Historic Old Northeast Newsletter Sept 2011

Page 1Historic Old NOrtheast NeighbOrhOOd News

continued on page 2

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—Program: 7pm

Volume 39 Issue 3 / September 2011 / www.honna.org Published Quarterly

UPCOMING MEETINGS Mark your calendar! September 19th Pot Luck (see pg 2) October 17th Proposed Changes to 1st St Between 22nd and 9th

November 21st Election of Board

In thIsIssue

Halloween Plans ...............2

1st Street Traffic .................4

Candlelight Tour ................8

Living Intentionally .......10

Hat-A-Tude ..................15

Hex Block Sidewalks ...16

National Night Out ...... 24

Celebrating 100 Years of Community

1911-2011

Our September Monthly Neighborhood Meeting is a POTLUCK An Informal Opportunity to Enjoy Good Food and the Company

of Neighbors and Friends, Both Old and Newly-discovered

Enjoy HONNA’s Favorite “New” Tradition

...see page 2

Old Fashioned Picnic in the Park to Celebrate 100 Yearsby Laura Fage and Jay Marshall

The Historic Old Northeast neighborhood is home to the time-honored free “Pops in the Park” Concert

at Vinoy Park, sponsored by Old Northeast resident and Realtor, Helen Torres (Homes by Helen). In 1994, Helen made a 20 year commitment to be the title sponsor for this community event, which now attracts some 15,000 Bay-area residents to the waterfront park for a serenade under the stars, capped off with fireworks each Fall. This year’s musicfest is Saturday, October 22nd, beginning at 7pm.

Helen, with the help of an army of volunteers and resi-dents from The Old Northeast, spends hours to promote this event and provide much-needed hands-on assistance for the day of the concert. While Helen’s generous sponsorship provides significant underwrit-ing for the concert and is the primary force driving this annual event, a grassroots campaign is conducted every year to garner additional contributions from friends, local businesses and residents who love the

In 1911, Perry Snell and J.C. Hamlett took 600 acres of farmland and wilderness north of a booming downtown and began to develop the first neighborhood in the City of

St. Petersburg. Now known as The Historic Old North-east, our neighborhood will celebrate this landmark centennial with an old fash-ioned picnic in Flora Wiley Park on Sunday, November 6th, from 12-4pm.

Fun and free for the en-tire family, this afternoon will be filled with entertain-ment and events from the past to present. Included will be activities just for the kids, music reminiscent of a bygone era and a wonderful opportunity to meet and

mingle with your neighbors during this once-in-a-lifetime com-munity social celebrating the most historic neighborhood in St. Petersburg. So pack your picnic basket, don your favorite bonnet

or boater and join us for the fun!

As there are more details about the event – or to re-serve a boxed lunch – visit honna.org. HONNA mem-bers should watch for e-mail blasts with updates.

[This event is sponsored in part by the City of St. Pe-tersburg and produced by the The Historic Old Northeast Neighborhood Association. Flora Wiley Park is located on North Shore Drive between 13th and 15th Avenues.]

Florida Orchestra Returns to Vinoy Parkby Emily McClain, Development Director for The Florida Orchestra

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/Cof-fee Pot Bayou Blvd). There are approximately 2,500 active home mailing addresses.

Contact Sue Strott: www.honna.org/Newsletters/Advertising-Questions.htmlAd 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

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

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

AdVERTiSiNg iNFORmATiON: Sue Strott www.honna.org/Newsletters/Advertising-Questions.html

Editor Rick Carson Columnists and Reporters

John Gee Jill McGrath Sue Strott

Mike DaileyBarbara MarshallMike Panetta

Courtney EllisSusan CoffeyLaura Fage

Potluck from page 1

arts. If you would like to learn how to make a tax deductible con-tribution in support of this concert by becoming one of “Helen’s Buddies” or discuss sponsorship opportunities, please contact The Florida Orchestra at www.floridaorchestra.org or 727/892-3331.

The “Pops in the Parks” concerts also provide a platform for other community-based organizations to raise awareness and further their cause. Tampa Bay Harvest, a food collector and dis-tributor serving both Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, will be present at the concert to collect non-perishable food items. Last year over 3,000 pounds of food were collected and re-distributed to shelters, childcare centers, food pantries and senior citizen centers in St. Petersburg.

If you would like to volunteer and have some fun making this event an even bigger success, phone Julie (822-4969) or Ann-Marie (897-9398) to learn more.

The Florida Orchestra thanks Old Northeast residents for your hospitality and invite you to join us at this year’s 18th Vinoy Park “Pops in the Park” Concert, on Saturday, October 22nd. Thank you for your support of The Florida Orchestra.

The Florida Orchestra is committed to enriching its community through access to high-caliber cultural experiences and cultivating new audiences for symphonic music. For its 2011-12 season, The Florida Orchestra has embarked on several initiatives to better serve the Tampa Bay community. Ticket prices have been lowered across the board, with single tickets available for as little as $15 for adults and $10 for children. The Florida Orchestra is also rolling out a new daytime concert series: Morning Masterworks at the Mahaffey Theater presented on Fridays at 10am. The “Pops in the Park” concerts are a gateway for people to get an introduction to live symphonic music, and the orchestra invites the community to take advantage of the new, lower ticket prices by attending a concert at the nearby Mahaffey Theater.

Florida Orchestra from page 1

Come to the final of this year’s Potluck Dinners in lieu of the usual monthly “business-oriented” neighborhood meeting. The date is Monday, September 19th, at our regular gathering place, Westminster Presbyterian Church at 126 11th Avenue NE.

HONNA will provide the main entrée (meat and meatless), bev-erages and you can bring a favorite dish to dazzle our taste buds.

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

Between 5th-9th: a dessert 10th-14th: vegetable dish (hot or cold) 15th-22nd: a salad of some sort (examples: greens, cold

pasta, Jell-O mold) 23rd-30th: appetizer (or bread) Make enough to serve 6-8, depending on what it is you’re

bringing; 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.

Sunday, October 30th

Dusk ‘til 10pmTo enter you must contact

Cynthia Serra at 727/580-3335 by 10pm, Saturday, October 29th

Special Halloween activities for the kids are being planned during

the week prior to Halloween weekend.

Check the HONNA website (honna.org) -- and HONNA members should watch for e-blasts -- for information

about these and other HONNA Halloween events.

Halloween in The Horrorstoric Old N E

Judging of outdoor

home decorations


Police Department representatives were present at these monthly meetings to report on recent criminal activity in the neighbor-hood. During June there were 15 directed patrols in the Old NE, which means during this time the neighborhood experienced extra surveillance by marked and unmarked police cars driving up and down our streets and alleyways. Auto burglaries numbered about 20 during June and July, and in the majority of cases the targeted cars were unlocked. Also popular targets were bicycles, often stolen from unlocked garages.

There was no monthly meeting in August.

Historic PreservationRobin Reed, Chair

Preservation Workshop

Thinking about open-ing up your front porch? Wondering if you can make those historic (old!) win-dows air-tight? Put down your hammer and join other historic homeowners on Saturday afternoon, No-vember 19th, at the historic Shuffleboard Club for a free workshop guaranteed to provide inspiration and insight into the whys and hows of repairing your vintage home. Individual sessions from Noon-6pm will be held simultaneous-ly, allowing a wide variety of topics to be addressed. Following the workshop, Craftsman House Gallery has invited participants to a “Preservation Porch Party” to socialize and to cel-ebrate their newly-gained expertise.

HONNA will have “Pre-serve” flags and copies of Souvenir of St. Petersburg for sale during the event. Hope to see you there!

Association News & Activities

Committee Reports

Eric Coffin (left) of Green Energy Engineering made a presentation at the May meeting on ways to make your home more energy efficient.

