Thursday, June 28, 2007

Found Dog on Flora

Reunited - her name is Daisy and she's home where she belongs. Thank to 2 special little girls, their mother and their neighbor Krissy. Thank you ladies for your help.



This was emailed to me today. I have this little darling and hoping someone claims her.


Hello! Two small girls came to my house on Park Circle a little while ago with a dog they found. It appears to be a Chihauhau or a mix. They found it on Flora St. It's very sweet and doesn't have a collar. They can only keep it at their house for a short time so I'm hoping we can find her owner. I've attached a photo. I made it small for the web - let me know if you need it bigger. I've already posted this on the OSHNA website.

Thanks for what you're doing!

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Hallelujiah ... Pass the Tylenol.

During my daily bike trip/death wish from my S.H. home to my downtown workplace, I noticed a sign being put up on the long vacant building at the northeast corner of Highland Ave. and MLK. The new use for the old Babylon gay and lesbian night club (and previously Tampa's original Carmine's Restaurant) is ... [pause for suspense] ....

A church.

Surprised? The sign was in spanish, which I can't read, so I don't know the name. All I remember is "Episcopal."

Personally, I think this is just in time, since I notice a shortage of churches in the area. (Yes, that's sarcasm.)

Do you have an opinion, positive or not, on the high concentration of churches in S.H.?

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Hampton Terrace Summer Reasarch Event

Location: Seminole Heights Garden Center

Hampton Terrace Heritage Research and Preservation Event
Wednesday, June 20, 2007 at 7 PM
Seminole Heights Garden Center
5810 Central Ave.
Old Seminole Heights


For the past six weeks, USF students have been roaming the neighborhood surrounding Lake Roberta, armed with cameras and clipboards, conducting heritage research projects in collaboration with the Old Seminole Heights Neighborhood Associationâ??s Preservation Committee (OSHNA). They have collected historical and archival data specifically focused on the Hampton Terrace Neighborhood and conducted oral history interviews with community elders.

Under the direction of Dr. Antoinette Jackson of the USF Department of Anthropology, the Heritage Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) was designed to help prepare participants to study heritage as a key cultural resource in areas such as quality of life programs and policies, education, tourism, historic preservation, youth activities, and neighborhood revitalization.

An analysis of Seminole Heightsâ??both past and presentâ??will be profiled through presentations by USF student researchers on Wednesday, June 20, 2007 at 7 PM at the Seminole Heights Garden Center, 5810 Central Ave. We invite your attendance to view the fruits of their research, learn more about your neighborhood and meet your neighbors.

For more information contact Suzanne Prieur at 813 610-5255.
Hampton Terrace Heritage Research and Preservation Event
Wednesday, June 20, 2007 at 7 PM
Seminole Heights Garden Center
5810 Central Ave.
Old Seminole Heights


For the past six weeks, USF students have been roaming the neighborhood surrounding Lake Roberta, armed with cameras and clipboards, conducting heritage research projects in collaboration with the Old Seminole Heights Neighborhood Associationâ??s Preservation Committee (OSHNA). They have collected historical and archival data specifically focused on the Hampton Terrace Neighborhood and conducted oral history interviews with community elders.

Under the direction of Dr. Antoinette Jackson of the USF Department of Anthropology, the Heritage Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) was designed to help prepare participants to study heritage as a key cultural resource in areas such as quality of life programs and policies, education, tourism, historic preservation, youth activities, and neighborhood revitalization.

An analysis of Seminole Heightsâ??both past and presentâ??will be profiled through presentations by USF student researchers on Wednesday, June 20, 2007 at 7 PM at the Seminole Heights Garden Center, 5810 Central Ave. We invite your attendance to view the fruits of their research, learn more about your neighborhood and meet your neighbors.

For more information contact Suzanne Prieur at 813 610-5255.

Final report by the USF students who have been doing heritage resources research in Hampton Terrace. See preservation committee for more information.

As grandma remembers...

Hanging out with Grandma this weekend I learned a little family history...

The overpriced house currently for sale at 404 E. Fern Street was built by my grandma's "Uncle Doc" Thomas. (Morgan Lester Thomas, as it turns out, a mid 20th century Tampa dentist.) The classic 1340 square foot bungalow with wrap around front porch is a scaled up duplicate of a smaller house Uncle Doc had on Waters Avenue before World War II, back when Waters was a 2 lane road leading out to the sticks.

As Grandma remembers...

“About a week before Christmas every year Uncle Doc used to come around and knock on everyone’s door and say ‘I’ll be looking for ya Christmas morning.’ Christmas morning you’d go over there and he’d have an apron on sitting on a high stool and he’d have a big ol Mixmaster going. He was making homemade eggnog with raw eggs and whisky! And his wife, Aunt Dora, she was a great baker, would be in the kitchen making cakes…coconut cake, orange cake, fruit cake, you name it she had it. And people would walk all over that house with a glass of eggnog in one hand and piece of cake in the other. There were so many people there you couldn’t find a place to sit down!”

