Happy Fourth of July!
Enjoy these Florida Fireworks courtesy of Fairfield FL artist Gary Borse:
Find more of Gary’s great Florida paintings at GaryBorse.com and at Florida’s Eden.
Happy Independence Day!
You may have heard. There was a new giant confederate flag flying near the intersection of I-4 and I-75 yesterday.
As you might expect, and as the organizers probably wanted, it sure is getting a lot of attention.
Steve Otto says it is Another Questionable Landmark:
“I would suggest that if Mr. Lambert or the good people of the Sons of Confederate Veterans want to get some tips on how to honor those who served and died, they ought to head up I-75 near Bushnell and drive over to the Florida National Cemetery, a magnificent memorial and resting place for those who served in our military.”
Sue Carlton thinks the Message is Clear:
“Supporters will tell you it’s all about preserving heritage. Sorry, but I don’t buy that wide-eyed line, or the idea that well-intentioned people interested only in remembering their history would use a symbol so abrasive, incendiary and hurtful to so many fellow citizens. Or that there is no other way to honor family than this.”
A Tribune editorial suggests the Flag Flies in Face of Good Taste:
“… if the group is sincere about wanting to honor its heritage, it would make the flag’s size proportional to the veterans’ memorial below. That would be the neighborly thing to do. Yet in its quest for attention, the Sons overlook the greater good. It’s a selfish move.”
If someone wants to put up a flag of the armed forces of a foreign country that only existed for less than five years over 140 years ago, well, this is the United States of America. And partly because the armed forces of the Confederate States of America lost their asses to the United States of America, being a citizen of the USA gives you and I the freedom to choose to pay $800 for a giant rebel flag made in China, and the liberty to raise it 139 feet in the air or so.
God Bless the USA
Our thoughts are with all of our service men and women who died fighting for this great country. Happy Memorial Day.
We hope all you moms, stepmoms, and grandmas had a great day yesterday!
This is OUR weekend, moms, and we should do whatever we want!
It felt really good to write that!
Of all the holidays in the calendar, I love Mother’s Day weekend the best (possible exception - my birthday)!
Now, if I get my way this weekend, I will be on the boat Saturday, listening to JGLB Saturday night and sleeping half the day away on Sunday! I’m pretty sure I will get my way because my little one will be at her mom’s this weekend and the older one is scheduled to work Saturday and a double shift on Sunday.
Don’t feel bad for me, I already received my card and gift from the little one with a BIG kiss and hug, and she should always spend mother’s day with her mommy! And I know my older one will HAVE to serve me that day, because I will go to the restaurant to make sure of it! HA!
So what do you have planned? Here are some ideas:
Saturday May 10 - Vinyl Records and CD Show from 8am until 3pm at the Holiday Inn Express, 4732 Dale Mabry, Tampa. I found this interesting for fans of the record player! This show is going to feature 45’s and LP’s covering the oldies, pop, rock, classical and everything in between. They will also have record supplies and even some CD’s. FMI call 727-251-9458. If anyone sees a beige plastic record player with a hinged top, it’s mine from my teen years and I miss it very much!
Saturday May 10 - Free Kids Movie at 10am at the Beach Theatre, 315 Corey Avenue, St. Pete Beach. This is the second time the Beach Theatre has made my list. “Why” you ask? Because it offers FREE movies! This Saturday you can take your kids there to see Grease starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. This is my daughter’s favorite movie of all time, and I really feel it is timeless. Also, 5/17 The Black Stallion and 5/24 Nancy Drew: Troubleshooter will be shown to kids for free. FMI call: 727-360-6697 or go to beach-theatre.com.
Saturday May 10 - The Princess and the Pea, 11am, Largo Cultral Center, 105 Central Park Drive, Largo. This performance will cost you from $5-$7. a valuable lesson will be taught to the entire royal court about first impressions, personal decisions and true love in this toe tapping musical. I have only read this book a million times as a child, I think this live play would be fun for a family outing.
