St.

Pete’s Jewel on Tampa Bay

Historic
Old Northeast
Neighborhood News Published Quarterly

Volume 36 Issue 2 www.honna.org June2009

Another Eggcellent Neighborhood

Our June Monthly Neighborhood
Meeting is a
POT LUCK
An Informal Opportunity to Enjoy Good
Food and the Company of Neighbors
and Friends, Both Old and New
Come to the second of what is becoming
a fun tradition in the neighborhood.
Our March monthly neighborhood meet-
ing was a pot luck, our first of three planned
for the year. It was a big success with over
50 folks joining in the fun and bringing deli-
cious foods to share. So the June meeting
will be our second pot luck, to be held on
Monday, June 15th, at our regular gathering
place, Westminster Presbyterian Church at
126 11th Avenue NE. HONNA will provide
the main entrée (meat and meatless), bever-
continued on page 2
IN THIS ISSUE
July 4th Children’s Parade .................... 5
Web Site Changes ............................ 5-6
Historic Neighborhood Landmarks ...... 8-9
Pythons in the Park ............................ 13
Money-Saving Garden Tips ................ 26
HISTORIC OLD NORTHEAST NEIGHBORHOOD
Eggtivitiy
Ducks, squirrels, an over-sized
bunny and Mayor Rick Baker were on
hand to greet a hundred or so eager
children at the annual Easter Egg Hunt
sponsored by The Historic Old North-
east Neighborhood Association
(HONNA) on Saturday morning, April
11th, at Coffee Pot Park.
With guidance and encouragement
from a couple hundred parents and
grandparents, a swarm of babies, tod-
dlers and kids scoured the bushes, trees,
playground equipment and other hiding
places for al-
most 1,300
candy-filled
plastic eggs,
“special” eggs and packaged treats. Two dozen stuffed
animals were the prizes awarded in various categories –
like “most found eggs” and “best dressed” – based on
two boy/girl age groupings.
Organized and funded by the Platinum Group of Smith
& Associates Real Estate – Cynthia Serra, Connie Lancaster,
Bob Riner and Ed Sandford – this was the seventh year
Cynthia, an Old NE resident and driving force behind the
annual Halloween decorating contest, has made this event
possible. She is conspiring to put together an afternoon
“grown-ups” version of an Easter egg hunt for neighbor-
hood adults next year once the kids have had their fun. Any
ideas on what shape this might take are welcomed (contact
her at Cynthia@cynthiaserra.com or 580-3335).
HONNA thanks the Platinum Group for its continued
generosity, the many volunteers who prepped the park
continued on page 24
UPCOMING MEETINGS Mark yo
June 15th
Neighborhood calenda ur
r!
July 20th No
Potluck Dinner/
Tampa Bay Regional August
Neighborhood
Transportation Meeting
Plan Vote
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
NEWS • Business: 7pm Page 1
 know what these restrictions are. If you have any questions about
The President’s Perspective water usage, please check our web site for links to important info.
Watch for HONNA’s new web site. The web site steering com-
Maureen Stafford mittee has been working very hard and maintain-
Association President ing a rigorous schedule to pull together the details
I would like to welcome all our new resi- to make this an even greater tool for us. We are
dents who have just moved here. Whether you offering an exciting opportunity for someone who
own or rent, we are glad to share the neigh- would like to take over maintenance of the new
borhood with you. To the rest of us “timers,” site. Nona Peebles, who has been working qui-
it is lovely to meet you out walking or in the etly and diligently behind the scenes for a very
store or just enjoying your porch. long time as its administrator, is passing on the
web site maintenance baton. If this is something
We, your Board members and lots of volun-
that interests you, please e-mail Joe O’Connor at
teers, have been working for you, mostly be-
jwoconnor@yahoo.com. This position could be a
hind the scenes, finding ways we can continue
gratifying challenge for you, if you like to be cre-
to make The Historic Old Northeast neighbor-
ative and want to give back to your neighborhood
hood an even better place to live. A big THANK
(and could be an impressive addition to your re-
YOU to all of you for giving so freely, and in
Barbara Marshall, Donna sume!). We are grateful to Nona for her excellent
good spirit, of your time.
Guillaume and Maureen Stafford work in keeping us current on all the wonderful
The March potluck meeting was a huge suc- greet yard-salers details of life in The Historic Old Northeast.
cess. The turnout was terrific, and we loved
We will look for you at the June 15th potluck din-
mingling and getting to know you all. The food was a big hit along
ner meeting!!! And don’t forget the 4th of July Children’s Parade.
with the stories you all had to tell about what brought you to the
neighborhood. It was an equal pleasure to learn about your fami- Potluck from page 1
lies. Thank you all for sharing. This is what makes our neighbor-
ages and you can bring a favorite dish to dazzle our taste buds.
hood so wonderful — good neighbors.
Here’s our request. Depending on where you reside, here’s
The neighborhood-wide yard sale is over and with some 50 what you can bring:
homes participating, with cars and people all over the neighbor-
hood shopping. It’s kudos to Tracey Locke and her team, along Between 5th-9th: bread or appetizer
with Barbara Marshall. 10th-14th: a salad of some sort (examples: greens, pasta or Jell-O)
Due to an unavoidable delay, the general membership vote to ap- 15th-22nd: a dessert
prove the new Neighborhood Plan is now on the June meeting schedule. 23rd-30th: vegetable dish
We will have the Plan available for you to view at this meeting and Make enough to serve 6-8, depending on what it is you’re
you can ask any questions you might have prior to the voting. If you bringing (of course, you get to take home any leftovers).
were not able to be at the April meeting to review the Plan, you can If you are kitchen-challenged – or even if you’re not – we
view a copy on the HONNA web site (honna.org). This is an impor- encourage you to bring a can or package of non-perishable food
tant document for the future of your community. Your participation which we’ll donate to the church’s food pantry to pass along to
in this process is what will help keep our neighborhood strong. those in need.
We have been so blessed with the weather continuing for so long Plan to arrive between 6:45-7pm so we can lay out all the food
in the year with quite bearable humidity. However, it is not hard to and begin dining by 7 or so. There will be no formal program –
notice that we have not had rain in a very long period. At this time it just neighborly conversation at tables over dinner. If you can’t
is important to keep reminding ourselves that water conservation is arrive by 7, come when you can as the food should hold out until
very necessary. The fines for watering out of your designated time we start to close down around 8pm. Have children? They are
zone and against restrictions are severe so I urge you to be sure you welcome, too, though you’ll know if you have to bring special
food for them. Not a HONNA member? You’re definitely invited
anyway. And if you decide to join, we won’t stop you.
AD RATES
AD SIZE 1Qtr 2 Qtrs 3 Qtrs 1 Year
The Newsletter of the Historic Old
Business card 50 93 128 160
1/4 page (H 4.9" x w 3.7") 100 186 256 320
Northeast Neighborhood Association
1/2 page (H 4.9" x w 7.8") 200 372 512 640 Published quarterly – March, June, September and December
Full page 400 744 1024 1280 and mailed to all households in The Old Northeast
P.O. Box 76324, St. Petersburg, FL 33734
Single page insert* 400 700 1000 1300
e-mail NSNAeditor@aol.com
*Preprinted inserts that you provide are delivered within the newsletter.
Due to delivery restrictions, inserts are available on a limited basis. Editor Rick Carson
The newsletter quarterly publication dates are March, June, September, Columnists and Reporters
and December. The deadline for accepting new ads and ad changes is three Mike Dailey Peter Stanhope Keaton Green
weeks prior to the publication month. The next deadline is August 7 th . David Forman Mike Panetta Barbara Rhode
Payment for new ads should be submitted at the same time that the ad layout Yvonne Swanson John Gee Amy Labie
is provided and should be addressed to “HONNA Advertising.” Linda Dobbs Chuck Lindeen Jill McGrath
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 Circulation Cathy Leonard and Joe O’Connor
Bayou Blvd). There are approximately 2,800 active home mailing addresses. Contributors All our Old Northeast neighbors
Contact Rachel Sartain: RTSartain@yahoo.com Newsletter Layout & Design Sharon Bond: SharonBond@gmail.com
Ad space is limited so please make arrangements early. Advertising Information Rachel Sartain: RTSartain@yahoo.com

Page 2 HISTORIC OLD NORTHEAST NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS

 Association News & Activities
months to get the Plan ready for pre-
sentation to the HONNA membership
at the April monthly meeting. At that
time, pages of the Plan were on display
and residents were asked to review
them. Consultants Bob Jeffrey and Mike
Dove were on hand to discuss the pur-
pose and layout of the Plan, while Mary
Alice Lange explained the process which
began in 2002 with the Neighborhood
Profile and Pictorial Survey. In addition,
our City Council representative, Leslie
Curran, was in the audience and ex-
pressed her enthusiasm for the Plan. At
The March monthly meeting was the first of this year’s planned the June 15th monthly membership meeting/pot luck supper, the
Pot Luck suppers – an opportunity to socialize, enjoying the com- Plan will be
pany of new and old friends and a variety of foods without the presented
typical “business” aspects of the usual monthly meetings. Over to residents
50 residents participated in this experiment, which seemed to be for ap-
well-received. The next pot luck will be on June 15th (see p. 1). proval.
April’s neighborhood meeting focused on the draft Neighbor- Once ap-
hood Plan (see Planning/Historic Preservation report below). In proved, it
addition, there was a report by one of our Community Police Of- will go be-
ficers. Our CPOs regularly update us at our monthly meetings on fore the
recent criminal activity in the neighborhood. In this instance, a City’s Plan-
rumor of a sexual assault in the area was discovered to be un- ning and Vi-
founded. Also, residents are advised to exercise care when dealing sioning
with people coming to their doors seek- Commis-
ing work or selling goods/services; ask sion for its
to see the person’s required city or county review, and then to City Council for final approval. For those
permit. Adding to the evening’s enjoy- who would like to read more about this “roadmap” for the
ment was an array of foods, compli- neighborhood’s future, it can be found on HONNA’s web site at
ments of Chipotle’s at 780 4th Street N. www.honna.org.
Nona Peebles, our web site administrator for the past couple Those working on the Children’s Education Project (our
years and the person most responsible for its new “look” and neighborhood’s book, Souvenir of St. Petersburg, Views from the
having brought it to where it is today, has decided to step down Vinoy) joined our Education Partners, Sunken Gardens and the
from the post due to other commitments and obligations. A com- Pinellas County School System to host in April a Teacher Work-
mittee has been meeting over the past couple months to consider shop for all elementary social studies teachers in the St. Peters-
how to take the web site to a new level [see “Web Site” report burg elementary schools. Author Robin Gonzalez taught the work-
below]. We thank Nona for a job very well done. shop, while committee members made tea sandwiches and cook-
Mary Alice Lange, Board member and recent past Associa- ies for the reception following a tour led by Bill O’Grady of Sunken
tion president, was a finalist for the St. Petersburg Area Chamber Gardens. The Gardens will be offering field trips for schools whose
of Commerce Women’s Symposium’s Community Service students are using the book in their studies. Sunken Gardens pro-
Woman of the Year award. While Mary Alice did not win (the vided the beautiful setting and drinks for the occasion, Elaine
honor went, deservedly, to Barbara Heck, the president of the Normile and Robin Reed made sandwiches, and delicious cook-
Council of Neighborhood Associations), Mary Alice’s commit- ies were provided by Jeanne Hunter, Carol Kline, Suzanne
ment to serving The Old Northeast and the City has been extraor- Laurencell,
dinary. Cynthia Silvestri
and Nancy Tait.
Committee Reports Burt Kline pro-
vided his assis-
Planning/Historic Preservation tance in getting 32
boxes of books to
Committee Sunken Gardens to
Robin Reed, Chair be donated to the
HISTORIC PRESERVATION participating
Members of the Historic Preservation Committee have been schools. Over the
exceptionally busy this past quarter. Those working on the up- past several
date of the Neighborhood Plan met every other week for several months, Pinellas
HISTORIC OLD NORTHEAST NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS Page 3
 JOIN OUR COMMITTEES
Your volunteer involvement in one of our com-
mittees will help enhance your neighborhood and
our association.
Please contact any committee chair for infor-
mation.
Candlelight Tour of Homes: Chair, Julia Brazier, 895-4443
C.O.N.A. Rep: Bob Watts, 821-8997
Crime & Safety: Ron Magray, 502-9065
Bob Hunter, 898-7987
Planning & Historic Preservation: Robin Reed, 825-0480
Membership: Barbara Marshall, 385-4746
Neighborhood Design Review: Mary Alice Lange, 251-2034
Newsletter: Rick Carson, 898-7834
Programs and Publicity: Tracey Locke, 475-0287
Traffic: Bob Watts, 821-8997
Web Site: Joe O’Connor (interim) 894-6786
CLIP AND MAIL
Crime Watch Fact Sheet
Name _____________________________________
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
Page 4 HISTORIC OLD NORTHEAST NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS
New
Members
Haike and George Abraham ................................................ 9th Avenue N
Duane Aylsworth ............................................................ 17th Avenue NE
Marleen Basile and Will Nelson .................................... 11th Avenue NE
Robert and Trisha Birkenstock ......................................... 6th Avenue NE
George Calamari and Karen Dienesch-Calamari ................. 7th Avenue N
Nathalie and Franck Carlier ........................................... 18th Avenue NE
Christine Cass and Colin Fiske ......................................... 9th Avenue NE
Tom Cooper and James Kelley ......................................... 29th Avenue N
Jeff Craft ......................................................................... 12th Avenue NE
Jennifer Diedrich ................................................................. Beach Dr NE
Michael Finch and Lora Smeltzly Finch ......................... 15th Avenue NE
Charlotte and Michael Gilbert .......................................... 14th Avenue N
Debbie Harrell ................................................................ 22nd Avenue NE
Maria Herrera-Turner and Thomas Turner ........................ 8th Avenue N
Albert and Marilyn Lewis ................................................ 17th Avenue N
Michelle and Matthew Litsky ....................................... 17th Avenue NE
Charleen McGrath and Bob Young ................................. 18th Avenue NE
John and Carol Olt ............................................................ 12th Avenue N
Debbie Pendergrass ......................................................... 14th Avenue NE
Cliff and Rebecca Purington ........................................... 16th Avenue NE
Jerry and MJ Robinson .................................................. 18th Avenue NE
Ken and Rochelle Ryan ...................................................... 8th Avenue N
Chip and Grace Smoley ....................................... North Shore Drive NE
Lynne and Charles Stamey ............................................... Oak Street NE
Leslie and Brian Waechter ............................................... 14th Avenue NE
Friedel Wolk ....................................................................... 31st Avenue N
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Like our neighborhood?
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Want to make it even better?
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Volunteer with one of our committees!
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Historic Old Northeast Neighborhood Association
OFFICERS and BOARD
President
Maureen Stafford 488-8154 MJStPetersburg@aol.com
Vice President
Bob Watts 821-8997 Bob@BobWattsRealtor.com
Secretary
Peter Stanhope 896-6272 stanhope@tampabay.rr.com
Treasurer
Douglas Haan 488-5514 douglashaan@aol.com
Directors
Julia Brazier 895-4443 jbrazier@tampabay.rr.com
Rick Carson 898-7834 rickcarson1@aol.com
Bob Hunter 898-7987 BobHunter@tampabay.rr.com
Mary Alice Lange 251-2034 tlcapmal@earthlink.net
Tracey Locke 475-0287 tracey@tlsknowsmedia.com
Ron Magray 502-9065 RFMagray@gmail.com
Barbara Marshall 385-4746 Barbara@marshallsite.net
Robin Reed 825-0480 rlreed@tampabay.rr.com
HONNA Board meetings are held the second Monday of each month
at 6:30pm and are open to the public. Check with HONNA for the location.
County’s Director of Social Studies, Linda Whitley, enthusiasti-
cally promoted the workshop to teachers and attended the event.
In the coming weeks, books destined for the remaining local el-
ementary schools will be delivered.
And speaking of our Vinoy book, it received an “outstanding
achievement” award in the Preservation Education/Media category
from the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation, which recog-
nizes significant contributions of individuals, societies, businesses
or government entities that have demonstrated outstanding
achievement in the field of historic preservation. Quite an honor
for all who were involved in the production of this publication.
Congratulations to all!
The Spring Walking Tour on April 26th led by Rob Wertz and
Mike Dailey was a great success. A beautiful day greeted tour-
goers who were treated to some of the neighborhood’s more un-
usual history [see “Preserving the Character of Old Northeast
Houses” in this issue], including a case of spontaneous combus-
tion that remains unsolved to this day! Rob and Mike also pointed
out unusual bay window configurations, different types of brick
used in early Old Northeast construction and multi-family hous-
ing units built to look like single-family homes. We encourage
residents who have an interest in the neighborhood’s history or
architecture to join us for these most interesting tours which
HONNA sponsors twice a year.
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HONNA will be part of the 10th Florida
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Neighborhood Conference being held
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in St. Petersburg. HONNA will be orga-
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nizing a walking tour of The Historic Old
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NE for conference attendees on Friday,
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July 10th. The tour — which will feature
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landmarks such as Sunken Gardens,
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Granada Terrace, the Vinoy Resort and
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our waterfront parks – will also include
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a light supper for over 40 expected
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guests. Our own “walking tour” impre-
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sarios, Rob Wertz and Mike Dailey, will
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lead the tour.
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Programs and Publicity Committee
Tracey Locke, Chair
I write this a day after our 3rd annual community yard sale and
am thrilled that we can park at least one car in our garage again.
Nearly 50 homeowners signed up with HONNA to participate on
Saturday, May 2nd. We appeared to have hundreds of visitors to the
HISTORIC OLD NORTHEAST NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS
neighborhood. Some heard about the sale from the continuously
improving www.honna.org web site. Web site volunteer Joe
O’Connor used Google Earth to create a detailed listing of sales
and an on-line map. Go Joe! It looked great and was a very helpful
tool for shoppers. Homeowners were asked to donate a portion of
their sales to HONNA toward the repair and landscaping of our
neighborhood monuments. After the sale, we filled a Goodwill truck
to capacity in an hour with items that didn’t sell. Maybe a few
people will be able to park in their garages again! Thanks to our
friends at Westminster Presbyterian Church for being “yard
sale central” and the starting line for all the bargain hunters.
For our monthly HONNA meeting on May 18th we had sched-
uled a panel discussion on the future of The Pier. USF History
Professor and Old NE resident Gary Mormino was to discuss
the landmark’s historical significance while City Council member
Leslie Curran was to update us on the City’s task force recom-
mendations and findings. We also planned to hear from The Pier’s
marketing director, Susan Robertson, about what merchants are
doing to make The Pier a viable destination.
Any idea what TBARTA stands for? What is the timeline for
getting light rail in the Tampa Bay area and, more importantly,
how much will it cost you? Those are some of the questions that
will be answered at our July 20th monthly neighborhood meeting.
We will hear
from the Tampa
Bay Area Re-
gional Trans-
portation Au-
thority about its
recently un-
veiled master
plan for trans-
portation in
Pinellas County.
Also, we are
again holding
the 4th of July
Not to be
Children’s Pa-
rade on Satur-
day, July 4 th ,
from 9am-noon
missed!
at Coffee Pot
Park (30th Avenue and 1st Street N). If you have kids, this is a
must-attend holiday event. The American Spirit Fife & Drum Corps
will be back this year to enthusiastically lead the parade. Huge
thanks to neighbor Donna Fudge and her law firm, Buckely &
Fudge, for again sponsoring the fife and drum corps! The cel-
ebration will be held at Coffee Pot Park at 30th and 1st Avenue N
with the parade beginning at 10am – parking will be tight so ex-
pect to park on side streets. We do need some volunteers for this
so please contact me if you can lend a hand. Details can be found
at the HONNA web site.
To volunteer for an upcoming event or to provide feedback about
how we can improve events like the community neighborhood-
wide yard sale, please e-mail me at tracey@tlsknowsmedia.com.
Web Site
Marion Arnold, Web Site Committee Member
HONNA Web Site 3.0: More collaboration and more informa-
tion. HONNA will unveil its updated web site this coming fall with
the goal of bringing you more: more interaction between our neigh-
bors and more resources about our neighborhood. Your sugges-
tions will help achieve these goals.
Page 5
 After two years of designing and maintaining the web site, Nona
Peebles has announced that she is ready to pass the baton. The
Board appointed a steering committee to find a new web site admin-
istrator volunteer and to review potential enhancements to the site.
Some enhancements under consideration are:
• A newsroom page covering relevant neighborhood events
• Members-only resource pages
• A mom’s page for forming play groups, etc.
• Pages for committees to exchange information with volun-
teers for special events, such as the Candlelight Tour and more
• E-mail alerts for topics that concern you
• Selling tour tickets and other HONNA merchandise
Two new important features recently added to the web site
include online payment of membership dues and membership reg-
istration/renewals.
The web site also supported the recent neighborhood-wide yard
sale held on May 2nd. Participants could go to the web site to
register for the yard sale, all yard sales were listed and described
and an interactive map displayed yard sale locations. These fea-
tures attracted almost 400 visitors to the web site in just a couple
of days — about ten times the usual traffic.
The HONNA web site steering committee is eager to hear your
ideas for our neighborhood web site. And if you have web site
skills and can volunteer any amount of time, you can have a di-
rect impact on the web site’s success. To share your ideas and
interests, please visit the web site (honna.org), take the survey
and add your suggestion and comments.
Got web site
skills?
Got some free time to
share your talents?
Please contact Joe
O’Connor to learn
how you can help
the neighborhood
association….
admin@
honna.org
or
894-6786
TAKE the SURVEY
About HONNA’s changing web site
Go to honna.org
Page 6 HISTORIC OLD NORTHEAST NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS
Membership
Barbara Marshall, Chair
Thanks to you our HONNA membership to date totals 274.
I’m happy to report that we’ve had 38 new members sign up in
2009 as of early May. And we thank those 50+ members who
renewed this year (through early May), as well. The HONNA
Board thanks you for your support! RENTERS: HONNA also
welcomes you to join our neighborhood association. Go to
www.honna.org to fill out the new membership application or
look for it in this issue of the newsletter.
Cathy Leonard continues to manage all aspects of the mem-
bership database and all related historical membership records
that go back several years; she and Anne Shumate take on the
large task in the fall to send out reminders to renew memberships
expiring this year. Renewal reminders are also sent to those neigh-
bors whose memberships have expired during the past two years.
We want you back! Please let us know how we can make that
happen. Can’t thank Cathy and Anne enough for their on-going
support.
“Meet and Greet” led by Cynthia Sylvestri continues to be an
important part of welcoming new residents to our neighborhood.
She and husband Don and Robin and Joe Reed drop off “Meet
and Greet” packets quarterly to new neighbors learned about
through real estate sales. And since we have a number of renters
who are HONNA members, we want to be sure to include those
neighbors. Since we don’t have a way to know what renters are
new to the area, as we do with home purchasers, renters are
encouraged to contact Cynthia to receive a “Meet and Greet”
packet. Any questions about “Meet and Greet” can be directed to
Cynthia at dsilvestri@tampabay.rr.com. We are also looking for
another couple to support Cynthia and Don. All that’s required is
a Saturday morning once monthly for a couple of hours to drop
off packets to a small handful of new residents assembled by
Cynthia.
You’ll see included for the first time in this issue of the news-
letter an enhanced “new membership application” form as well as
the renewal form for those who know it’s time to renew their
membership. If you’re not sure of your renewal date, send an e-
mail to clleonard@tampabay.rr.com and she’ll let you know. We’re
always looking for new residents to give membership ideas and
to help with the work that’s involved. Again, we are looking for
another couple to help deliver “Meet and Greet” packets. Any
questions or interests, don’t hesitate to contact me at
barbara@marshallsite.net.
Crime & Safety Committee
Ron Magray, Chair
Crime Watch will meet the third Monday of every month at
6pm, just prior to the regularly scheduled HONNA membership
meeting at Westminster Presbyterian Church.
We are all proud of our community. Being close to downtown
and other commercial areas has its rewards, but unfortunately
with the good comes the bad. To maintain our neighborhoods as
safe desirable areas during these tough economic times we all
need to be involved! Allowing unknown individuals who canvass
the neighborhoods looking for work to come into or work around
your home is dangerous. Report suspicious persons by calling
the police non-emergency number, 893-7780.
More membership in Crime Watch is needed for our program
to work effectively. Go to the HONNA website and join or con-
continued on page 20
 Historic Old Northeast
Neighborhood Association
P.O. Box 76324, St. Petersburg, Florida 33734, www.honna.org