“Uncle Doc died in the front bedroom of that house. His daughter inherited it. When she married, she decided to move to Maine and sold the house for twelve thousand dollars. That was 40 some years ago. Now it’s for sale for $264,000!”

“I always wanted to own that house. It’s not as nice or as big as my house, but I loved it.”
...
And another gem from Grandma's 21st birthday back in 1945 at the Barcelona Restaurant which sat on the southwest corner of Nebraska and Osborne:

"...waking up the next morning I was one sick cookie..."
...

I read in the paper that USF students have been conducting oral histories in the neighborhood as part of a Heritage Research Experience program. They'll be presenting thier research on Hampton Terrace at 7pm Wednesday, June 20th at the Seminole Heights Garden Center (5810 Central Ave). On Thursday, anthropology students will be presenting findings on the black community of Spring Hill in Sulphur Springs at 6pm at the George Bartholomew North Tampa Community Center (8608 N. 12th St.)

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

BGoSH General Meeting



It doesn't matter if you're a member or not, if you own a business or not, come out and join us for the next BGoSH General Meeting:

This month's focus is on "Beautification and Your Business". We invite residence to come out and tell the business community what you would like to see in your community.

Thursday, June 14, 2007 - 7:00 pm - Metropolitan Community Church - 408 E. Cayuga Street (corner of Central Avenue and Cayuga Street)

Nebraska Ave. Construction

Kris Carson, FDOT Spokesperson, said" Engineering studies have actually shown us that we can do this. We can reduce the amount of lanes of there and by adding that two way center left turn lane we're not going to affect the capacity we're actually going to increase the safety and the flow out there. And in terms of why can't we just buy more land and add more lanes, it just comes down to funding."

Jeff Craft, an accountant and president of the Seminole Heights Business Alliance, diagrees. "That will slow drivers and might discourage some from taking Nebraska."

http://www.tampabays10.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=56665

http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBM28H5S2F.html

Thursday, June 07, 2007

My Seminole Heights

The Seminole Heights Blog will be transitioning to different blog software (Wordpress) and a better looks. The name will be changing to My Seminole Heights and will be found at www.myseminoleheights.info This the result of work by Tommy Duncan and the Sticks of Fire gang and is part of a new initiative by him.

As part of this transition I am looking for more writers. Anyone who is currently a writer for the seminoleheights.blogspot blog will invited to join the new blog. But I am also looking for additional writers. Whether you have an existing blog or not, you are welcome to apply. I am looking for people who have something to say about living or life in Seminole Heights. Events. Activities. Commentary. Photos. Stories. Tell us about your remodeling of your house. Issues you deal with in your daily life here. Cool things you see. The pleasures you find. Email me at dbanghart@yahoo.com if you are interested. Something I also hope to do down the road is to put some feeds from some of the other great blogs in the Seminole Heights neighborhood on the side bar, so those blogs will get better exposure and so the commentary is richer.

For a little bit I will crosspost until all the elements are complete in the new blog. At that point the old blog will remain in an archive form for reference.

Let me know if there are features you would like to see.

Water Woes

Daniel Ruth recounts the tale of the owner of the Swann Avenue Market and Cafe in Hyde Park who got hit with a recent water and solid waste bill with $1,776.12 in "past due" charges.

The reason? Because the City forgot to charge him for recycling disposal or container fees.

Some may argue whether or not he should have been charged at all for the past payments. That's debatable. David McCary's stance was:

"We're not trying to pick on him," a sympathetic McCary commiserated. "But our policy is we don't eat the cost."

Ah, the dreaded policy.

"A mistake was made," McCary conceded. "Nothing was covered up. But we can't ignore [the $1,776.12], and that's the problem."


My issues is in the way it was handled. Instead of just sticking it on the bill with no explantion, the City should have sent a letter explaining the error and indicating it would be willing to work on how it would be paid.

On a related note, a friend from the neighborhood also got a past due notice. However she always paid her bill on time. The city said they did not get the payment. Finally it came in. This happened again the second month even though she sent the check in plenty of time. The problem apparently has something to due with the fact the City sends its bills to a company in Atlanta to handle, thus causing a delay.

Bureaucrats.

If water was not a city monopoly, would free market forces cause better customer service?

crossposted on My Seminole Heights

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

The dump is dumped

According to the Tribune, the park at the end of 22nd street, next to the Seminole Crest area of Old Seminole Heights, will no longer be a drop off site for waste

"In a debate between residents and city officials over the location of a dumpsite, the residents won"

""We are taking a step back and will search for a more viable location that will be viewed by the public as complementary and beneficial," solid waste Director David McCary wrote in a memo to city council. "Therefore the location at 22nd and Sligh has officially been ruled out and will not be reconsidered."

"Residents from several communities opposed the plan. They showed up at a city council meeting last week and told the board they didn't want the center in their neighborhood."

Good job guys. That old saw is wrong. You can fight City Hall and as usual Seminole Heights proved it.

Monday, June 04, 2007

FINALLY!!!


















I borrowed these pics and headline from our friends at S.H. Hot Topics. Their pictures are worth 1,000 words.