June’s month-ly meeting was a potluck, which re-quired a last-minute

change of venue due to Vacation Bible School at Westminster Church. Our neighbors at the Westminster Palms complex invited us to utilize the common room in their Palm View building, and this provided a very accommodating change-of-place. For the program, Bill O’Grady, Sunken Gardens’ Supervisor (below), lectured on butterfly gardens, complete with samples of appropriate plants to use and a range of helpful gardening tips.

Former St. Pete Mayor David Fischer was the guest speaker at the July meeting. As he provided background on how and why he became involved in local politics and government, he shared about the important role neighborhoods have played in creating the dynamic city we have today.

At the monthly meeting on November 21st the election of mem-bers of HONNA’s Board of Directors for the coming year will take place. If you are interested in serving and/or have questions about what is involved as a Board member, please contact Mary Alice Lange, HONNA President, for more information ([email protected] or phone 269-552 ext. 201 to leave a voice message).

(L-R) Mary Alice Lange (HONNA President), Susan McGarry (HONNA Board Member) and Susan’s father, former St. Pete Mayor David Fischer


Historic Old Northeast Neighborhood AssociationOFFiCERS and BOARd

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 office/person you wish to contact and send him/her a message.HONNA Board meetings are held the first Monday of each month at 6:30pm at West-minster Presbyterian Church and are open to the public. Check beforehand with the Board president in case the meeting day has been re-scheduled.

Honna’s Sunken gardens/Vinoy Package TourIs your group looking for an outing or field trip? Now is the time

to reserve a date during our cooler months for a special HONNA package tour. Featured is a tour of beautiful Sunken Gardens, a copy of Souvenir of St. Petersburg, a gourmet lunch at the historic Vinoy Hotel followed by a tour of the hotel – all for $40 per person. For more information or to reserve a date, please call Elaine Normile (824-8033) or Bill O’Grady (551-3148).

Traffic CommitteeRon Magray, ChairProposed changes for 1st Street between 22nd Avenue and 9th Avenue N

Residents who walk, jog and bike ride on and along 1st Street between 22nd Avenue N and 9th Avenue N have determined that there are serious safety hazards. Due to traffic volume and wanton disregard of the posted 25mph speed limit and the stop signs, the need for improved street changes are warranted.

This past February, the HONNA Board of Directors approved a motion to designate 1st Street southbound as part of the North Bay bike trail system. This motion also included the probability of future changes to the street that would accommodate designated bike lanes and designated driving lane changes.

As Chair of the Traffic Committee of the HONNA Board, I have collaborated with the City Department of Transportation to develop a proposal that provides for a designated bike path and driving lane changes which aim to improve the functionality and safety of this important avenue of transportation.

Joe Kubicki, Director of Transportation and Parking Manage-

President: Mary Alice Lange ..................................... 251-2034Vice PresidentJay Marshall .......................................................... -TreasurerMonica Vernon....................................................... -SecretaryChris Avren ........................................................... -

BoardPaul Boudreaux ....................................... 824-7050Rick Carson ............................................. 898-7834Douglas Haan .......................................... 488-5514Rick Kantner ........................................................ -Amir Lashgari ................................... 800/743-8904Susan McGarry...................................................... -Ron Magray ............................................. 502-9065Judi Reed ................................................ 804-2455Robin Reed.............................................. 825-0480Larry Smith ............................................................ -

Crime Watch Fact SheetName _____________________________________

Address ___________________________________

City/State: St. Petersburg, FL 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

HISTORY

PRESERVATION

BEAUTY

v

EIgHBORHOOd TOUR10 Am – 3 Pm wEEkdAYS

For the inclusive price of $40.00 per person, enjoy the following:

An in-depth, guided tour of Sunken Gardens • highlighting the history and horticulture of this famous tropical paradise

A self-guided tour to lead you through the • Historic Old Northeast Neighborhood

A copy of the recently published “Souvenir of St. Petersburg, Views from • the Vinoy”

A delectable 3-course lunch in the historic dining room, Marchand’s Bar • & Grill, at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort

A one hour, guided tour of the historic Renaissance Vinoy Resort with an • experienced and entertaining Vinoy Docent

Bill O’grady Sunken Gardens Supervisor

(727) 551-3148, bill.o’[email protected]

~or~

Elaine NormileRenaissance Vinoy Resort Historian

(727) 824-8033, [email protected]

RESERVATIONS ARE REqUIREd; PlEASE cONTAcT:

N P A c k A g E d I N O N E


Burgundy

Burgundy($30/ea):

For more information contact Larry Smith, membership Chair, at [email protected]

ment, and Michael Frederick, manager of Neighborhood Transpor-tation for the City, will present this proposal on Monday, October 17th, at the regular monthly HONNA neighborhood meeting. All residents are encouraged to attend this meeting, particularly those who live along or near 1st Street and are concerned about the impact of any changes on this portion of the street.

NewsletterRick Carson, Editor

We say goodbye – again – to Rachel Sartain, who is hanging up her hat for the second time as our newsletter’s advertising coordinator. Her demanding work schedule and family commitments have stretched to the max her availability to handle this volunteer task for us...plus the Sartains are – once again! – moving out of the neighborhood. So we wish Rachel continued success with Keller Williams Realty and lots of happiness in her new digs – and sincere thanks for all the time she invested getting our advertising house in order.

Taking over from Rachel will be Sue Strott, the author of our “The Answer Lady” column, which she’ll continue to write. So for future questions about advertising in this newsletter, check with Sue -- who will have all the answers.

Crime & Safety CommitteeJudi Reed, Chair

In the June newsletter I commented on the crime reduction occur-ring in our neighborhood. Now I need to admit that I spoke too soon and I didn’t allow for the uptick in crime that seems to happen here during the summer months. I was too excited with the lack of crime numbers appearing since the first of the year so I jumped the gun.

In the first four days of June, six crimes were noted and all were in Sector 1 (5th Avenue N/NE thru 11th Avenue N/NE, 4th Street to the water). The other sectors did not report crimes for that same time frame. Unfortunately, I was not able to capture data for the remainder of June due to health issues, but six crimes per four days doesn’t take too many math skills.

July reports indicate a total of 22 crimes happened in our neigh-borhood for the month. These crimes ranged from grand thefts and residential burglaries to petit thefts and thefts from autos. A Com-munity Police Officer noted at the regular July HONNA meeting that of all the thefts from vehicles investigated, none of the vehicles was locked. The police officer also noted that The Old Northeast remains Number One in stolen bicycles in the entire City. The bikes stolen are not all inexpensive, run down bikes either. Many bikes stolen are


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Crime & Safety from page 5 The President’s Perspectivemary Alice LangeAssociation President

This year of our neighborhood’s centennial reminds us why we live in The Historic Old Northeast. Neighbors reflect on the elements that make our neighborhood so valuable to each of us and enhance our quality of life. In the second part of this series, our Neighbor-

hood Plan identifies the uniqueness of the waterfront park system throughout the neighborhood. In the paragraphs following you will see portions of the green space/open space section of the plan developed by residents over many years (visit honna.org to view the entire plan).

The western boundary be-gins at 4th Street N and the east-ern boundary of The Historic Old Northeast Neighborhood is Tampa Bay. The entire wa-terfront edge, from 5th to 30th Avenue N, consists of a series of parks and pathways which comprise an intensely-used portion of the City’s waterfront park system. This asset provides access to the water for all resi-dents of the neighborhood and the City of St. Petersburg.

Contained within North Shore and the North Straub park system are recreation paths, the North Shore swimming pool, a dog park, the Gisella Kopsick Palm Arboretum, children’s play equipment, tennis courts, a beach and a boat launch area. The character of these parks is largely passive in nature and, due to the abundance of landscaping and the views to the bay, retains an open, airy feel.