New Membership Application

Please check this box if you DO NOT want your name, address or email published in a neighborhood directory
(distributed to members only):

New Memberships: Thirty dollars ($30.00) annually per family/residence. Payable to HONNA. Annual renewal notices
will be sent to your address. Send check along with this form to above address or pay via PayPal at www.honna.org. Or
join HONNA on line at www.honna.org. Membership questions: Barbara Marshall, Membership Chair at 727-385-4746.
Print Clearly (Thanks!)

Member Name:
First name Last name

Spouse/Partner Name:
First name Last name
Children and ages (optional):

Contact information:
Mailing address (street and/or box number):

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Tel (best to reach at—note whether home/office/cell):

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Email addresses:
Member:
Partner/Spouse:
Old Northeast Neighborhood Interests/Comments: * see “Other” below

CIRCLE below those HONNA activities of interest to learn more about and/or participate:

Community outreach: schools,

business, civic/community groups Crime Watch Planning/Historic Preservation
Membership Meet and Greet Beautification/landscaping
Home/garden tours Porch party committee Newsletter
Website Events Other (provide above*)

When did you move into the neighborhood? (Month and year)

Neighborhood Renters can join as members, too!

HISTORIC OLD NORTHEAST NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS Page 7
Historic Neighborhood Landmarks
by Robin Reed, Chair, Planning and Historic Preservation Committee First in a Series

A Long History of Hospitality

by Jill McGrath

The Boyce Guest House (now named

the Sunset Bay Inn) sits on the corner of
6th Avenue and Bay Street NE in the His-
toric Old Northeast section of St. Peters-
burg. The majestic cream-colored house,
with red accents façade, is the first “land-
mark” house to be presented in a planned
series for this newsletter. Landmark sta-
tus, of a building with a “prominent or
distinguishing feature” in the neighbor-
hood, is never awarded without close
scrutiny of the history, design and ele-