Sunday, Mothers Day, May 11 - A Mother’s Day Brunch at Don Vicente De Ybor Historical Inn 1915 Republica De Cuba Avenue, Ybor City, seatings at 11am and 1pm. This beautiful inn would be a nice change from Denny’s, McDonalds or the Golden Corral buffet! I say spend a little on Mother’s Day! Of course, I am biased, but c’mon, get off your wallet, MOM is worth it! The price is $32 for adults and $12 for kids. You will need to call and RSVP (make reservations) and you can get the menu choices as well, call 813-241-4545. For more info you can also go to DonVicenteInn.com.
Sunday, Mother’s Day, May 11th, A Mother’s Day Celebration at the Red Rose Inn 2011 N. Wheeler Street, Plant City at 4pm. This famous hotel (famous in Plant City, at least) is having a grand celebration with live entertainment, a full buffet, desserts, and a flowing pink and lilac chocolate fountain. It will cost up to $29.95. I have been to the Red Rose and it is very nice and I’m sure this will be a very special time for all the moms!
On Good Friday morning, I got out of bed and saw that the High School Senior had slept in late. I woke her up so she could rush to school. “It’s Good Friday,” she said. “We’re going to the beach.” Being the stepdad, I assumed she had worked it out with her mother, and let her fall back asleep.
And I asked Wifey about this. With rumors that there wasn’t going to be much “teaching” going on, Wifey didn’t see the point of going to school, either. I found later they weren’t really “rumors.” Plenty of teachers were discussing the “free day off” with students all week at the local high school.
The 2nd Grader did go to school. She and 3 others showed up at the classroom built for twenty. Those four joined another class of TWO, and those six students didn’t learn anything. They drew pictures for each other and they “worked” on their coloring books. That’s not all, according to the seven-year-old. They did have a Phys Ed class - playing at the playground. And Lunch.
It seems that the High School Senior got as much an education at Siesta Key that day as did the 2nd Grader at her Local Elementary School.
How is it that school is scheduled, but nothing gets done? There are many reasons, but they all come back to the same thing. The Hillsborough County School Board has no common goal, no direction, no guts, and is manned by a bunch of self-important ninnies who have way more power than they should.
Back in February of last year, board members were insistent that holding school on Good Friday would be a disaster:
“In this country, the majority of the people are of the Christian faith and have accepted it as a day off,” Faliero said. “If you begin to take things like that away, people believe that you are eroding what this country was founded upon, and that was freedom of religion.”
But that is a knee-jerk reaction without even looking into the the subject. In that same article, the St. Pete Times notes that Pinellas holds school on Good Friday, as does Polk County, Orange County, and Bay County. In 2006, Pinellas’ Good Friday absentee rate was 15 percent for students, and about 10 percent of teachers.
A 10-15% absentee rate is something they could deal with. But even a year later, with Good Friday coming upon us, Faliero insisted. In the Times on Tuesday, March 18, she planted the seeds of Faliero’s Fantastic Friday Fiasco:
“Parents, please hear this: Your buses are going to be late,” School Board chairwoman Jennifer Faliero said. “Be prepared for a backup plan.”
Doom, Doom, and more Doom (Doom III?), she prophesies. What’s next, locusts? Nope, but religion comes up anyway. Read on from the Times on Wednesday, March 19:
“What I see — which is something I haven’t seen in a long time — is Christians uniting,” said School Board member Jennifer Faliero, who favors a day off on Good Friday. “They are fearing that their religion is being overlooked.”
Aha! It’s to be an uprising of Christians - uniting to protest the assault on their holy day! But wait - just the day before in the Tampa Tribune, Faliero said it had nothing to do with religion:
Taking Good Friday off has nothing to do with religion, however, said School Board Chairwoman Jennifer Faliero.
“Parents have always taken off Good Friday - they always will,” Faliero said. “This is an American tradition.”
So it’s an American Tradition. A holiday, not a holy day.
Nonsense. She simply wants no school on that day and is saying anything that will convince students, parents, teachers, bus drivers - including Jews, Muslims, and atheists alike to play hooky. In addition, she counted on the newspapers to be her megaphone. And it worked. Did you see what both dailies did? Starting on Tuesday, both papers had section front stories all week proclaiming Doom III, and basically just pounded it into your head:
Good grief! They ran out of ways to say the same thing over and over and over. Not only that, but would you believe that TBO created a Blog dedicated to the saga? Yep, it’s entitled Good Friday for Skipping School.