The waterfront park system has assisted greatly in maintain-ing property values as well as making this neighborhood a very popular address. The waterfront parks are also used for large public events such as Ribfest, Florida Orchestra concerts and other entertainment opportunities. These events, however, also create secondary impacts to the neighborhood such as traffic congestion and spillover parking.

The location of the neighborhood along Tampa Bay also creates a spectacular scenic drive both for those within the neighborhood and for residents showing off the beauty of St. Petersburg to visit-ing friends and family.

Another area of significant green space is the boulevard located in Granada Terrace containing large stone monuments and statu-ary which reinforce the Mediterranean design style of this Local Historic District.

Great care must be taken to assure that the park system and the scenic drive continue to maintain their unique character within the neighborhood. Events which use the park system should minimize the secondary impacts upon the neighborhood. Signage should be reduced or kept to a minimum.

Many of the citywide events currently occur in the parks imme-diately adjacent to the neighborhood. The neighborhood wants to see the majority of these activities moved to other locations within the City. Furthermore, the neighborhood strives to limit additional build-ings and/or recreation facilities that would create more impervious surface and diminish the natural open green space which defines the park system.

Every day throughout the entire year residents and visitors alike stroll along the waterfront park system enjoying the bright sunny days, clear waterfront views, green open spaces and otherwise taking full advantage of all that this has to offer.

Part Two in a Series

ones that register “grand theft” on the crime scale or are retailed for several thousand dollars. Please, please, please lock up your valuables -- it shouldn’t be Christmas time in The Old Northeast 12 months a year.

During the first five days of August, 14 crimes were committed; again, mainly grand thefts, thefts from ve-hicles and residential burglaries. I also started looking into reports of crimes involving drugs, vehicle accidents and incidents involving sexual offenders. In these same five days, we had three crimes reported involving drugs, one hit and run accident and nine incidents involving sexual predators.

Believe me, I prefer to report that there are no crimes committed, ever. I know that is overly optimistic, but it is possible to achieve. It just takes everyone working together as one: the City, the Police and primarily the community. Just remember -- no one can read your mind and no one knows what is happening unless you report it. And by coming together we can be a true community and rid ourselves of crime.


Even though my school days are long gone, there is one memory that stays with me… #2 pencils. Those wonder-fully simple golden yellow pencils. And, according to my

informal survey, this time of year conjures up fond memories for so many of us and presents an opportunity for a new start Just like the start of school, autumn is the beginning of an exciting season ahead and provides an abundance of rich earth tones, falling leaves, a little cooler weather and a host of easy and inexpensive autumnal decorating ideas for your home – both inside and out.

Decorating for Fall doesn’t always mean putting up the scarecrow or tap-ing the kids’ fall leaves to the living room window. With a little imagina-tion and lots of nature’s bounty, you can transform your home into a warm and welcoming space for your friends and family.

To get started, take a few minutes to do some de-cluttering. Every season has its amount of clutter, and the summer is no exception. Time to put away the kiddie pool, pack up the beach towels and put away the flip flops lining the entryway. If you have kids, make sure you have designated a place for their backpacks and school papers, and set aside a place in the kitchen to store the lunch boxes, water bottles and other daily necessities. Get ready now with a little organization, and your home will show its full potential throughout the season.

Next, warm up your rooms by bringing in the layers. Add area rugs on the floors and throw blankets on seating. Use pillows to create a cozy retreat in every room. If you already have these in-gredients, consider changing the color to one you might find in an autumnal palette…moss green, chocolate brown, rich russet, warm

umber – the possibilities are endless. This is also a great time to add or change tablecloths, use cloth napkins (think vintage store finds!) and add some layers to your windows by hanging mini-blinds under your curtains or embellishing existing drapery with decorative tiebacks or colorful tassels.

It’s the final details that give a designer’s touch to any room, and this season’s options are plentiful and won’t break the bank. A visit to your favorite green market or grocery store will provide you with all you need to create seasonal vignettes throughout your home. On an entry table, kitchen island, fireplace mantle of almost anywhere there’s a bit of room, display a variety of pump-kins, gourds, Indian corn, mums, pine cones, glass jars filled with chestnuts or colorful beans, bowls filled with apples, bare branches, dried flowers, cinnamon sticks and fall leaves in collections with a few family photographs, vintage collectibles, rustic pots, worn baskets and candles. (If you already have candles in your home, consider changing the color/fragrance to represent the fall season…crisp apple cider or warm pumpkin spice anyone?)

The special details will make a difference to your outdoor space as well, but again take a few minutes for a yard cleanup and check your curb appeal. A few easy and inexpensive things to ramp up your autumn season curb appeal could be to paint your front door a warm rich color. Deep cranberry, roasted coffee bean, forest green or majestic navy coordinate with most color schemes and bring the eye to the entrance of the home for the price of a quart of paint. Whether or not you chose to repaint your door, a seasonal

wreath will enhance the entry as well. Complement the door entrance with a new welcome mat – and a variety of planted containers filled with seasonal favorites combined with harvest of pumpkins and gourds – and your home will catch the eye of everyone who passes.

And with the cooler temperatures, we can enjoy being outside again. You can incorporate all the same seasonal décor options to maximize the beauty of your outdoor space and this wonderful time year.

by Laura Fage

I cannot endure to waste anything as precious as autumn sunshine by

staying in the house. So I spend almost all the daylight hours in the open air.

Nathaniel Hawthorne

727 - 321 - 5588

DETAILS - We pay attention to them !

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28

A resident of The Old Northeast, Laura Fage is the proprietor of Casa Terra Design, a creative business devoted to the enhancement and celebration of life, from inspiring clients to live a more beautiful life through home decorating and redesign – to creating the most sought-after private, public and corporate special events imaginable. Laura is an award-winning event planner, has owned a home and garden boutique, hosted a garden TV show and conducted workshops on all aspects of home décor and residential gardening. For more informa-tion visit www.casaterradesign.com or call 727/269.9462.


Bells will be Ringingby Sharon KantnerChair, Candlelight Tour of Homes

Bells will be ringing on Sunday, December 11th, for this year’s Candlelight Tour of Homes from 3-8pm. Start your holiday off with some festive cheer and grab a friend, neighbor or family member as you make your way through eight of The Old Northeast’s historic

homes in what has become St. Petersburg’s finest holiday tradition.You won’t want to miss seeing these homes lovingly decorated for the holidays. We are in the

process of finalizing the home selections now, so if you want to nominate a home for the tour you may still do so. We also welcome anyone who would like to volunteer for the event.

The ticket price of this year’s tour – our 14th annual -- will be $20 in advance and $25 on the day of the tour. Tickets may be purchased through PayPal, on our HONNA website and, closer to the event,

at ticket outlets around town. This year with an advance ticket purchase we are offering the book, Souvenir of St. Petersburg -- Views from the Vinoy, for just $10 (which retails for $14.95) as

well as the historic neighborhoods flags for $25 (which retail for $30). The book is full of interesting pictures and information about The Old Northeast neighborhood and is a wonderful coffee table book or a holiday gift idea. The flags are a great way to show your appreciation and support for our neighborhood and are available in two colors, burgundy and green.

The tour is our neighborhood association’s largest fundraiser so please help up spread the word in promoting this event. A portion of the proceeds will be going

to a non-profit organization, which will be announced in the December newsletter.We hope to see you at the event!

Please call or e-mail me (727/278-5866, [email protected]) if you would like to nominate a home, advertise in our booklet or get involved on the committee.