D
id you ever walk up to an interesting looking old house and notice a beautiful ments of historical significance in the
bronze plaque near the door that said “historic?” What did you think? Perhaps development of a neighborhood.
you wondered if someone famous had lived there. Or if there is something When the house was built, the devel-
special about the architecture of the building. Or if something important happened there opment era of C. Perry Snell was in full
years ago. Well, any or all of these things could be the reason the house has been swing. What is now called the North
“landmarked” or specially designated as “historic.” The owners of these buildings know Shore subdivision is one of the earliest
residential neighborhoods in St. Peters-
they live in a special place. Probably they have spent time researching the history of their
burg. The house was one of the estimated
house and are proud to share its past with others by placing a plaque on their home. 109 buildings recorded as dating between
You may not know that St. Petersburg has a landmarking program called the Local 1914-1918 in the North Shore area; how-
Register of Historic Places, an official listing of neighborhoods, properties, sites and build- ever, no architect or builder is known. In
ings throughout the City that are architecturally and historically important to the commu- 1916 a “C. Booth” is listed as a resident.
nity. To join this illustrious group, an owner must contact the City’s Historic Preservation According to the prior Historic Planning
Committee’s documents, the house was
Office to see if his or her property qualifies and, if so, make application to the City for
described as a “2 and ½ story balloon
landmark status. framed house, a vernacular form of an
In addition to “pride of place,” there are other benefits of this program, including ad eclectic mixture of house styles so popu-
valorem tax relief. It entitles owners of eligible properties to a freeze on City and County lar during the years of 1890-1915.”
property taxes incurred from rehabilitating a historic property for a period of 10 years. Vernacular (non standard) architectural
Designated properties are also exempt from meeting the literal application of certain parts styles were very popular and the com-
of the Florida Building Code. bined Craftsman and Prairie “high-style”
elements are clearly exhibited in the guest
In order to ensure that the property maintains its historic character, there are also some house’s design. “During the land boom
obligations to the homeowner. Exterior alterations (other than routine maintenance) require of the 1920’s, the house changed occu-
review and approval by the City though the Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) process. It pants frequently” and according to the
may be of interest to note that since the historic preservation program began in 1987, 97% City Directory was vacant from 1929-
of all COA applications have been approved. Interior changes are NOT reviewed unless they 1935. In 1947, a golfing vacationer, Rob-
are part of an application for the City’s ad valorem tax relief program as noted above. ert Boyce, happened to see the house with
a sale sign attached. He “submitted a very
In The Old Northeast, there are currently four homes that have the unique distinction of
low offer and was surprised that it was
being “landmarked.” They are: the Whitted House at 656 1st Street N; the Robert West accepted.” He returned to his home in
House (“Pineapple House”) at 101 6th Avenue NE; the Boyce Guest House (Sunset Bay Connecticut, gathered his wife, Barbara,
Inn) at, 635 Bay Street NE; and the Monticello Apartments at 750 3rd Street N. Our and his two step-daughters, Barbara and
neighborhood has many other homes that would undoubtedly qualify for “landmark” sta- Martha, and opened the Boyce Guest
tus. If you would like to have your home considered for listing on this prestigious Register House. For 20 years, they rented rooms
or would like more information, please contact Robin Reed at 825-0480 or during the seasonal months of Novem-
ber through April. Air conditioning was
rlreed@tampay.rr.com.
non-existent for most dwellings so sum-
Page 8 HISTORIC OLD NORTHEAST NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS
mer months did not lure visitors to Florida. In 1967, the Boyces
sold the house and the new owner continued the guest house
tradition. The house went back on the real estate market in 1995.
Until 1996 there were “no major alterations to the main struc-
ture” though the house was described as being in “fair condi-
tion.” The lack of alterations helped to preserve the important
elements of design through the years. After the house came on
the market, Mrs. Boyce’s daughter, the former Martha Williams,
accompanied by her mother, Barbara Boyce, and her husband,
Bob Bruce — vacation visitors from Atlanta — saw the house
with a for sale sign, and the Bruces made the purchase. Martha
had come full circle back to her Florida childhood home. Martha
has many happy memories of living in the neighborhood and re-
members that the period “during the late ‘40s to early ‘60s, the
neighborhood was as it is today.” Among the guest house visitors
were major baseball heroes such as the NY Giants Bobby Th-
ompson.
In 1997, when the Boyce Guest House renovation application
for historic designation was made to the City of St. Petersburg,
Neighborhood Design Review had already approved the renova-
tion plans. During the St. Petersburg City Council meeting of
March 6, 1997, the Boyce Guest House (application HPC #96-
03), was awarded the designation as a Local Historic Landmark,
as found in City Code, Chapter 16 and marked with the Seal of
St. Petersburg. During the
two monthly hearings of
the Historic Preservation
Commission (currently
named the Community
Preservation Commission)
on this designation, and
with no opposition, the
renovation proceeded.
Among the documents
offered for renovation ap-
proval were the plat map,
an aerial photo, a photo of
the original structure
showing “Typical Prairie
Stylistic Elements” and an-
other photo examining
“Typical Craftsman Stylis-
tic Elements” and the prop-
erty survey. Tim Rhode,
the project’s architect, in- Boyce Guest House circa 1950
cluded extensive architec-
tural drawings of elevations and structural view drawings. The
new owners, Martha and Bob Bruce, could now begin the pro-
cess which would restore the house to its previous glory.
Along both the Bay Street and 6th Avenue sides of the house,
the original brick paving and granite curbing survived, as well as
the hexagonal block sidewalks which frame the property. Ac-
cording to the 1994 Northshore Survey, the Boyce Guest House
has been “a contributing element in an historical district,” now
spanning almost 100 years.
For a landmark designation, a statement of significance must
be addressed and the Bruces began the complex process of reha-
bilitation with the declaration to return the house to its former
historical importance. Vernacular examples of the Prairie style
exhibited in the Boyce Guest House are porches subordinate to
the principal two-story mass, hipped roofs. Multiple hipped dor-
mers, upper sashes of wooden-muntin double-hung windows and
HISTORIC OLD NORTHEAST NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS
wide eave overhangs which are boxed in or enclosed, are other
characteristics of Prairie style. Other elements, also included in
the style of the house, are masonry pillars supporting porch roofs
and horizontal siding. These features are easily identified in the
enclosed photographs of “before” and “after” the 1996-97 — and
only — renovation in the history of the house.
Characteristics of the Craftsman style found in the façade of
the house include wide-eave overhangs, wood clapboard siding,
large exterior masonry chimneys and decorative, carved brack-
ets. The Vernacular, high-style elements of both the Prairie and
Craftsman styles are complementary, as is evident in the archi-
tecture of the Boyce Guest House.
On the first floor, there is an entrance foyer which faces a
hallway leading directly to the staircase. From the foyer, to the
right are a living room and a library/sunroom. To the left of the
foyer is the dining room and kitchen, with the master suite tucked
in behind. The kitchen pantry area opens onto a sitting porch and
stone terrace, the terrace connecting the main house to the former
garage apartment which now houses two suites and the laundry
for the inn. The second floor of the main house has a balustrade
and is “four square in plan” and there are four luxurious bed-
rooms, each with its own bathroom. On the third floor there are
two bedrooms and baths.
Martha Bruce recalls that the one year renovation project was
“challenging…to
maintain all the char-
acteristics of the home
externally and inter-
nally, as much as
possible…including all
new plumbing and
electrical compo-
nents.” The house re-
flects all the hard
work and careful
thought to preserve
their historical gem.
Martha and Bob, and
Barbara Boyce, re-
named their home
Sunset Bay Inn, and it
has earned coveted
hospitality awards in-
cluding AAA’s Four
Diamond rating.
In 2005, after al-
most ten years as innkeepers, the Bruces sold the Boyce Guest
House/Sunset Bay Inn with the new owners, Linda Collette and
Rich Klimek, continuing the hospitality. It is only fitting that the
old Boyce Guest House has been awarded both the City’s Historic
Preservation Award and a Beautification Award. Today, it remains
a beautiful example of extraordinary efforts to preserve the unique
historical architecture of The Historic Old Northeast.
Resources and quotes by Martha Williams Bruce as well as quoted
excerpts from St. Petersburg City Records of HPC #96-03
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.
Page 9
 Over The Back Fence by 1 and2 S S
…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!

4 th Street: Interior Design
Row?...Being, an upscale furniture
and home accessories store that also
specializes in interior design and re-
design, has moved into The Old
Northeast from BayWalk. The neigh-
borhood is excited that owner Amy
Bromley has relocated closer to our
neighborhood and some of our resi-
dents have probably already visited –
the Grand Opening party was held on
May 8th. With the addition of Being to
other furnishings/design-oriented busi-
nesses like Lasting Impressions and Marion’s, who’s to say our
piece of 4th Street can’t become a location for similar shops and
businesses and a destination point for Tampa Bay area residents
looking for one-stop shopping for quality products and services?
There’s an entire vacant mall – Cocoanut Grove – at 30th and 4th
Street N that could house numerous such businesses. It’s a blank
canvas waiting to happen. Hey, you entrepreneurs out there, let’s
make this happen. Being is located at 1575 4th Street N (corner
of 16th Avenue N and 4th Street); 727/822-6252.
Kudos…Dickens House Bed & Breakfast at 335 8th Avenue NE
is celebrating 10 years of hospitality service to St. Pete visitors.
Innkeeper Ed Caldwell opened Dickens House in March 2000
after the 1912 Arts and Crafts period home underwent a meticu-
lous and complete five year restoration. It’s known for extraordi-
nary multi-course breakfasts and a classic understated club-like
décor highlighted by the carefully restored wood trimmed win-
dows and coffered ceilings. The property was purchased in 1996
by Ed, a Rhode Island School of Design graduate and mural art-
ist. Over $16,000 in code enforcement liens were in place on the
property at the time, requiring years of painstaking work to over-
come the 20 years of deferred maintenance. Five layers of rolled
roofing failed to keep the interior dry and all ceilings and most
walls were removed. Compete new wiring, plumbing, fire sup-
pression and fire monitor-
ing systems and three
HVAC systems were in-
stalled. Original heart pine
floors were resurfaced.
The interior staircase was
money has earned Dickens House Frommer’s highest possible
rating, a St. Petersburg Preservation Award and features in nu-
merous newspapers and magazines. For a quick look at this neigh-
borhood landmark, go to www.dickenshouse.com.
Pizza!!...A new pizza parlor has opened its doors in the ‘hood.
Old Northeast Pizza, owned by the proprietors of the Old North-
east Tavern next door, offers pick up at their 718 2nd Street N
location or will deliver (209-2550).
Too Tempting…How do you like that new stretch of smooth,
black pavement on 22nd Avenue NE between Bay Street and Cof-
fee Pot? Pretty nice, huh? Pretty tempting to press the pedal down,
too. Just remember: the speed limit is still 30mph.
New High Rise on 1st
Street… There’s a new
condo on the 2700 block
of 1st Street N. Kind of a
tough climb getting to the
unit but the hawk-like resi-
dent doesn’t seem to be
having any problems flying
in. Good view, too.
Block Party, Anyone?..
Neighbor Gordon Powers
(Beach Drive NE) recently
hosted another of his “verandah” parties for
a get-together for nearby neighbors. It was
BYOB and guests were requested to bring an
appetizer to share. Easy way to throw an in-
expensive party and meet the people around
the corner you only know to wave to. How about throwing one
yourself (and tell us how it went)? …If you need more of an
incentive, how’s this for a reason to throw a block party? The St.
Petersburg Times (4/12) reports that a Tampa woman’s home
was burglarized in the middle of the night while she was sleeping.
Her eventual reaction? It’s time to have a block party. She realized
she had become “the neighbor who waves, says hello, but does
not engage.” The break-in became a catalyst, opening her eyes to
the fact she had spent too much time minding her own business
and staying out of everybody else’s. Sound familiar? Why not
follow her lead?

