Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

From the Sticks of Fire mailbag:

Hello Tommy Duncan,
You are being contacted via sticks of fire by Holly P.
Holly P. has provided the following information so you may contact them:
Reason: I have a Question for Ask-a-Tampan.
Message:
I am 28 old. I am wondering is there any adult chess class offered in tampa bay area? I am a totally biginner, never played chess before but pretty much interested.
Thank you.

A quick google search brings us to the Centro Ybor website, which tells us that the International Bazaar offers a place to play chess every Friday night, and that lessons are given for free!!

Come and play at the International Bazaar
Fridays from 6 p.m.-12 a.m.
Enjoy Chess for all ages and levels, we also teach Chess for Free
Enquire about our Grand MasterChallenge $500.00 prize
(Chess (all levels), Backgammon, Cribbage, Dominos, Mahjong & Cards)

If anyone knows of other places where adults can learn how to play chess, let us know, would ya?

Donna Selle has a simple request for Ask A Tampan:

Can you sum up Tampa in a nutshell? What is the city like politically, socially, etc.? Is it forward thinking? What’s the housing situation like? City planning? Public transportation? Traffic? If you were explaining Tampa to someone who you wanted to move there, what would you tell them?

My family lives in Lithia; I live in Seattle and have been a lifelong Northwesterner. I have an impression of the Tampa area, but I believe there is much more to it than what I’ve seen. All I’ve seen is from my family’s point of view. (I’ve seen urban sprawl, McMansions, gated communities, teens driving Hummers, and lots and lots of shopping malls.) But out of the corner of my eye, I’ve seen some things that lead me to believe Tampa might be a great city. Do Tell!!!

Give us your nutshell description of Tampa in the comments.

It’s been a while since we had a question for Ask a Tampan, but we have one today. Sharon Trussel sent us an email, and she is looking for a park with fish ponds.

Ok let’s see if I can jog the memory of some Tampa people.

I am looking for the name or location of a park in the Tampa area from the late 60’s to very early 70’s.

I remember as a small child being at a picnic or gathering at a park on the Hillsborough River. Very possibly could have been a cook out for the American Legion. Anyway, the park had these small round raised stone ponds with troughs running between them. I can remember to this day being totally fascinated by the ponds and the little fish in them. But I cannot remember exactly where I was. Does anyone have a clue what park I was at?

I know that Kiley Park in downtown Tampa had raised troughs with running water, but I don’t recall any fish being inside them. Not to mention that Kiley Park did not exist as that in the early 1970’s…

It sounds like something that may have been at Lowry Park. Do any of you have any ideas?

From the ask-a-tampan mailbag:

Hi, I have a question to ask.

Do you use a service to spray/fertilize your lawn? If so, do you like them? And if you don’t mind, how much does it cost per visit? And of course, what is the company’s name. Any other details or information would be greatly appreciated.

I’ve been a ChemLawn customer in the past, but they piss me off to no end. So I’d like to avoid them if at all possible.

Thank you in advance,
Jeff

Well, Jeff, I do have a “lawn,” but there’s really not much “grass” in it. Oh, the front is passable, and is green a good 60% of the time, while the back yard is sand, dead weeds, live weeds, and more dead weeds. Or rather, they play dead and come back to life just after a rain. The grass stays dead.

The service I use is called “yes, dear, I’ll finally get around to mowing today - maybe.” Obviously, you want a better solution. But I just don’t know.

Do any of you readers use a lawn service? Would you recommend them? Are they local or chain/franchise? Leave us a comment, and maybe eventually I can get some grass to grow in the back yard.

From the “Ask a Tampan” files:

ShedMan Paul is looking for old images of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s “Kick Ice” promotion:

Hi, years ago I worked at an ad agency in Tampa called Earle Palmer Brown. Among other things I wrote/created the introductory campaign for the Tampa Bay Lightning “Kick Ice.” Because of a major meltdown of my hard drive I am trying to retrieve different samples of work I did at different places. So, I was wondering if you or anyone you know might have a photo of any of the old Kick Ice billboards, bus transit posters or anything like that. Thank you.

I don’t know where to find this - do you?

Crystal wants to know about engineering marvels in Tampa Bay:

Hi Tommy & SoF,

In an engineering community I follow we were discussing engineers as tourists. I began to wonder if any of our local engineering marvels had tours or places to see. Places of interest such as Power Plants (both coal, and Crystal River’s nuclear), water treatment facilities (I haven’t heard much lately on the desal plant), bridges (we sure have a lot of them), factories, unusual buildings (Tampa Theatre, the ‘beer can’ building, UT…) , other utilities, etc…

I know security at some of these places is high, but I am sure someone out there works for or knows of people in similar industries that might have some pointers. Thanks in advance for any ideas your beautiful readership might suggest.

Be Well,
Crystal

Hey Crystal, I know that there are tours of the Tampa Theatre, as well as a tour of the Tampa Port Authority downtown. Anyone aware of other such tours?

Clark wants to know what the Bay City Plywood guys are laughing about. So he emailed Ask a Tampan:

What’s the deal with the Bay City Plywood guys?

Every one of their commercials features them shouting about plywood and ends with the three of them laughing to the point where they’re doubled over in hysterics.

I’ve lived here for over 20 years and I don’t recall there ever being a joke. Was there one at some point?

Those guys have been laughing on local tv for decades. In fact, if you visit the Bay City Plywood website, you’ll hear ‘em laughing there too.

As far as I know, there is no joke. It’s just a gimmick to help you remember the commercials. Apparently it works. The Bay City Plywood guys are fans of the JGLB, so next time we see them, we’ll be sure to ask.

Steve remembers a discotheque in South Tampa, but not entirely. So he wants some help in completing that memory, and decided to Ask-A-Tampan:

Hi!

Back in the Seventies there was a Teen Disco called “The Force” but no one on my High School Alumni list seems to remember exactly where it was. I cannot find any reference to it online and the only thing I remember is that it was off of Gandy going towards Bayshore.

Does anyone remember? Can anyone help?

Thanks

Shane

Hey Shane! Your question reminds me of the ABC liquor lounge on Gandy at MacDill. They had a revolving dance floor, I think. And a fantastic happy hour buffet. Zichex was on Gandy at Dale Mabry. But both of those were kicking in the early ’90’s. Not sure of the landscape there in the 70’s.

We’ll have to ask our readers for help. Anyone remember “The Force?”