New Members

Virginia B. Daniels .......................................... 700 Beach Drive NE #704Cynthia Epler ............................................................216 13th Avenue NEDebra and Michael Evans ............................1012 North Shore Drive #41Judy Frost ............................................................. 700 Beach Drive #506 Gabe and Rene Hobbs ................................................. 214 7th Avenue NCory-Adler Leiderdorff .................................................Palladium TheaterWendy Menendez and Jimmy Tojeiro .......................... 305 19th Avenue NEd and Kathy Rawls ................................................655 16th Avenue NE Chris and Jack Reynolds ...............................................111 9th Avenue N Rosemary Romero ................................................... 275 21st Avenue NEJeff and Cheryl Samuels ............................................ 120 27th Avenue NJanice Somerset ........................................................216 18th Avenue NEBeth and Michael Vivio .....................................2050 Coffee Pot Blvd. NEGeorge Voglesang and Elizabeth Lieu ....................... 321 9th Avenue NE

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independence day CelebrationUnlike last year, the rain held off for this year’s Children’s 4th of July

Parade, and more than 125 neighbors and friends enjoyed HONNA’s annual holiday parade along Coffee Pot Boulevard.

Fire Station No. 4, from nearby 4th Street N at 25th Avenue, led the parade with their fire truck sparkling and red lights flashing. Many excited children had pains-takingly decorated wagons, scooters, bicycles and even some of their dogs in pa-triotic red, white and blue. A traditional fife and drum band added to the patriotic ambiance as one could almost imagine the brave colonists who fought so hard for our freedom. After the parade, children enjoyed making hats, puppets and posters at the crafts table in Coffee Pot Park.

A big “thank you” to our neighbors who sponsored such a wonderful event

Photos courtesy Susan Alderson

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Thoughts from the Front Porch…

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

by Courtney Ellis, MA, RMHCI

Living intentionally

We as Americans are a busy, busy people. We get up, grab our cup of coffee and go, often times not stop-ping to take a breath until dinner time. This can be

especially true for those of you parents whose kids just went back to school. Your lives may be dictated by school schedules, after-school activities, team practices, birthday parties and the like. I’m exhausted just listing it and can’t imagine how exhausted you must be living it!

The difficult part about “busy-ness” is that these things that are filling up our schedules are not necessarily bad and are often even essential. The problem comes, however, when we let the “stuff” of life get in the way of being who we want to be. In turn, we stop living and start merely surviving in order to do it all. We begin to settle for the status quo and forget to continu-ally challenge ourselves. I call this state of living “Comfortable Discomfort.” It’s when we get so used to living one way that we grow complacent, choosing to live with what we know rather than pushing ourselves toward change in the unknown. It’s as if someone has an injury that they don’t actually have to live with. Rather than going to the doctor, doing physical therapy and getting better – they choose to live with the handicap be-cause they’ve grown accustomed to it and don’t want to face the hard challenge of getting better. As crazy as this seems, we do it on a daily basis – choosing to live with discomfort rather than experiencing the growing pains of doing something dif-ferent, giving something up or trying something new.

I don’t know what it is you may be settling for -- maybe it’s the constant burden of stress, a tense marriage or even the nagging feeling like you are losing sight of your dreams. Thankfully it is never too late to do a check-in with ourselves, identifying those things that we are happy with as well as those things that we may want to change or tackle. If you don’t know where to start, you’re in luck because below you will find a General Happiness Check-Up – questions that you can ask yourself in order to get the juices flowing and motivate you to stop settling for survival and start striving toward abundance! It’s all about living intentionally

– otherwise, as Jane Austen so eloquently said, “life [will] seem but a quick succession of busy nothings”.

I encourage you to take some time away from your busy sched-ule, sit down and answer the following questions as honestly as possible. You can do this over a period of days or even weeks, answering as many questions as you feel comfortable with but making sure you give each answer the attention it needs for reflec-tion prior to moving on. Answering these questions should foster awareness as you explore those things which you often don’t have time to dwell on. And after awareness must come action and accountability. The last questions will challenge you to identify practical ways to put these things into play. Find a friend, spouse, counselor or family member with whom you can share these goals. If we keep it to ourselves, we are far less likely to follow through.

Good luck and happy living! Let us never settle for stagnancy and be ever growing and changing.

► Write a mission statement for your own life -- a short, suc-cinct description of your purpose, direction and aspirations. .

► List some significant goals that have you yet to accomplish. ► List the characteristics, attitudes, beliefs, interests, etc. that

make up your personal identity. ► What are your strengths and weaknesses? List at least three

of each.► Write your own obituary. How do you want people to think

of your life and to remember you?► List the activities or accomplishments that you most value —

for example, making lots of money, getting good grades or being involved in the community.

► List the personality traits or characteristics that you most value — for example, friendly, successful, outgoing, loyal. These can be characteristics of your own or of others.

► How well does your current lifestyle reflect your values? If our values line up with our behaviors, we experience lower stress and higher satisfaction. If they don’t, we will experience high stress and low self-worth.

► What would you like your life to be like in five years?► What are three things you will need to accomplish over the

next five years to achieve that vision?

Now that you are aware of your dreams, goals and the person you want to be, list three specific and measurable short-term and long-term goals you would like to see happen in the next weeks, months and years.

Start small – pick one or two short-term goals that you would like to challenge yourself to complete in this next week and do it!

Sources: Values, Vision, Vitality by Wendy Wood, LMHC and Self-Explo-ration by GWU Counseling Centers.


in Case You missed it: Updates and Follow Ups

Keeping You Current on Some Neighborhood Stories That Have Been in the News

You can read this issue in

COLORGo to www.honna.org and

Click on “Newsletters” and then click on the archived issue you’d like to read. Great way to share the newsletter with

friends who don’t receive the print copy. Pass on the good news!

Upon a second hearing, the St. Petersburg City Council voted 5-3 on Friday, August 19th, to reject a proposal to allow six digital billboards to be erected in place of 80 of the traditional variety. The bright ever-changing screens, opposed by the Council of Neighbor-hood Associations (CONA) and other neighborhood associations and individuals, had been criticized for distractive safety reasons and visual

impact on near-by residences.

The HONNA Board, at its July meeting, voted unanimously to not support al-lowing digital billboards in the City and called for an e-mail blast to HONNA members appris-

ing them of the Board’s position and encouraging them to contact the City Council regarding this issue by sending e-mails and letters as well as attending the public hearings. The campaign to defeat digital billboards was led by CONA and its Land Development & Historic Re-sources Committee, chaired by Maureen Stafford, a former HONNA president. [sources: St. Petersburg Times, 8/19, and HONNA]

A large stretch of 4th Street – from the I-175 ramp up to I-275 and the Howard Frankland Bridge – has been named in memory of the three City police officers who were killed in the line of duty earlier this year. The dedication ceremony took place on August 15th to recognize officers David Crawford and Jeffrey Yaslowitz and Sgt. Thomas Baitinger. This commemoration was made pos-sible by the state legislature, and a large memorial sign has been erected at 470 3rd Street S in the three men’s honor. [source: St. Petersburg Times, 8/16]

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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

Over The Back Fence is a

Soapbox... STep On up

and

leT’S hear FrOm yOu

e-mail: [email protected]

Car being featured on the Morning Show (see page 1)

Budding Entrepreneurs….Old Northeast neighbors William and Kathlene Powell have started a new business based on an old recipe. “Uncle Willy’s Alabama Style Grillin’ & Dippin’ Sauce” is a white barbecue sauce that is “snappy...not sweet” (you can try a taste at Shep’s Beer & Wine or at Mickey’s Market, both on 4th Street N). Their company is called Rocket City Recipes after the nickname for Huntsville, AL, where William grew up.

Rude Awakening…. On Thursday, July 28th, at 3am the neigh-bors at 1st Street and 11th Avenue NE were awakened by a driver running into their fence and yard and then continuing on down the street to hit and demolish the Old Northeast cornerstone at 1st and 9th Ave NE. (see photo below). The impact of the crash spread pieces of the cornerstone in all directions and landed in many yards. HONNA is following up with the appropriate authorities to pursue restitution for the damages.

Balls Saved!….The reports of the demise of the ball sculptures on the grounds in front of the North Shore Aquatic Complex [see the December issue of this newsletter] are premature. A photo in the July 14th edition of the St. Petersburg Times reveals that they are being refurbished after years of harsh weather and human contact (lots of playful loving!). The large mosaic-tiled balls, installed in 1993, received some much-needed TLC just a few years ago but that apparently wasn’t enough to assure their survival, according to the City just a few months ago, which cited the high repair costs as their death knell.

Down Memory Lane….The “My First Car” featurette appearing on the front page of the Saturday car section of the St. Petersburg Times (May 21st) starred two of our neighbors, Paul and Barri Boudreaux (Paul’s on HONNA’s Board). The photo shows Barri sitting (in a pose reminiscent of the actress she once was) on the trunk of the red-and-white finned 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air, the car they had purchased on their honeymoon in 1959.

Pictures at an Exhibition….Neighbor Neverne Covington has a solo show in Ybor City from September 15th-October 13th. Check

with Neverne for details ([email protected]). Where in the World is John Gee?!....In case you have been

missing your fix of the “Ponderings” column in this newsletter writ-ten by neighbor John Gee and his “Journal Entry” musings in the Northeast Journal, we are pleased to share the good news that he is alive, well and...of course, as feisty as ever. Here’s what he had to say about his and wife Kathy’s “temporary” self-imposed exile from our neighborhood. “We are doing well in the macrobiotic state of Calif. Since weather was a factor in our decision to move out here for the summer, our wishes sure were granted -- seldom does the temp go over 70 in the bay area and at times it barely reaches 60!! We read about all the hot weather and think that we found the only place in the US that has cool temps. Berkeley is a never ending circus of freaks, geeks, multi multi-culturalisms, hipsters, tripsters, and laid back wasters of all types and varieties. There is no normal here and I guess we just fit in perfectly. We will return by December -- maybe.” Let’s hope John returns with even more nourishing food for thought to share with us.

Oooops….We regret the mistake in the June issue which misiden-tified the name of the person hit and killed on 4th Street in November. The name of the deceased is Tom Wiemkem. Also, there appar-ently is some con-fusion regarding the perpetrators of the tree trimming in the photo appearing on the cover page of the June issue. The pictured tree was not trimmed by the homeowner but by a tree service con-tracted by Progress Energy. We regret these errors.


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 continues 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.

In July One Great Book Club met at Elizabeth Hallock’s home on Bay Street NE. The book Elizabeth chose is the novel by Indu Sanderesan, The Twentieth Wife. The book

takes place in 17th century India under the Mughal regime. The book begins with a husband and wife who are escaping from persecution in Persia to India. With already too many mouths to feed, Ghias Beg and his wife realize there will be another child on the way. This child, who is named Mehrunnisa (Persian for Sun of Woman), is a difficult birth and even though she is beautiful her parents realize they cannot provide for her. They make the heart wrenching decision to leave her by the banks of a river, hoping she will be found by a more prosperous family. She is found, but brought back to her parents by a worker who is well connected to Emperor Akbar of India. This twist of fate helps Mehrunissa’s father to land a position under the emperor, which is turn allows her to grow up somewhat in the inner circles of royalty.

With access to the emperor and his family, Mehrunissa encoun-ters the love of her life, Prince Salim, the son of Emperor Akbar. She is only eight years old, and it is love at first sight even though it’s Salim’s first wedding to someone else. She decides right then and there she too will become one of Salim’s wives. This will happen, but not when the reader thinks it will.

The story takes us through the Meghul regime in India and the age old story of power and greed. Family members within the regime each want power, the men by taking over the throne even if it means overthrowing their own father and the women want power the only way they can get it -- by marrying into it or being a concubine on the side. The book takes us through wars, betrayal and power struggles. All the while Sundaresan entwines Mehrunissa and Salim’s chance encounters with one another. Sundaresan keeps the reader interested by the two longing for one another but because of circumstances never being the right time

to marry. Salim continues to marry others and carry on with his concubines, and Mehrunissa -- as with many women at that time -- is forced into a loveless marriage to someone else. So how do they finally end up together? It’s a very interesting journey for the characters and the readers.

Sundaresan does a beautiful job with historical detail and while reading you could almost hear the jingle of the women’s beautiful bracelets, the sight of long black flowing hair and the noise of the marketplace. We also get insight into the women and their own personal wars regarding jealousy, competition for the prince’s at-tention and how they used their own power to get what they want.

The group felt this book was good but we also felt Sundaresan did not develop the characters enough. Most of the book club also had a hard time with the love affair between Mehrunissa and Prince Salim. Many of the members did not feel the chemistry between them and wondered why Mehrunissa was in love with Prince Salim in the first place. We did, however, find her description of India in the 17th century to be right on point making the story intriguing and worth reading.

Elizabeth, who hosted, put us all in the mood by cooking a delicious Indian dinner. We gave this book one thumb up and one thumb sideways.


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T i m R h o d e

Candlelight Tour of Homes: Sharon KantnerC.O.N.A. Rep: Paul BoudreauxCrime & Safety: Judi ReedHistoric Preservation: Robin ReedMembership/Porch Parties: Larry SmithPlanning/Neighborhood Design Review: Mary Alice LangeNewsletter: Rick CarsonPrograms: Susan McGarry & Amir LashgariTraffic: Ron MagrayWebsite: Joe O’Connor

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.

Like our neighborhood?Want to make it even better?

Volunteer with one of our committees!

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An Attitude That’s All Hat-a-Tudeby Anne-Marie Stephenson

In our neighborhood lives a milliner, who makes and trims ladies hats, in a charming 1925 Craftsman bungalow. You have probably seen her walking, biking or at a neighborhood

event and almost always in a hat. Kathi Harris is the milliner and owner of her exclusive online ladies hat shop, HAT-A-TUDE. She has built her business on the philosophy “It’s more than a Hat, it’s an Attitude!”

In January of every year Kathi does not allow the sleet nor snow of New York City to deter her from her annual buying trip to find the latest hats and millinery trims for her designs. Hats for every season or reason are part of her limitless creations: hats for Spring and Fall, for the Kentucky Derby and other horse races, weddings, churches and synagogues, Mother’s Day, graduation ceremonies, garden parties, cruises or just “I want to look fabulous” moments!

The months of March and April were a whirlwind for Kathi and her neighborhood “angels” who help in the office and shipping department. Over 550 hat orders were received online or by telephone for the an-nual Oaks and Kentucky Derby racing events held the first weekend in May. Kathi personally answered all ques-tions and gave advice to her clients before each beautiful custom hat was made and shipped across the USA for this one weekend a year. Oh, not all of her hat ladies attend the actual races, but they see no reason not to throw elaborate parties! This year the Royal Wedding added to the excitement.

Where does Kathi work her magic? She works from a studio behind her home in the Old NE. There are stacks of hats and walls lined with ribbons, flowers and feathers. Ribbons of every width and imaginable color, flowers from cabbage roses to exotic blooms and feathers that delight the eye are within reach of her nimble fingers. As she turns the mannequin head that holds each hat, she creates a custom hat to be shipped in less than a week.

Kathi’s unique profession began 15 years ago with a question from a Richmond lady named Joan: “Will you design a hat for me?” Soon all of Joan’s friends asked the same question. Hence 15 years ago Hat-a-tude was born due to Kathi’s entrepreneurial spirit combined with her love of fashion and her floral design business knowledge.

When Kathi moved from Ocean City, Maryland, to St. Peters-burg in 2005 she began marketing her hat designs solely through her website. The biggest challenge for Kathi is never seeing her customer, but through communication she creates a hat that flatters the lady, her dress and the occasion. It is her belief, “If you don’t look good, I don’t look good!”

Kathi shares her passion: “Hats make everyone smile. And doesn’t that just make the world a better place?”

To see more photos of Kathi’s hats and information about them, go to www.hat-a-tude.com

Kathi Harris is the milliner and owner of her exclusive online ladies hat shop, HAT-A-TUDE


Are you one of those people who goes about your day-to-day life noticing things happening around you (or not happening) in the neigh-borhood 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

Our iconic Trademark

Have you ever wondered why we have hexagon block sidewalks in The Historic Old Northeast?

Well, one theory is that the City Fathers felt that the hex blocks could adapt to Florida’s shifting sands whereas ribbon sidewalks would crack more easily. Also, in the early 1900s concrete sidewalks required more time for hand mixing and pouring when it was easier at that time to cart and carry hexagon blocks to a site and have in-expensive labor install them in a sand base. In addition, some thought that their shape and color might reflect the colorful mosaic sidewalks of Rio de Janeiro.

In 1912 builder Hope Aciel Farmer established H.A. Farmer Contrac-tor and Builder at 825 3rd Street S, and later renamed his concern Farmer Concrete Works. The firm began creating hex blocks cast in gray, red, green, blue and yellow which were 12”x18”. It was one of the first of St. Pe-tersburg’s industries, operating nearly five decades. However, by the 1940s the City realized solid sidewalks were 34 cents cheaper per square foot than hex blocks.

So after having laid 100 miles of hex blocks in what is now The Old North-east, The Old Southeast and Kenwood, Hope and his son, Ernest Duval Farmer, turned to fashioning garden furniture and special driveways and patios. Even later, he put his name on shuffleboard courts, which were considered “the best.” The company ceased operations in 1961.

The City of St. Petersburg keeps a stockpile of hex blocks to replace and repair various areas in the City. Federal standards have described six-sided cast stone hex block sidewalks as important to the historic designation, giving a more historic feel to a neighborhood. (No,

sorry, the City will not sell any of its stock.)If you have broken hex blocks in The Old Northeast only, the

City will send out a City inspector within three-five days. From that point, it can take one to six weeks for repairs to be completed. However, this does require the homeowner to call the Mayor’s Action Line at 893-7111 to start the process.

The City will also repair or replace ribbon sidewalks at no cost to the homeowner, but here again the homeowner must call the Mayor’s Action Line. If ribbon concrete is damaged, the City will replace it with ribbon concrete only. If a resident wants hex

blocks instead of concrete, he or she will have to get a permit from the City’s Engineering Department on the third floor of One 4th Street N (Central at 4th), 893-7238.

One nice thing is that if you have a minor repair and don’t wish to wait for the City to fix it, Public Service rep Debbie Larson says that a resident may replace up to two hex blocks on his or her own, taking care to ensure at least a 6” sand base is below them. A hom-eowner may also repair a small piece of a ribbon sidewalk on his own, but any more of either and the citizen must get a permit from the Engineering Department.

If there never has been a side-walk, one can be requested at the cost to the owner, but it can be paid by assessment over time. Even owners of property on busy arteries are now paying for any new sidewalks where there were none.

If you want to repair a hex block sidewalk, Carroll’s Build-ing Materials at 2001 13th Av-

enue N (822-3370) has a supply in concrete, white or charcoal gray by the piece, which are full 16”x2” hex blocks in flat finish. They keep a supply as they are the only supplier by the piece in Florida, and they sell in larger quantities as well.

Colored hex blocks lend themselves to creating patterns


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!

John and Kelly Locke, two of our Old Northeast neighbors, own Pavers by Owner at 5980 66th Street N, Unit P, (545-7887). They can supply the same 16” shape in concrete gray and possibly other colors (you’d need to buy a 100’ pallet).

A few years back, I took the matter in hand and had the City replace all but one slab of ribbon sidewalk in front of my home on a lot and a half. It was free, and I’m still delighted I took the time to have it done.

We live in a very friendly, walk-able neighborhood. But if folks are stepping gingerly up and over broken hex blocks or broken rib-bon sidewalks in front of your home, now is the time to consider all of the above to make ours truly the finest, walk-able neighborhood in the City. And, if you have been wishing to create a new patio area on your property, now you know where to find hex blocks.

[Information about hex blocks comes from writings by the late St. Petersburg historian and author Scott Taylor Hartzell, a Janu-ary 5, 2003, article from the St. Petersburg Times and Old NE neighborhood resident and architectural historian Mike Dailey. A version of this article appears in the September issue of The Northeast Journal.]

Freshly poured concrete ribbon sidewalks can be imprinted with a hex block stamp

You will want to maintain your hex block sidewalks so they aren’t a hazard to pedestrians

Check out the HONNA website www.honna.org


Florida OrchestraConcert in the ParkSaturday,

October 22nd

Save the dates!

Old NE Centennial PicnicSunday, November 6th

find us on facebook Thank You Mama1511 4th Street N.

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Thank You Mama Offers:Acupuncture Herbal Therapies

Massage Mayan Abdominal MassageDoula Services Belly CastingEducation for the entire family

Visit Our Baby Boutique:Beaba Svan Positively Organic

Earth Mama Lifefactory Under the NileErgo Moby bumGenius elemental

And many others!

Gift Cards and Gift Registry available for all your holiday shopping needs.


Property TransfersFollowing is a listing of recent property transfers in our North Shore neigh-

borhood. The individuals listed are new owners of the properties cited but not necessarily 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 welcome them to the neighborhood.

Source: Compiled from public records by FNBR Inc. and printed in the St. Petersburg Times.

555 5th Avenue NE #432 .................................... Robert and Molly Kline565 5th Avenue NE ................................. Richard and Edwina Cornelius327 7th Avenue N ..................................................................Laura Mitts311 8th Avenue ............................................................Cynthia Hardwick321 9th Avenue NE ....................................................George Vogelsang332 10th Avenue NE ...........................................................James Tarter121 13th Avenue N .......................................Robert and Angela Schuck202 13th Avenue N ......................................Gabriel and Elaine Faraone216 13th Avenue NE ..........................................................Cynthia Epler155 14th Avenue NE .......................................... W.S. and Louise Logan506 15th Avenue NE ........................................ John and Barbara Gross655 16th Avenue NE .......................................................Kathleen Rawls535 18th Avenue NE .......................................Lee and Caryn Rightmyer416 20th Avenue NE ........................................................... Sheila Olsen126 21st Avenue NE ........................................................... William Tapp136 21st Avenue NE ........................................................Wade Baugher555 21st Avenue NE ..............................................................Gary Seals227 25th Avenue N .......................................................Krzysztof Babula140 26th Avenue N .............................................................. William Zisa225 26th Avenue N ............................................Charles Casey-Sudvary321 26th Avenue N ......................................Jonathan and Mariana Kind1500 1st Street N ............................................................... Bryan O’Neal1625 1st Street NE ................................................ Ian and Emily Barber2900 1st Street N .............................................................Heather Payne 921 3rd Street N ...............................................................Sandra Foster 1114 3rd Street N ..........................................................Courtney Harlow1124 Bay Street NE ....................................................Eleni Rakopoulos 700 Beach Drive NE #306 ..............................................Eileen Stafford2050 Coffee Pot Blvd NE ...................................Michael and Beth Vivio1620 North Shore Drive NE ............................... Vijay and Ramila Patel

Worship Service: Sundays 10:30am

Ad courtesy of HONNA in appreciation of Westminster’s generous support of HONNA


September 16th Steve and Nina Urgo115 16th Avenue NE

October 21st Steve Deal and Frank Hay

315 8th Avenue NE**Annual Dress Rehearsal

for Halloween! **

November 18th Peter Motzenbecker

and Chanda Spanfelner112 10th Avenue NE

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

You’reInvited

more info, contact Larry Smith, [email protected].


ON THE dOCKET: Some Upcoming Events In and Nearby Our Neighborhood

SEPTEmBER 3 Corvettes at The Pier The Pier

SEPTEmBER 4 Pier Paddle Social Spa Beach; 510-1921

SEPTEmBER 5 Labor day Salsa Celebration The Pier

SEPTEmBER 10 AidS Walk North Shore Park; 532-2437Kids Young Eagles day Albert Whitted Field; 822-1532

SEPTEmBER 16 PORCH PARTY (SEE PAgE 20)

SEPTEmBER 17 Save the Shore Coastal Cleanup Various shore locations; 893-7441Classic Auto, Bike and Truck Show The Pier; 331-9684

SEPTEmBER 19NEigHBORHOOd POTLUCK (SEE PAgE 1)

SEPTEmBER 19 Tampa Bay Job Fair Coliseum; tampabayjobfairs.com

SEPTEmBER 24 Carefest 2011 – Bee Caretagious Vinoy Park and various city locations; stpete.org/neighborhoodsAlzheimer’s Association Walk The Pier; 578-2558

OCTOBER 1 Susan g. Komen Race for the Cure Vinoy Park; 823-0728

OCTOBER 9 Annual Hot Pepperfest Sunken Gardens (see page 27)

OCTOBER 17 NEigHBORHOOd mEETiNg

OCTOBER 18 Tampa Bay Senior Expo Coliseum; tampabayexpos.com

OCTOBER 21 HALLOWEEN PORCH PARTY (SEE PAgE 20)

OCTOBER 22 FLORidA ORCHESTRA iN THE PARK (SEE PAgE 1)

OCTOBER 21-23 Antiques Show Coliseum; stpete.org/coliseum

OCTOBER 23 St. Pete Yoga Festival Sunken Gardens

OCTOBER 29 NEigHBORHOOd HALLOWEEN dECORATiNg (SEE PAgE 2)

OCTOBER 29 Red Ribbon Family Funfest (drug/alcohol prevention) North Straub Park; 545-7564

NOVEmBER 5 Purple Stride 5K, 1 mile Family Walk (for pancreatic cancer) Albert Whitted Park; purplestride.org

NOVEmBER 6OLd NE NEigHBORHOOd CENTENNiAL CELEBRATiON

(SEE PAgE 1)NOVEmBER 11-13

Tampa Bay Home Show The Trop; 893-8523Ribfest Vinoy Park

NOVEmBER 18 PORCH PARTY (SEE PAgE 20)

NOVEmBER 19 Historic Homes Workshop (see page 3)

NOVEmBER 19-20 Holiday Extravaganza & gift market Coliseum; 892-5202CraftArt 5th at Central; 821-7391

NOVEmBER 20 Women’s Running magazine Women’s Half marathon & 5K (benefit Leuke-mia & Lymphoma Society); womenshalfmarathon.com/stpetersburg

NOVEmBER 21 NEigHBORHOOd mEETiNg

We encourage you to go directly to the City website – www.stpete.org and look for Upcoming Events where you can click on “View All Events.” This will enable you to

check updates and all the scheduled events day-by-day for the coming weeks and months.

RECURRiNg EVENTS(see calendar at www.stpete.org for more opportunities and details)

dAiLYKids…dilly dally with dali Dali Museum; 823-3767

mONdAY-FRidAYSenior Fitness Sunshine Center; 893-7101Self defense Aerobic Karate Sunshine Center; 893-7190

EVERY mONdAY-THURSdAYAwaken Yoga Sunken Gardens; 551-3102

EVERY TUESdAY & WEdNESdAYHoop dancing Sunken Gardens; 551-3102

WEdNESdAYCoffee with a Curator (1st Wed) Dali Museum; 823-3767Breakfast with the mayor (4th Wed); stpete.org/mayor/breakfastwithmayor.asp

EVERY WEdNESdAY & FRidAYTerrific Tots Great Explorations; 821-8992

THURSdAYWee-Time (2nd & 4th) Weedon Island Preserve; 453-6500dali & Beyond Film Series (1st & 3rd Thurs) Dali Museum; 823-3767

FRidAYChute Chi gong Sunken Gardens; 551-3102St. Pete Shuffle St. Pete Shuffle Board Courts; 822-2083get downtown music Series (1st Fri) Central b/w 2nd-3rd; 393-359great Weedon Bird Quest (2nd Fri) Weedon Island Preserve; 453-6500

SATURdAYBreakfast with dali and Families (1st Sat) Dali Museum; 823-3767Super Special Saturday/Family day (3rd Sat) Museum of Fine Arts; 896-2667Awaken Yoga Sunken Gardens; 551-3102Florida Folk Concerts (3rd Sat) St Pete Museum of History; 894-1052x200guided Hikes Weedon Island Preserve; 453-6500 Photo Hike (last Sat) Weedon Island Preserve; 453-6500Horticulture Workshop Sunken Gardens; 551-3102 gallery Walk (2nd Sat) Downtown locations; 323-ARTS Live Arts on the 600 Block (3rd Sat) 600 block CentralSalsa The Pier; 821-6443 Pier Aquarium Book Nook by the Bay The Pier (1st Sat); 821-6443

SUNdAYinspire Yoga at the dali Dali Museum; 823-3767Awaken Yoga Sunken Gardens; 551-3102music Fest by the Bay The Pier; 821-6443Caricatures at the Pier (1st & 3rd Sun) The Pier; 821-6443

OccasionalBallpark Tours of Tropicana Field; September 13, 16, 19 & 21; 825-3162


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Natural Gas.Clean and Green. How can you increase the energy efficiency of your home without compromising comfort? Natural Gas. The direct use of natural gas is nearly 60% more efficient and can help reduce certain greenhouse gas emissions up to 70%. Peoples Gas is Florida’s largest natural gas provider. We’re working for your home, our world – and your budget. Nearly two million Floridians enjoy natural gas. Do you? Find out more at peoplesgas.com/enjoy and see if you qualify for up to $1,750 in cash-back rebates.

Time and moving Onby Barbara and Jay MarshallHouse to Home Relocation

When we were young, over a weekend we could throw everything in the back of the Mustang and change our lives. Come Monday morning, our “new digs”

would be organized, and we’d be out the door meeting people and building a bright new future.

Fast forward 30-40 years after our “friend” -- our home -- has accumulated many memories, treasures, possessions. And now a move is imminent, as the current lifestyle and living arrangement may no longer meet physical and/or social needs. Senior Move Managers can help ease the transition for everyone involved, with their significant resources and approaches that save money, reduce stress and produce quality results to meet a client’s personalized needs. Check out this great network of individuals around the coun-try on the National Association of Senior Move Managers website (www.NASMM.org).

Senior Move Managers are terrific resources for individuals and families facing a physical move and for many professionals such as: active living, continuing care retirement and assisted living com-munities; nursing and rehabilitation facilities; elder law attorneys; geriatric care managers; home health agencies; funeral homes. And they can help in situations where adult children of older adults live far away, have their careers and own family obligations or there are no adult children to help. Imagine… someone in your neighborhood to provide personal assistance when dealing with household downsiz-ing in preparation for a move, give useful tips on move planning and oversight, space planning, organizing, sorting, downsizing, liqui-dating, donating/estate sales, dis-tributing remain-ing items, pack-ing, unpacking, setting up in one’s new home -- just to name a few. A good downsizing t i p : when sorting, work in one room at a time — stay put, resist the temp-tation to wander around — focus-ing helps get the job done.

Barbara and Jay Marshall are owners of House to Home Reloca-tion LLC, and residents of The Historic Old Northeast who special-ize in helping with downsizing/relocation (www.hthrelocation.com). They “move people first, boxes second.”

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Music. Giggles. Food. Soccer team. Give-a-ways. K-9s. Command trucks. McGruff the Crime Dog. What did this bring to St Petersburg?

This year it was the 2011 annual National Night Out, held Tuesday, August 2nd, which brings together residents, police officers and City employees. The purpose? Neighborhoods and police officers want to promote anti-crime programs, and this special event gives residents a chance to talk with their police officers and thank them for the work they do. It is also a chance for the police officers to interact with residents and gauge how they are doing.

This year the thought was to have the event in St. Petersburg Police District 2 go from several small events unevenly distrib-uted to one large event – in this case in the Eva Rouse part of North Shore Park. The thinking was to bring more people together from throughout the district and open up lines of communication between the police and residents.

District 2 takes up an enormous amount of real estate, running from Tropicana Field on the south to the Feather Sound area on the north. The western boundary is I-275 along 28th Street N and the eastern boundary is Tampa Bay. Even as diverse as these areas are, wouldn’t it be great to be able to converse with people from all over and see if we have similar problems or possibly come up with common solutions to reduce criminal activity?

While organizing the event, the most amazing part was that there were so many people out there who wanted to participate -- not to get their names on anything associated with the event but because they believed in what the event was all about.

Mayor Bill Foster opened the event with words designed to strengthen relationships between the community and the police

department. He was followed by supporting words from Council-man Steve Kornell. Members of the Police Department, including Chief Chuck Harmon, came out in force and their numbers included policemen and women from every branch of the department. They had demonstrations of the latest in technology including the mobile robot, which is first sent into dangerous areas in order to feed back information and save policemen’s lives. The demonstration by the department’s K-9 force was a crowd favorite, with a question and answer period following.

Target, the discount retailer, has always been the commercial sponsor for National Night Out, and their employees were there in numbers with their red shirts. Michael Brown, the Assistant Manager at the Gateway Mall store, came with not only give-a-ways from the store but his wife and numerous employees. I’d asked Michael, who use to be a St Petersburg policeman, how Target came to be the main sponsor. He said that Target’s motto is “Safety and Community,” which fits the idea behind National Night Out. Kudos to Mike and his helpers.

I’ve always been a fan of Russell Farrow from Sweetwater Kayak and have attended several lectures where he has spoken. Russell is a world class sea kayaker and has been awarded many grants for filming tours and doing research throughout the world.

Thank goodness when I explained what I was attempting to do at NNO Russell volunteered the band he helped form, Sisemore. Since he works with many schools in the area, he knew that this was an extremely worthy cause. As it turned out, I believe Sisemore was a favorite that evening.

The event could not have taken place with-out the help from the City of St Petersburg’s Parks and Recreation Department and their summer interns. The City’s Special Events coordinator, Stevie Ostergood, jumped in and offered to assist as soon as she knew the purpose and that it was a community event, especially one involving the Police Depart-

ment. Because of the department’s involvement, we were able to have use of the mobile stage, tents, chairs and tables and children’s blow up games and activities. City crews mowed and groomed the morning of the event and they made sure that the adjacent parking lot allowed for event parking. At event’s end, they also cleaned and stored all belongings. The Marketing and the Neighborhood Partnership departments of the City are also given a big thank you for their direction and assistance.

Celebrating Our Community-Police Partnershipsby Judi ReedNational Night Out Coordinator and HONNA Crime & Safety Committee Chair


Thank yous have gone out to those companies and individu-als who participated and wanted to share information with the public for worthy causes. They are: the FCTampa Bay soccer team, SPCA, Helen Torres’ Florida Orchestra in the Park, Florida Blood Services, Sweetwater Kayak, St. Petersburg Fire & Rescue, Police Benevolent Association and Leo’s Angel’s. A special thank you to the two food vendors who believed and came out in the heat. A huge thank you should go out to the Historic Old Northeast Neighborhood Association (HONNA) for sponsoring the event and an even bigger thank you should go to those individuals who helped make the event a success: HONNA officers and Board members plus Anne-Marie Stephenson, Joe Troy and Gary Pleiss.

If you weren’t able to attend this year, please come and be a part of it in the future. Take care and stay safe!

Below: Mayor Bill Foster and NNO Coordinator Judi Reed welcome the crowd


Preserving the Character of Old Northeast Houses

One of the most appreciated features of vintage houses is their old pine floors. They gleam a warm welcome to all who enter, bringing an

element of the natural world into the built environment. They are often referred to as “heart pine” and I have many times been asked to define the term. do Trees Have Hearts?

The “heart” is the solid core of the tree. It contains no sap, the watery fluid that circulates through the tree, carrying nutrients to the leaves and various tissues. Heartwood is wood that has died with age. As the tree grows, more heartwood is formed. It becomes more resistant to decay and termites as a result of genetically programmed chemical changes in the wood, causing the clogging of the nutrient tubes with resin and pitch. If you were to cut a cross section of a tree, you would see heartwood as a darker colored circle, usually following the annual rings in shape.

True heart pine is only from the long leaf pine, also known as long needle, long straw, southern yellow, hard, pitch, heart pine and Georgia pine, among other names. Long leaf heart pine contains almost twice the resin content of other types of pine and has much higher structural strength. This type of pine is called “heart” because when it reaches maturity the tree is mostly heartwood, having taken over 200 years for the tree to become 2/3 heartwood.

Our Country’s BackboneHeart pine is generally considered to be timber from first

generation trees, trees that were standing when the first settlers landed in this country in the 1600s. Many of these trees had been growing for over 300 years! This wood was the primary building material for homes and factories here in the South and was shipped to the Northeast and Europe as well. It was abun-dant, hard, straight, and long and its timbers offered excellent resistance to decay. By 1930 virtually all of the virgin longleaf pine forest succumbed to overcutting. The pine forests of the South have been cut several times over and this newly harvested wood exhibits very few of the qualities that made heart pine the wood of choice up until the early 20th century.growing Old gracefully

The floors of our historic homes are a mix of heart and sap woods. The heart is a deeper red in color, with the sapwood being lighter. Some of the boards are a mix of these two woods

producing a stripy effect. Sadly, many of our floors have been chewed by ter-mites, and are at the ends of their lives. However, many have generations of usefulness left in them with some patch-ing (think spare wood in closets!) and a gentle refinishing. We happen to think that they look beautiful when showing the patina of age, like any other precious antique. When possible, we prefer just to recoat them with a new layer of finish which protects the wood from wear. A well maintained floor can be enjoyed for at least another 100 years!

For more information, contact Through the Woods in Tampa at www.throught-hewoods.us or 813/232-3985 and Goodwin Heart Pine Company in Micanopy at www.heartpine.com or 800/336-3118.

From the Very Heart of the Pine Treeby Dennis Prieur of Through the Woods and Carol Goodwin of Goodwin Heart Pine Company


WILLS

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PePPerfestSunday, october 9

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Historic Old Northeast Neighborhood AssociationP.O. Box 76324St. Petersburg, FL 33734www.honna.org

PRSRT STdU.S. POSTAgE PAidST. PETERSBURg FL

PERmiT #1020

Neighborhood Pot Luck: monday, September 19th, at 6:45pm (see p.1)

All neighborhood residents invited

iN THiS iSSUE• Florida Orchestra in the Park• Centennial Picnic• Turning Over a New Leaf• 4th of July Kid’s Parade• Digital Billboards• Pine Floors• Time to Move? ... and more!

Steven DouglaS lange, R.a.PRESidENT

Lic. # AR0007855

(727) 823-7868

The Lange CorporationArchitects • PlAnners

30 years exper ience!

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[email protected] P O Box 7776 St. Petersburg, FL 33734

Documents

Historic Old Northeast Newsletter Sept 2011