R E S P E C T
salvaged from the former
Chicago Hotel, now the
site of the new All
Children’s Hospital. The
fireplace was rebuilt and FROM OUR READERS: Inquiring Minds Want to Know…
the porch was reopened. + How long will it take for drivers to learn how to navigate the
The site required total land- roundabout at 30th and 1st? Virtually all drivers on 30th come to a
scaping. The investment complete stop and do not venture into the circle even when they
of all this time, effort and clearly arrived at the roundabout first and have the right-of-way.
Page 10 HISTORIC OLD NORTHEAST NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS
The city might as well put stop signs on 30th since that’s the reality. possible when you ignore the signs and regs. Yes, the police
+ How do you approach a neighbor who has a dog that doesn’t may have more important things to do than cite illegally parked
bark – it roars? It sounds like a lion in a cave. cars on such weekends, but think of all the fines that will
pour in as a result (and perhaps educate drivers as to the
+ I’ve got neighbors who think nothing of sitting in their parking laws and make the streets safer at the same time).
back yard gabbing loudly at 2 in the morning. What’s a nice
way to tell them to get some manners so we can get some sleep?
+ These new watering restrictions are kind of confusing but
I think one of the residents down the block is cheating. Should
I be a snitch? Who do I call to report them? What if I’m wrong?
If you want the City’s: Water Resources Department: 893-
7261; Water Conservation Office, 892-5688 or go to
www.stpete.org/water/watering_restrictions.asp (and prepare
to become very confused). If you wish to report (anony-
mously) someone you believe is watering illegally, phone 892-
5020 to leave a voice mail.
+ I’ve got a list
Ov e r T he B
The Baack FFen
en
encece is a of “irritations.” 1)
passers-by who
Soa pb
pboox... pick the flowers
along our sidewalk
STEP ON UP garden and, when Test your knowledge of The Historic Old Northeast
caught, shout
and expletives; 2) visi- in a new feature on HONNA’s web site.
L ET’S H E AR tors who bring a
rake and drag Span-
Learn trivial factoids to amaze

F R OM YO U ish moss from the

limbs of our live
your friends at social gatherings!
Go to honna.org. and click on
oak, screaming,
e-mail: nsnaeditor@aol.com “It’s not your tree”;
3) Someone who
“Do You Know…?”
reached up into our orange tree and attempted to pluck one of our
perfectly ripe oranges before being caught; these people seem to
have a strange sense of entitlement – “what’s yours is mine.”
+ In a letter that appeared in the 4/29 edition of the St. Pete Times
“Neighborhood Times” section, a writer opines that “every-
one should share the road” and goes on to say: “On more than
one occasion we have also encountered groups of bicyclists
on Coffee Pot Boulevard and North Shore Drive that have taken
up the entire travel lane plus the bike lane, riding three and four
abreast and very reluctant to allow passage.”
You Know It’s Spring in The Old NE……Our own Sounds
of Spring: the rhythmic roar of engines during the Grand
Prix…..the loud speakers waking us at 6 in the morning for
the St. Anthony Triathlon. And for those of us in the “lower”
part of the ‘hood, street parking is virtually impossible when
any events are going on in the park. Of course, parking is

Have you been to a

Porch
Party
L AT E LY?
LY
See page 18 for the upcoming schedule
HISTORIC OLD NORTHEAST NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS Page 11
 As The Pages Turn...
Neighborhood Book Group
by Susan Coffey
ONE Great Book club continues with one fascinating book
after the other. For our last book selection Barri Boudreaux,
who lives in Whispering Waters, selected a play. The play she
chose was The Crucible by Arthur Miller which is based on the
Salem witch hunts during February 1692 and May
1693. Hundreds of people, mostly women, were
falsely accused and executed as dealing in
witchcraft. Barri, who is an actor, was heavily in-
volved in a production of this play in Washington,
D.C.
Arthur Miller wrote this play in the early 1950s
in response to McCarthyism when the government
blacklisted anyone thought to be connected with
Communism, especially those in Hollywood. The
similarities between McCarthyism and the witch
hunt are eerily familiar.
The play is in four acts and Barri, being the
actor she is, had each of us take on a character
and read lines, which made the play really come
alive. The time is of course puritanical New En-
gland and anything done for pleasure is consid-
ered satanic and against the church. A group of young girls are
caught dancing in the forest, which sets the whole play and the
accusations of witchcraft. The girls are not accused — rather
Page 12 HISTORIC OLD NORTHEAST NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS
they accuse others of making them act in such a way. This sets
off a panic throughout the town and anyone and almost everyone
is accused of witchcraft. Trials are held and one must prove their
innocence, since they are guilty before being proven innocent.
Some are let go but others are found guilty and hung.
This led us to quite an in-depth conversation not
only about Salem but of McCarthyism, the Japanese
during WWII and other groups wrongly accused of
a crime because of mass hysteria.
Arthur Miller does take some poetic license and
changes ages of characters and uses the characters
to fit his play, but he stays true to the events and
this makes for interesting reading. The play has
since been made into a movie twice, once in
1957 and again in 1996.
ONE Great Book Club gives this a thumbs
up.
We continue to have a waiting list for
the book club; however, a “sister”/
”brother” book club has started. You
may contact me at cofflash
@aol.com or for our related book
club contact Colleen Grant at
JAMESGRANT1140@msn.com.
Urban Environments
Custom Landscaping – Outdoor Urban Living
Craig S. Hyde
Owner, Operator, Designer
727 . 418 . 2820
Ask us about our new Do It Yourself program
to help you achieve beauty on a realistic budget.
www.urbanenvironments-stpete.com
 Ponderings the Blues Fest and starts to squeeze the life out of the person
sitting next you?
The problem with these pythons (and all the other ani-
mals) is that they are just like many of us. They, too,
ended up living in a state with an environment de-
signed to make all animals, human and other-
wise, as comfortable as possible in very
pleasant surroundings. Once settled, our
slithery friends found other transplanted for-
eigners with similar backgrounds in which to
share space and learn how to adapt and flourish.
Although they didn’t come to play golf and enjoy the
Pythons in weather, they did discover golf courses as a great place
the Park to find food and the weather was pleasant enough where
they had little trouble settling down and raising a family. So, in
by John Gee many ways we are just like them although we have been infi-
nitely more destructive.
A few days ago, there was a photograph in the newspaper of I not really sure about those buffaloes, but let’s give some
water buffaloes wallowing around in the Everglades. I know little of these imported creatures some credit. Unlike us, they didn’t
about these creatures but was sure that these animals were not come here to build gated communities, shaky banks, fast food
native to our state and someone, for whatever reason, found it joints, highways and strip malls. They just found themselves a
appropriate to allow these animals into our ecosystem. So there really nice place to settle down, raise a family and swallow
they were, rooting around in our swamp, looking quite happy to some of the environment. I wonder if I can still be so blasé
be swimming around in a place that was certainly not their own. about a python on the day I find one with my dog in its mouth.
This didn’t seem like an appropriate thing to be doing in Florida,
but I soon discovered that water buffaloes are the least of our John and his wife Kathy moved to St. Pete from New Mexico
problems. six years ago, and he currently teaches history at a Sarasota
high school. He has served on the HONNA Board where he co-
The same day I saw this photo, I read an article about all the chaired its Historic Preservation Committee. You can also read
weird, strange and downright scary plants and animals that have more from John in the Northeast Journal.
immigrated to Florida and taken up residence. The authors ex-
plained how, during Hurricane Andrew, things were so blown up
that creatures from zoos and private collections in the Miami area
were strewn all over south Florida. Monkeys, birds, lions, tigers
and bears were suddenly set free and, like Oz, were sucked up
and deposited in a wonderful land where they could survive and
thrive with little if any human intervention. But it wasn’t just a
hurricane that was scattering all these creatures around. It ap-
pears that people who buy imported animals sometimes get weary
of (or inattentive with) these beasts, and any number of exotic
creatures are let into the wild to take up residence in a place that
offers many of the same comforts of their natural abode.
I also read an article about a woman who was an expert in
spiders. Why anyone would dedicate a life to looking at these
creatures is incomprehensible to me, but nevertheless this woman
spent her time poking around in dark cellars looking to see what
kind of these scary things are appearing in our country. What she
discovered will keep me out of our house’s crawl space forever
because now we share space with creepy-crawlies from all parts
of the world. Some are relatively benign but others really don’t
like us at all and can do all sorts of horrible things to show their
displeasure.
But of all the creatures great or small that can scare the day-
lights of us…the granddaddy of them all is the Burmese Python.
Most of us have heard about one of these snakes whose eyes
were bigger than his stomach and, while consuming a way too
big alligator, literally blew himself up. He was just one of thou-
sands of the new Florida version of the Burmese Python and they
are spreading like Kudzu all over Florida. A few years ago a dia-
mondback rattler was found in North Shore Park and people
went nuts, but those guys are natives and have every right to be
here. What’s going to happen when a 16 foot python shows up at
HISTORIC OLD NORTHEAST NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS Page 13
 Preserving the Character
of Old Northeast Houses
Two New Online Historical Resources:
Sanborn Maps and Google News Archives
M
y partner Rob and I lead walking tours twice a
year (sometimes more often) through different
routes in The Old Northeast. In our most recent
tour, “Old Northeast Curiosities,” we had to do more research
than usual to find stories about the people and places along
the tour route. Two very valuable tools we used in our re-
search were the Google News Archives and online versions
of the Sanborn maps. We talked about these resources dur-
ing the tour.
Google News Archives (http://news.google.com/
archivesearch) is a godsend for re-
searchers. It searches digitized cop-
ies of old newspapers to find stories
you would formerly have to slog
through deteriorating microfilm and
use a printed index to locate.
One of the topics we covered dur-
ing the recent walking tour was the
case of Mary Hardy Reeser, an ap-
parent victim of spontaneous human
News Archive Search
combustion in 1951. I read about this
case in “Ripley’s Believe It or Not” way back in the 1970s
but couldn’t remember the particulars. Neighborhood wags
told me that her residence was at 12th and Cherry Street NE
but I needed more details to fill in the gaps. Google News
Archives to the rescue! I went to the web site and used the
“Advanced Archive Search” button. Under “Source” I se-
lected “The Evening Independent”. That dearly-departed St.
Pete daily newspaper tended to have more extensive (and
saltier) local coverage. I typed “Mary Reeser” and “sponta-
neous human combustion” into the search bar and…presto!
Every article that ever appeared in The Evening Independent
about Mary Reeser appeared in the window.
For those who have never heard of this case, Mary Reeser
was an elderly widow who lived in an apartment at 1200
Cherry Street NE. Her neighbor brought her some dinner and
was probably the last person to see her alive. In the morning,
a telegram delivery boy knocked on the door and found the
Page 14 HISTORIC OLD NORTHEAST NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS
by Mike Daily
doorknob hot to the touch. Firefighters were summoned and gained
entry to a ghastly scene. The apartment had dark smoke stains on
the ceiling and upper part of the walls, but the lower walls and
floor were mostly undamaged. The chair where Mrs. Reeser had
been sitting was burned but still intact but Mrs. Reeser had been
reduced to ashes, leaving behind just an unburned foot (complete
with shoe still on), a piece of vertebra and a shrunken skull. The
newspaper followed the frenzy over the next few months as the
St. Petersburg Police Department investigated and the FBI got
involved. The case remains unsolved to this day.
The Sanborn maps online can be found
by typing “Sanborn maps online St. Pe-
tersburg” into the search bar. There are
digitized versions of the original paper
maps that until recently have only been
available in libraries and history museums.
The Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps were
used nationwide from the late 1800s till
the 1970s to help fire insurance agents de-
termine the degree of risk to properties
and establish premiums. They provided ac-
curate maps showing the outline of every building, its construc-
tion type, number of stories and certain features that might im-
pact insurance worthiness (fire hydrant locations, chimneys,
firewalls, etc.) We used the maps to determine the age of the
structures along the walking tour route and any additions that
were made along the way. The maps provide a wealth of detail
on the built environment of St. Petersburg over 100 years ago
and help paint a picture of the lives of its residents.
™™™™
Mike, an Old Northeast resident since 1996, holds a
Master of Architecture degree from the University of
South Florida.
HISTORIC OLD NORTHEAST NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS Page 15
 be “balanced” by government policy, politics or an economy…and,
The like an addict, fundamental change must come from self-realiza-