Just because some teachers don’t read a newspaper, doesn’t mean they all are clueless. And kids can read too, you know. So is it any wonder that by Thursday, teachers, students, administration, bus drivers - hell, even the janitors were discouraged to show up.
And of course it worked:
Tribune - Lack Of Students Makes ‘Lonely’ Day, Times - Nearly 60% of Hillsborough County students absent on Good Friday
Or did it?
By the 20th, reporters heard that original numbers of absenteeism were being overestimated. And late Friday, the numbers that the Tribune got from each individual school was significantly different than the figures from the district. As far as I can tell, we have not yet received a verification of the correct number of absentees. Regardless, it was a mess.
Finally, this Tuesday, both papers ran editorials slamming the School Board for allowing a free day to occur. The Tribune and Times both suggest administrators limit the number of people taking a personal day, so the entire district doesn’t get shut down for a day.
The Times also specifically encouraged Jennifer Faliero to remember that the public school system is here to serve Christians and non-Christians alike.
This weekend may be a long weekend for some to celebrate Good Friday and Easter. My family has to work on Friday but we are looking for something to do on Saturday that has an Easter theme. On Sunday, the little one will spend the holiday with her mom, and the teen has to work. So Tommy and I are going boating!
Even though we have a few plans I still wanted to look for some kid friendly (and free) events. I found a ton! I used TBO.com and tampabay.com to get the events listed below. They each have very nice and easy to read community calendars. www.tampabay.com has put together a nice Easter-only list with one event for each area around town. Have a nice Easter, and spend some extra time with the family this weekend, it is supposed to be a beautiful Florida weekend!
Saturday, March 22 from 9am-11am at Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center is the Eggstravaganza sponsored by Magic 94.9. This event is free and for the whole family. There will be breakfast, photos with the Easter Bunny, face-painters, a petting zoo, a strolling magician, a safe-kids activity area, Patel Conservatory tours, a Rock School demonstration, coloring and 20,000 candy-filled eggs! IMPORTANT change for this year’s event- Due to construction in Curtis Hixon Park, there will be no egg hunt this year. Instead, candy-filled eggs will be distributed throughout the event to children ages 10 & under. So remember to bring your Easter Basket!
Saturday, March 22nd opening at 9:30 am at the Community Center Park & Pool, St. Pete Beach, The 1st Annual Underwater Easter Egg Hunt! The park is located at 7701 Boca Ciega Drive, St. Petersburg. This is a free event. They will have an underwater egg hunt and a traditional hunt in the park. Don’t forget to bring your own basket to fill up! I selected this event because it is different then all the others by using the pool! If you have older kids I bet this one will go over very well!
Saturday March 22 from 10am–2pm at the Florida Aquarium you can have your picture taken with the Easter Bunny before he takes a dive in the coral reef. This event has the regular admission to the aquarium of $17.95, $14.95 seniors, $12.95 ages 3-12. Tampa Bay Parenting Magazine will be sponsoring this event and will have child friendly activities scheduled. The Explore A Shore area is great for the kids; make sure to bring the little ones a change of clothes, they are sure to get wet!
Sunday, March 23rd from 12pm–2pm at Coachman Park, 16th Annual Easter Egg Hunt. This is a free event. There are separate areas for the big and small kids, so all children will enjoy finding eggs. A few special eggs contain the fabled “Golden Egg” inside, which is redeemed for a plush bunny to take home. There will be vendors set up and a handful of rides. I suggest bringing a picnic lunch to this event and hang out for the entire day!
While I was looking for Easter events I found one thing that I would like to mention for this weekend that does not have an Easter theme.
The Florida International Museum will be open to the public for free this weekend. The hours are Saturday 10 am – 5 pm and Sunday 1pm–5pm. They are having a Art Parade: A celebration of Creativity and the Art in the Park Family Day. For more information please go to floridamuseum.org. The museum is located at 244 2nd Avenue North. I went to the website but did not find a lot of information regarding the free admission but they have listed this event at TBO.com.
Happy Easter everyone!
I’m not really sure what to make of this “extra” day. Does it mean anything to you?
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