBORHOOd MeeTING – POTLUCK (See page 1)

SePTeMBeR 23Public Hearing to Adopt the Budget, City HallPerspectives on the Parks Program #3 Renais-sance Vinoy Hotel

SePTeMBeR 25Alzheimer’s Memory Walk The Pier approach; 578-2558

ON THe dOCKeT: Some Upcoming Events In and Nearby Our Neighborhood

Arts Alive, free admission at select museumsHistory of Art, Museum of Fine Arts; 896-2667

OCTOBeR 1-3St. Pete Folkfest Central b/w 11th-13th Iron Kids Triathlon Spa Beach Park; 813/868-5940

OCTOBeR 2Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure Vinoy Park; 823-0728Walking Tour of Historic downtown Central at 2nd; 824-7802dancing with the Sea Stars Fish-Head Ball benefit for Pier Aquarium Don CeSar;1-800-282-1116

OCTOBeR 3Photography Hike Weedon Island Preserve; 463-6500

OCTOBeR 8-10Sunshine City Antiques & Collectibles Show Coliseum; 463-6500

OCTOBeR 8Great Weedon Bird Quest Weedon Island Preserve; 463-6500

OCTOBeR 9The Sunrise Run North Straub Park; 822-7475St. Pete Oktoberfest Grand Central District

OCTOBeR 14 HONNA CRIMe WATCH MeeTING

OCTOBeR 15 PORCH PARTY (see page 20)

OCTOBeR 16 POPS IN THe PARK (see page 15)

OCTOBeR 16Pinellas Coastal Cleanup Various waterfront locations; 533-0402Super Special Saturday Family day Museum of Fine Arts; 896-2667

OCTOBeR `17 3rd Annual Hot Pepper Fest, Sunken Gardens; 551-3102

OCTOBeR 18Tampa Bay Senior expo, Coliseum; 892-5202

NeIGHBORHOOd MeeTING OCTOBeR 18

OCTOBeR 23St. Petersburg Times Festival of Reading USF Bayboro CampusReggae Jerk Jam 2010 Food & Music Festival Spa Beach Park; 813/792-1948

OCTOBeR 24FALL WALKING TOUR OF WATeRFRONT PARKS

(See page 23)

OCTOBeR 29-31Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Awareness 3-day Walk Through St. Pete

NOVeMBeR 2-4Kids & Kubs Golden Senior Softball Tournament North Shore Park; 893-7108

NOVeMBeR 6CeNTeNNIAL CeLeBRATION WATeRFRONT PARKS

— dedICATION OF SUNdIAL AT VISTA POINT (see pages 5 & 26)


For a current and more detailed listing visit the City’s website at www.stpete.org

NOVeMBeR 6SPIFFs International Folk Festival Vinoy Park; 552-1896Historic Kenwood 11th Annual BungalowFest Historic Ken-wood

NOVeMBeR 11 HONNA CRIMe WATCH MeeTING

NOVeMBeR 12-14 Ribfest, Northeast Exchange Club fundraiser for kids’ causes Vinoy Park

NOVeMBeR 13St. Pete Studio Tour of Professional Artists, various gallery locations

NOVeMBeR 14Bay Area Kidney Walk for National Kidney Foundation Location TBA; 407/894-7325

NOVeMBeR 15 NeIGHBORHOOd MeeTING NOVeMBeR 19 PORCH PARTY (see page 20)

NOVeMBeR 19-21Women’s Half Marathon & 5K Health & Fitness expo, (to benefit Leukemia & Lymphoma Society) Vinoy Resort and other locations

NOVeMBeR 20-21Holiday extravaganza & Gift Market, Coliseum; 892-5202

NOVeMBeR 26-28Gem, Jewelry & Bead Show, Coliseum; 892-5202

NOVeMBeR 276th Annual Grand Central district Chili Cookoff, Grand Central District

THURSdAY-SATURdAY, SePT 2-SePT 30Marine Landscape and Wildlife in Florida Weedon Preserves; 463-6500

FRIdAYSt. Pete Shuffle, St. Pete Shuffle Board Courts; 822-2083Salsa dancing, The Pier ; 821-6443Get downtown Music Series (1st Fri) Central b/w 2nd-3rd; 393-359Grand Central Trolley Hop (3rd Fri) Grand Central Dis-trict; 328-7086Friday Night Wine & Music Series (3rd Fri) BayWalk Courtyard; 824-8888

SATURdAYSaturday Morning Market (Oct & Nov)Saturday Antiques & Green Market (Oct & Nov) Central at 13th; 895-0368Guided Hikes Weedon Island Preserve; 895-0368Horticulture Workshop, Sunken Gardens; 551-3102dali Family Fun Saturdays Dali Museum; 823-3767Face Painting by Joanne Conte The Pier; 821-6443FISH-Ful Saturday: 2010 The Year of the Ocean (1st Sat) Pier Aquarium; 895-7437Gallery Walk (2nd Sat) Downtown locations; 323-ARTS

SUNdAYInspire Yoga at the Dali Dali Museum;823-3767Music Fest on the Water The Pier; 821-6443Sunday Afternoon Fun (1st & 3rd Sun) The Pier; 821-6443

ReCURRING eVeNTSMONdAY

Celebrity Critter of the Week The Pier; 895-7437Pilates Sunken Gardens; 551-3102Jazz Jam for the Al Downing Tampa Bay Jazz Association (1st Mon) Albert Whitted Terminal

eVeRY MONdAY, WedNeSdAY & FRIdAYStrollerFit/Baby Boot Camp, Sunken Gardens; 637-7913

eVeRY MONdAY & WedNeSdAYGreat ART explorations, Great Explorations; 821-8992Lunchtime Yoga Sunken Gardens; 551-3102

eVeRY TUeSdAY & WedNeSdAYHoop dancing, Sunken Gardens 551-3102

eVeRY TUeSdAY & THURSdAYMuscle Bar Sculpture Women’s Fitness, Sunken Gardens; 637-7913Awaken Yoga with Vandana, Sunken Gardens; 637-7913

WedNeSdAY Tea dance (1st & 3rd Wed., Oct & Nov) Coliseum; 892-5202Oldies but Goodies dance (2nd & 4th Wed) The Pier; 821-6443

eVeRY WedNeSdAY & FRIdAYLunchtime Yoga Sunken Gardens; 551-3102Terrific Tots Great Explorations; 821-8992

THURSdAYMovie and Music in the Park/Waterfront Centennial (Oct) North Straub Parkdali & Beyond Film Series (1st & 3rd Thurs) Dali Museum; 823-3767


How does Your Garden Grow?

Hip and Trendy Plants

It’s fun and rewarding to try new plants in the yard, but forget the run-of-the-mill ones at the big box stores. This fall, go all out with some totally hip and trendy plants

that will spice up your garden and impress your friends and neighbors!

These plants are easy-to-grow and typically available at lo-cal garden centers (remember, if you don’t see them in stock, you can always ask the nursery manager to order some for you; that’s one of the advantages of shopping at locally-owned nurseries):

For a sweet tooth, grow the stevia herb. Its green leaves contain stevioside, which is 200 times sweeter than sugar but con-tains no calories and doesn’t affect blood sugar levels. It’s the same herb used in sweeten-ers such as Tru-via and SweetLeaf and added to soft drinks. Grow this South American native in a sunny garden with rich, organic soil and keep it well-wa-tered. Munch on

fresh leaves to satisfy a sweet tooth or add to foods and bev-erages. You can also harvest and dry leaves, crush them and store for later use or steep leaves to make a liquid. [Recipe: Add one cup of warm water to ¼ cup of fresh, finely crushed leaves (not dried). Let the liquid mixture set for 24 hours, then refrigerate.]

If you like lemons, oranges, tangerines and limes -- but only have room for one tree -- plant the ultimate space-saving “cock-tail tree.” Thanks to ingenious multi-plant grafting by growers, this 10-to-12-foot tree produces several varieties of citrus and is available in a variety of fruiting combinations. You can plant it in a large container or in the ground; just choose a sunny location and water daily for the first several weeks. (Jene’s Tropicals in St. Petersburg stocks cocktail trees).

Chocoholics can plant all kinds of “chocolate plants,” in-cluding chocolate vine (Akebia quinata, “Silver Bell”’), sweet-smelling chocolate columbine (Aquilegia viridiflora, “Chocolate Soldier”), bronze and burgundy coral bells (Heuchera, “Choco-late Ruffles”), exotic dark-leafed canna (Canna “Australia”), black-colored daylily (Hemerocallis, “Ed Murray”), dark burgundy pineapple lily (Eucomis comosa, “Oakhurst”) and tropical black elephant ear (Colocasia, “Black Magic”). For the sweet smell of chocolate indoors and out, chocolate orchid (Oncidium, “Sharry Baby”) is one of the easiest orchids to grow and it blooms several times throughout the year.

The hands-down best plant for a block party is the night blooming cereus (below), which is a gangly, twisting member of the cactus family. It’s downright ugly every day of the year except for the one night when its fuzzy buds stretch and un-ravel, then open into ghostly white blossoms as big as saucers and as fragrant as expensive perfume. There are two types: the cactus Queen of the Night (Selenicereus grandiflorus) and the Orchid Cactus (Epiphyllum oxypetalum), which is actually an air plant (epiphyte). Both are native to tropical rainforests and have similar nocturnal blossoms. Cereus blooming parties have been around since this plant became popular in the early 1900s – and The Historic Old Northeast neighborhood is known to host blooming parties from time to time. It’s quite the sight – neighbors with lawn chairs and cameras, some in their pajamas, gathered around this spectacular plant that opens each petal in slow, dramatic fashion. It’s a party like no other!


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Neighborhood Potluck: Monday, September 20 , at 6:45pm(see p.1)

All neighborhood residents invited

IN THIS ISSUe

• The Power of 1

• HONNA on

FaceBook

• Of Oaks and

Animals

• The Gree Page

• Room With A View

... and more!

Custom home on Coffee Pot Bayou | 830 Monterey Blvd NE | $1,950,000Beautifully remodeled historic home on oversized lot | 635 28th Ave N | $375,000

Opportunity to build your dream home on Snell | 460 Lido Way NE | $245,000So much space and potential waiting for a creative buyer | 121 5th Ave N | $345,000

Do you know anyone looking to buy a home in your area? Don’t miss these great deals!

Documents

Historic Old Northeast Neighborhood Newsletter Sept 2010