GR E E N
tions for perpetuating our children, the Earth and the responsibil-
ity to live in-bounds of our ecology.
Thinking that government can solve our eco-problems is like
standing a pyramid on its point because “We” are the base, the
ultimate consumers of everything (I use “We” as in our civiliza-
tion). Our governments, businesses and institutions are only rep-
PAGE resentative and managers of our stuff. Like it or not, We do the
consuming, We are in an ecosystem and the system has rules.
And if We don’t understand the rules or our role in the game, then
we can’t possibly represent it, govern it or put value to it. But
how do we get to We?
Now the empowering part. A global conversation is happening
now. Nations are beginning to acknowledge and behave like we have
by Michael Panetta finite resources on this tiny blue orb. And…We don’t have to under-
stand or undo all that is out of synch in the environment to behave
like an eco-citizen. What is that? It’s you, now. You’re the base. You
can take on how to live within your carbon footprint and then drive
that message up and out. How? You learn! Sound like a great discus-

I
t was wonderful to see Earth Day with so many engaged in
grass roots activism and promoting green and sustainable sion at the dinner table and a Green Page? So, it is all about you.
living. I don’t think I’ve seen this much environmental ac- How Many?
tivity since the ‘70s. But did anyone notice the marketing blitz? Is We think of Earth, our world, as a massive, infinite, unshak-
Earth Day becoming a Valentine’s Day with green recycle logos able, eternal thing, but it’s actually continually renewing and bal-
and tree silhouettes? Does it all seem like a month-old Christmas ancing itself. While imperceptibly changing all around us, it is
toy stuck under the sofa? rapidly becoming far less diverse, fragile and far more suscep-
As an environmentalist almost since the first Earth Day and an tible to environmental fluctuations. Why? Because the stress of
architect for almost two decades, I delve into the more technical our growing population and the reckless consumption of our own
and critical perspective of environmentalism. Geeky might be a delicately balanced global ecology, resources and co-inhabitants
better description. I found several really vital discussions very big and small have finally caused our enormous eco-system to
absent from the Earth Day chatter and felt compelled to promote begin to react to “us.”
this information somewhere, maybe here on the Green Page. The world’s growth is explosive and the resources we con-
Granted, they aren’t light topics — don’t fit into sound bites eas- sume to exist are staggering. Please look at the numbers in the
ily and aren’t comforting with their outlook…and probably why “Green Facts” below, especially the first and last.
they weren’t in the news highlights. Then after writing it — and We are the conspicuous consumers of the world, and that isn’t
not finding a way to make compelling information clear while the bad news. China and India, each with 1/5 of the world’s popu-
fitting the page size — even I was beginning to get depressed. lation (2.5 billion combined) want what we have.
Then inspired simplicity by a friend and a third grader’s bulleted
homework outline: it is all about you …but not the way you think. I wanted to bring a positive thought to each item but this is
really tough. The scarcity of basic resources like water, food,and
There is no being on the fortunate side of the planet, whether even air may be extreme by 2050 if We continue our way of
de-forested rainforest, melted icecaps or toxic oceans. We’re all consuming. But sharing advances in resource management and
in on this planet together and it will take all of us to get through carbon neutral, cradle2cradle and renewable protocols with de-
our eco-breakdown. veloping countries can buy time to figure out how to balance ten
An empowering and depressing perspective that wasn’t well billion people with Mother Nature. (Please watch the link with Bill
punctuated during the eco-days is that we are all “individually” McDonough — there is promise.)
critical parts of a delicately balanced global machine. And it can’t
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Green Clippings:
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lion people in the world. Of the 1.3 billion people living in
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www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoRjz8iTVoo: This link is a extreme poverty today, more than two-thirds are girls and
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video clip of Bill McDonough, an architect and innovator of women.
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the Cradle2Cradle concept at a “TED” conference. Its mes- • Between 1900 and 1999, the world population qua-
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sage is humorous, direct and clearly speaks to the world
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drupled. Just between 1960 and 1999 it more than doubled,
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that we are facing, an “Inconvenient Truth” meets Bill
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from three billion to over six billion, and we are currently
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Maher…meander through other great discussions at
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growing by more than 80 million people every year.
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www.TED.com.
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• Almost 40% of the earth’s land surface has been con-
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Green Facts :
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verted to cropland or permanent pasture and half the
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• One fifth of the population, the richest fifth, consumes planet’s tropical forests have been destroyed or degraded.
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by itself 86% of all goods and services.
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• The USA has 4.5 % of the world’s population but con-
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sumes almost 40% of its energy resources to fulfill those
• The assets of the richest 200 people in the world are
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combined income of the poorest 2.5 bil- wants and needs.
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greater than the
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Page 16 HISTORIC OLD NORTHEAST NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS

Links in a chain …
There was a time when humans used to know how to live with
ecology, not on it.
Did you know there are rice paddies in China that have been in
service for over 10,000 years? In our own “Four Corners” states,
the Anasazi Indians built amazingly complex organic sustainable
structures with a thriving society for a dozen centuries on desert
plateaus (10AD-1300 AD). How? They understood limited resources
and respected everything in their world as part of themselves.
Generationally, they improved their world and passed on their valu-
able lessons of how to balance their society and ecology.
These “generational memories” are the “links in a chain” that
tie us to each other, nature and time. This is how we learn, adapt
and evolve…or not.
My “green mentors” weren’t very distant or even that ancient
(they’d be happy to note). They didn’t hug trees, attend Earth Day
festivals or look for post-consumer recycled content in a super-
market aisle. Because it wasn’t “green” — it was just the way they
lived. My grandmother and parents had sensibilities of a different
place (rural Italy) and a different time (NYC in the Depression and
WWII) where nothing was wasted, used without purpose or taken
for granted, and I learned like all kids do — I watched.
These influences weren’t unique to my family: they were the
values of “The Greatest Generation.” Despite the scarcity of the
‘30s and ‘40s, there was always the way to live well and within
means. There was grounding in the greater good. They grew
gardens to eat healthy, made clothes and furniture. Things were
repaired, built and created. They lived it and it shaped them and
the generation never lost the lesson “waste not, want not.”
As children, one daily chore was the trip to the compost after
HISTORIC OLD NORTHEAST NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS
dinner. Saving the planet? Nooo! We were making food for
grandma’s tomato plants and next year’s sauce. Why? It didn’t
make sense not to. Now, we “kids” rounding 50 have composts
(some with better tomatoes than others) and are establishing the
roots of the next generation and next set of links..
Somehow within two generations we have evolved into a sea of
unending consumer choices for a disposable, must-have-it-now
society and “waste and want” is the new vogue. Bringing us back
to “it is about you”, and me and where do We all go from here.
Ending with a Forward
Ancient history has great lessons, but we’ve learned once a
“technology genie” comes out of a bottle you can’t put him back
in. Our future has to begin with today’s world with fixing the
broken links that hold us back and forging new strong ones to
carry us forward.
The notion that we leave the world better than we found it
cuts across all peoples, generations and cultures. The “Seventh
Generation” is ancient American Iroquois law stating today’s
actions should be principled by what would best serve the next
seven generations to come.
I hope this has been an informative read on a difficult conversa-
tion to condense. I encourage everyone to make every day Earth
Day and search for your own “environmental” roots, learn just a bit
more about your part in this huge immense ecology and pass it on
Michael Panetta moved to The Old Northeast in 1998 and is
President of his newly established architectural practice, Panetta
+ Associates, Inc. He can be contacted at
GreenInfo@PanettaAssociates.com.
Page 17
 PORCH PAR
PARTIES
ARTIES
Porch Parties are held the third Friday of the

o
Y du ’ r e month from 7:30-10pm (except December).
Porch Parties are strictly social and provide

Invite
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 Julie Feeley
(822-4969; juliecooks@hotmail.com).

June 19th July 17th August 21st

Jim and Cathy Leonard Rich and Marion Arnold Larry and Betty Smith
319 10th Avenue N 1500 1st Street N 125 13th Avenue N

Property Transfers KNOB AND TUBE WIRING

Following is a listing of recent property transfers in

our North Shore neighborhood. 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
WARNING
COMPLIANCE MAY BE NECESSARY

IF
chronological and alphabetical street order. • Your house is over 60 years old!
If any of these folks live near you, make sure you • You are selling your house!
welcome them to the neighborhood. • You are changing your
Homeowners insurance!
555 5th Avenue NE #833 .......... Ben and Ruth Friedman • You need additional circuits!
255 6th Avenue N #5 ................. Helene and Robert Lepkowski
• You've had past rodent problems!
202 7th Avenue N ...................... Eleni Rakopoulous
• Your house was renovated!
336 9th Avenue NE ................... Michael and Monica Caputo
301 10th Avenue NE ................. Scott and Robyn Crennan You May Need To Replace
139 13th Avenue N .................... Kostadino Ibrahim
506 14th Avenue NE ................. Brian and Leslie Waechter Your Knob And Tube Wiring
556 15th Avenue NE ................. Richard and Kelly Ware
816 15th Avenue NE ................. Scott and Amy Boggs residential division of
206 16th Avenue NE ................. Jitendra and Virginia Khare
225 16th Avenue N .................... Brook Hewitt
Established 1985 FL. LIC. #EC0001869
305 16th Avenue NE ................. Paula Albinson
727 16th Avenue NE ................. Mark Eichenbaum Call (727) 328-1700 for a FREE written estimate
745 16th Avenue NE ................. Rebecca and Clifford Purington
305 18th Avenue N .................... Catherine Okelley
331 18th Avenue NE ................. David and Zuzana Blackwood
See you at the
Source: Compiled from public records by FNBR Inc. and
Neighborhood Potluck
printed in the St. Petersburg Times. on June 15th
Page 18 HISTORIC OLD NORTHEAST NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS
 Individual and Business
TIM RHODE
Tax Returns
Small Business
Accounting &
A R C H I T E C T
Consulting
Specializing in Residential Design
Renovations, Additions and New Homes
Monica M. Vernon • Garth A. Vernon

St. Petersburg
424 22nd Avenue North, St. Petersburg, FL 33704 Call for a Consultation visit to your home.
Seminole
7700 Seminole Blvd, Ste 200, Seminole, FL 33772
Web Site trhode.com 727-823-1566
(727) 393-1922 office • (727) 392-3266 fax AR12159

HISTORIC OLD NORTHEAST NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS Page 19

Committees from page 6 Monuments and Cornerstones
tact me at crimewatch@honna.org. [See “Crime Watch Fact The HONNA Board of Directors has received proposals to
Sheet” on page 4.] perform maintenance on the five monuments and five corner-
stones. Each of the monuments will be reviewed for electrical
repair and maintenance while all monuments and cornerstones
Neighborhood Design Review will be re-painted and, where necessary, re-landscaped. If you
Mary Alice Lange, Chair would be interested in assisting the Association with these fi-
Westminster Palms - Conversion of Overvue nancial obligations, please feel free to send a tax deductible
contribution marked for “Monument and Cornerstone Mainte-
Condominiums to nance” to HONNA, P.O. Box 76324, St. Petersburg, FL 33734.
Westminster Palms House Numbers and Parking
Facility House numbers must be display on the front of your house
100% Completed Permit in Arabic numerals (i.e., 1, 2, 3, etc.). Each number must be
Construction Documents at least four (4") inches in height, installed in a permanent fashion
should be ready as of June 1st. and easily seen from the front of the structure and the rear of
Following submission and re- the structure, if there is an alley or the rear is on the water-
view by the contractor on the front. If numbers were installed before the current code, then
estimated cost to renovate the three inch high numbers are sufficient. Emergency vehicles
facility, then the project will may not be able to locate your house unless your numbers are
be submitted for a building displayed properly.
permit to the City. After City Vehicles must be parked in the direction of the traffic flow
staff reviews and approves and beyond the visibility triangle. Drivers in approaching ve-
the site plan and construction hicles may be unable to see you pulling away from the curb,
documents, then a building when you park in the opposite direction. As a courtesy to your
permit will be issued for the neighbors, please follow the posted speed limit within the neigh-
project. The HONNA Neigh- borhood.
borhood Design Review

™™™
Committee and Board of Di-
rectors will have an opportu-
nity to review the plans.

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Page 20 HISTORIC OLD NORTHEAST NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS

 Participate in a
Wonderful
Old Northeast Tradition
All residents welcomed!

The 4th of July Children's Parade

with The American Spirit Fife & Drum Corps
Saturday, July 4th, 9am-Noon
(parade begins at 10am)
Coffee Pot Park
30th and 1st Street N

Kathe B. Bierhoff
Remodeling • Residential & Commercial Construction
2350 26th St. North • St. Petersburg, FL 33713-4329
(727) 327-3366 • FAX (727) 327-9211
kathe@herrcontracting.com • www.herrcontracting.com
Lic. CG-C058023

HISTORIC OLD NORTHEAST NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS Page 21

 Thinking in
Purple

about them and consequently experience difficulties when faced

by Barbara Rhode, LMFT
A Silver Lining to These
Challenging Times
Something very positive can come out of our current economic
recession as far as parenting trends are concerned. Mommies and
daddies, out of necessity, are going to have to say, “no” more to
their little ones, and that is a phenomenon we can all benefit from.
Research shows that a lot of par-
ents today have been confusing per-
missiveness with love. Most of us
typically consider spoiling to mean
showering young ones with an ava-
lanche of stuff, which is not neces-
sarily accurate anymore. Today’s
spoiling more typically includes ill-
defined limits with grey, hazy bound-
aries that set the stage for some very
confused young people who go on to
exhibit more narcissistic traits than
any other recent generation. A lot of
these young people are pretty con-
vinced that everything really is all
with the real world.
According to Jean Twenge, author of Generation Me, research-
ers have found that by 2006, two thirds of the 16,000 college
students studied had above average scores on narcissistic scales.
Being on the receiving end of “yes” to almost any demand or
request actually lets our children down in some fundamental ways.
Left to mature in a world especially designed by parents to be
virtually stress-free, children grow up ill equipped to handle life’s
normal disappointments and letdowns. In fact, these pampered
and protected young experience a physiological inability to cope
with stress which leaves them feeling inadequate and incompe-
tent. If mommy or daddy is doing everything for you or making
sure nothing goes wrong in your young life, how are you going to
develop an inner sense of competency? I don’t know about you,
but some of my biggest life lessons
came with some mud and dirt
around the edges. I had to pick my-
self back up and try again, some-
times in the face of failure. And the
fact that my parents let me do just
that gave me the opportunity to ma-
ture and become more responsible
for myself and my actions.
The hopes and dreams parents
hold onto tightly for their children’s
futures often crumble in the face of
limitless privilege and entitlement. A
developing self esteem which is built

Page 22 HISTORIC OLD NORTHEAST NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS

 Share your
St. Pete stories!
You’ll put St. Petersburg on
Smithsonian Magazine’s
online map when
you share a favorite
memory or anecdote.
Go to the link below to tell
your story - show the
nation how wonderful it is to
live in paradise!
www.smithsonianmag.com/
departments/my-kind-of-town/
your-town-form/
on qualities like self control and perseverance in the face of ad-
versity instead remains underdeveloped, shallow and pretty frag-
ile. This often leads to reduced frustration tolerance and an over-
all lack of confidence. As tough as they might be to say, the
words “no” and “not yet” invite children to experience age-ap-
propriate stress while glimpsing the adult world of delayed grati-
fication. More importantly, it gives their young bodies the chance
to experience the physiological effects of stress. This process
allows them to develop the chemical pathways necessary to ef-
fectively deal with stress in the future. (727) 895-4353
No parent would ever intentionally cheat their child out of such
a vital learning and growing process. Yet, we seem to be immersed Cell: (727) 480-0916
in a culture that is doing just that. In the name of “love” many
parents are giving in to their child’s every whim, with stuff or with
Fax: (727) 895-3242
age-inappropriate privileges. The experts repeatedly tell us that
children need boundaries in order to develop and mature. In fact, E-mail: homeshelen@earthlink.net
they should all arrive in the world with tags that state, “Handle www.homesbyheleninc.com
with care & be sure to apply age-appropriate limits.” The child’s
job is to push for more of everything — toys, clothes — when
they are tweens and then freedom as they attempt to individuate "From the Bay to
and separate. Our job as parents is to push back in age-appropriate
ways, giving them the resistance they need to grow and mature. If the Gulf, from
everything is handed to them and every privilege is awarded with- listing to closing, I
out delay, they enter the adult world with some pretty distorted
views. And we all pay the price for that. will be there every
Let’s look at these restrictive economic times as an opportu- step of the way to
nity to change some of these current parenting
trends that have gotten out of hand. Our ensure that your
children will be healthier and wiser for it.
And so will we.
buying or selling
experience is a
Barbara Rhode is a Licensed Marriage
and Family Therapist who provides great one." Helen Torres
trainings and workshops to corporations
Licensed
and non-profits on wellness and life bal-
ance. She lives in a very purple house Real Estate Broker
in The Old Northeast, a place where she GRI-CRS-SRES-LTG
contemplates in shades of “purple.”
HISTORIC OLD NORTHEAST NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS Page 23
 Another Eggcellent Neighborhood
Eggtivitiy from page 1
for the kiddie invasion and our neighbors who supported
the event with their presence and enthusiasm.
Check page 5 of this issue and honna.org for infor-
mation about the next all-neighborhood family event, the
third annual 4th of July Children’s Parade. And don’t for-
get the other regular HONNA activities to which all Old
NE residents are invited – monthly neighborhood meet-
ings, a potluck dinner in June and informal Porch Party
socials the third Friday of each month (check the web
site for location
and other details).
Be part of the
fun and helping
make your neigh-
borhood “neigh-
borly.”

A version of
this article ap-
peared in the May
2009 issue of The
Northeast Jour-
nal.

Some Upcoming Events In

ON THE DOCKET: and Nearby Our Neighborhood
June 5 Get Downtown Music Series June 19-21 Tampa Bay Home Expo The Trop; 893-8523
Central b/w 2nd-3rd; 393-3597 June 20 Daylilies in Florida Sunken Gardens; 551-3100
June 5, 7 & 9 St. Petersburg Opera Presents: June 20 Family Flicks! Movies on the Waterfront
La Traviata The Palladium; 822-3590 The Pier; 821-6443
June 6 AWAPS Pancake Breakfast June 21 Sunday Afternoon Fun The Pier; 821-6443
Albert Whitted Airport; 822-1532 June 24 Oldies But Goodies Dance The Pier; 821-6443
June 6 Caring for Cattleya Orchids June 27 St. Pete GLBT Pride and Promenade
Sunken Garden; 551-3100 Grand Central District; www.stpetepride.org
June 7 Sunday Afternoon Fun The Pier; 821-6443 June 27 All About Bromeliads Sunken Gardens; 551-3100
June 10 Oldies But Goodies Dance
The Pier; 821-6443 JULY 4 CHILDREN’S 4th of JULY PARADE
June 13-14 Tampa Bay Caribbean Carnival (see p. 5)
Vinoy Park; 327-1277
June 13 Young Eagles Free Flights JULY 17 PORCH PARTY (see p. 18)
Albert Whitted Airport; 822-1532
June 13 Orchid Lei Making Workshop July 18-19 21st Annual Cool Art Show Coliseum; 892-5202
Sunken Gardens; 551-3100
June 13 Drum Circle Facilitation The Pier; 821-6443 JULY 20 NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING
June 13 Gallery Walk Downtown galleries; 821-6767
August 1-2 Suncoast Avian Bird Expo Coliseum; 892-5202
JUNE 15 AUGUST 21 PORCH PARTY (see p. 18)
NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING
POTLUCK DINNER Source: City of St. Petersburg
For a current and more detailed listing
JUNE 19 PORCH PARTY
(see p. 18) go to the City’s website at
www.stpete.org
Page 24 HISTORIC OLD NORTHEAST NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS
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This award-winning book ($16 including tax) can be pur- Resident of

chased at the following locations: Old Southeast
Davis Anthony Home and Garden, 300 Beach Drive NE
Haslam’s Book Store, 2025 Central Avenue
Interior Motives, 110 Central Avenue
Museum of Fine Arts, 255 Beach Drive NE
Renaissance Vinoy Resort gift shop, 501 5th Avenue NE
Sunken Gardens, 1825 4th Street N 727.895.2272
HISTORIC OLD NORTHEAST NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS Page 25
 How Does Your Garden Grow?
Cost-cutting
in the
Garden
Garden hobbyists know it’s easy to blow your budget when
spring arrives. Like kids in a candy shop, a trip to the garden
center is filled with one temptation after another. Colorful plants,
bright-colored pots, decorative garden accessories … they’re al-
most impossible to resist!
But economic times have changed and many homeowners are
cutting costs. While it’s important to continue supporting our
local garden retailers, you can jump into spring gardening with-
out much expense if you use these thrifty ideas:
Make your own plants
It’s easy to create new plants from established ones. The easi-
est way is placing cuttings in a container of water in a bright area
but not in direct sunlight. This method works with plants such as
coleus, ornamental sweet potato, pothos, African violet, begonia
Page 26 HISTORIC OLD NORTHEAST NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS
by Yvonne Swanson -- Master Gardener
and philodendron. When roots form,
transplant to pots or garden beds.
Another option is placing cuttings in
small containers filled with equal
parts peat moss and coarse builder’s
sand or perlite. Don’t buy new con-
tainers — just make drainage holes
in recycled plastic food containers,
disposable cups and nursery pots to
hold cuttings. Make a hole in the soil
using a pencil and insert the cutting
so that it stays upright. Place the
cutting in a protected area out of di-
rect sunlight and keep the soil moist.
In a few weeks you should have a new plant that can be trans-
ferred to a larger container or placed in the ground.
Trade plants with neighbors
You have just the daylily your neighbor loves and she’s got
loads of liriope. Simply dig up clumps of plants grown from bulbs
and tubers, divide them and share. Most gardeners are happy to
share plants…all you have to do is ask.
Use free mulch
Leaves make great organic mulch, they’re plentiful and they’re
free. Add them to garden beds, containers, vegetable gardens and
the compost pile. As leaves decompose, they build rich topsoil or
humus – a natural fertilizer that will enrich the soil. Or get all the
free mulch you can use from one of several Pinellas County recy-
cling centers. Made from recycled yard waste, the mulch is heated
over time to kill any weeds or pathogens.
Shop at neighborhood yard sales
You’ll find great deals on pots, tools, garden décor and even
plants. Check the weekend newspaper for yard sale locations and
times, or look for signs posted on street corners.
Find great deals, ideas on the Internet
At Craig’s List (www.craigslist.com), you’ll find plenty of ads
for low-cost plants, supplies, equipment and services in the Tampa
Bay area. At www.frugalgardening.com there are cost-cutting
ideas and tips to help you save even more.
Yvonne Swanson is a Master Gardener for Pinellas County. She
also writes a garden column for the St. Petersburg Times.
Consumer Tip
When contracting
services from any
business it’s always a
good idea to check with
the Better Business
Bureau for prior
complaints. Ask for
references and confirm
that your contractor is
licensed.
126 11th Avenue NE Ages 2 - VPK
St. Petersburg, FL State Approved
33701 LIC. #C610108
727-822-5906 APPLE ACCREDITED

HANDYMAN
Home Improvements -- Odd Jobs
General Repairs, Yard Projects
“Let me help you get things done”
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Too Late for Free Samples!

Old Northeast Pizza provided
complimentary pizza slices for those
residents attending the May
neighborhood association meeting.
But you can still check it out for yourself...
Worship 718 2nd Street N
Service: (next to The Old Northeast Tavern)
Sundays 209-2550
10:30am

This ad courtesy of HONNA in appreciation of Westminster’s

generous support of the Association

Street Light Out?

Do yourself and your neighbors a favor
and phone Progress Energy at 800/
228-8485 to report it (provide them the
location and the ID number on the
pole’s base). Don’t make things easy
for the burglars and car thieves. 1954 - 2004

HISTORIC OLD NORTHEAST NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS Page 27

 Next Neighborhood Meeting: Monday, June15th, at 7pm
All Neighborhood Potluck (see p.1)
All neighborhood residents invited
PRSRT STD
Historic Old Northeast Neighborhood Association U.S. POSTAGE PAID
P.O. Box 76324 ST. PETERSBURG FL
PERMIT #1020
St. Petersburg, FL 33734
www.honna.org

IN THIS ISSUE

• All Neighborhood
Potluck
• Neighborly Venting
• Green With Envy
• Easter Fun
• Porch Parties
...and much more

Page 28 HISTORIC OLD NORTHEAST NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS