Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

Friends of the River is a citizen support group concerned with promoting health and environmental policies that affect the quantity and quality of water in the Lower Hillsborough River and the Tampa Bay by actively promoting the development and implementation of natural resource management strategies which will improve and enhance the current and future health, recreational, environmental and proprietary values of the Lower Hillsborough River, the Tampa Bay, and adjacent lands and bodies of water, and promoting general public awareness of the issues with which F.O.R. is concerned.

The Friends of the (Hillsborough) River hosts an annual holiday boat parade on the Hillsborough River. They hope to have more than three dozen boats and hundreds of spectators. Held at dusk, boaters sometimes have elaborate set-ups powered by car batteries, while others may have a couple strings of 10 lights run with four C batteries.

As you might guess, this parade is for those of you with smaller craft. It’s easy to be in the parade, and they encourage anyone with any type of boat to get in on the fun. Kinda sounds like the redneck yacht club. I’d fit right in.

All boaters with kayaks, canoes and traditional motor craft are invited to join the Annual Hillsborough River Holiday Boat Parade, Saturday December 8, sponsored by Friends of the River. Boaters meet at the Lowry Park ramp at 5:30 p.m. and travel upriver from 6-8 p.m. past the illuminated Sulphur Springs Tower to the Harbor Club on the river at Nebraska Ave. Incoming tides will be favorable that evening for this trip. Free entry.

This is the boat parade for the rest of us - yacht ownership NOT required. Decorate whatever you have that floats and join the fun!

Spectators can gather to view the parade at the riverfront park by the Sulphur Springs City Pool and historic Gazebo, where they will find plenty of parking and room for viewing.

This year’s parade theme is A New Day in Tampa Bay, celebrating the coming rebirth of the Lower Hillsborough River. New Year’s Day 2008 fresh water starts flowing down the river every day from now on, something our community has not seen for 36 years. This daily minimal flow will provide good conditions for the River to once again function as Tampa Bay’s estuary, the nursery where fish are born & raised. Friends of the River advocated the river’s restoration for the past 9 years, winning its case when Swiftmud set the River Recovery Plan in motion this fall. As a result, scientists expect fishing in the Hillsborough River and Tampa Bay to improve dramatically next year, along with birds and manatees, and to get even better every year from now on as conditions necessary for fish to spawn continue to improve.

This sounds like a great time on the river. Grab your rafts, and head out to Lowry Park at 5pm. The parade ends at the historic Harbor Club at Nebraska Avenue, and rumor says their waterfront bar will be open!

Last year the Tampa Marketing Company elected to join a number of business groups and organizations. Many have been interesting and have provided us with access to a lot of information and we’ve gotten to meet some very nice and productive people.

One of the groups we joined is the North Tampa Chamber of Commerce. We have been very disappointed in our membership there for a lot of reasons which I could put into a very long list, but rather than resign early, we chose to remain a member in good standing - at least until our dues expire.

Today we learned just how out of touch this group is:

“Show Your North Tampa Pride and Support the Chamber!”

In celebration of the North Tampa Chamber of Commerce’s 60th anniversary, a commemorative “North Tampa Pride” T-shirt has been created. These colorful shirts are a great way to show your pride in North Tampa. All profits generated support the North Tampa Chamber.

Hey, we fully support GLBT rights, but we also know that the North Tampa Chamber has no clue as to how people in the community will interpret their new message. Or maybe North Tampa Pride is just different than the regular old Tampa Pride or Brandon Pride. Maybe.

Are they now supporting GLBT rights? or are they simply out of touch? Unfortunately, we know the answer.

St. Pete Times writer Sharon Tubbs found a new old neighborhood in Tampa.

You might remember when I found out about a city or neighborhood named Rattlesnake in Tampa. Now we have a brand new Spring Hill in Tampa. Nope - not THAT Spring Hill.

Spring Hill was near the old Sulphur Springs, and has now been sorta deemed part of Sulphur Springs, but it wasn’t always. The boundaries are roughly Central Avenue east to 12th Street, and Yukon north to Skagway.

vox populi found an old promo photograph of the Outlaws standing at the Sulphur Springs Ar cade in 1974.

Although most people say the band formed in the early 70’s, that fan page includes the time when they called themselves “The Four Letter Words,” and how they originally got together in Ybor City in the mid-sixties.

The Outlaws tour on a regular basis. They will be playing in Tampa at the Ford Amphitheatre on May 11.

The Sulphur Springs Ar cade was bulldozed in the 70’s. It’s still a parking lot.

76 years ago…

January 2, 1931 – Sheriff R.T. Joughin shoots and kills James Turner, a Chicago gangster who earlier in the day had orchestrated a daring escape from a county prison truck, in an open field northeast of Sulphur Springs.

Courtesy of the Tampa Bay History Center.

80 years ago…

December 8, 1926 – The Sulphur Springs Volunteer Fire Department purchases a new American – La France fire truck. The fire engine, which cost $12,500 ($132,000 in today’s dollars) was capable of pumping 750 gallons of water per minute. An adequate water supply was another issue, however, and the volunteer fire department had to resort to pumping water from the Sulphur Springs pool to fight fires that were nearby.

Courtesy of the Tampa Bay History Center.

60 years ago…

November 22, 1946 – A record opening-day crowd of more than 4,000 fans pour $88,000 ($903,640 in today’s dollars) through the betting windows of the Tampa Dog Track to set a new high mark for the first night of greyhound racing at Sulphur Springs. While the huge figure was not a record for the track, it was the biggest amount wagered for the opening card since the track opened in 1931. The large crowd jammed every available space around the home stretch of the track and packed the grandstand to overflow capacity.

Courtesy of the Tampa Bay History Center.

50 years ago…

November 7, 1956 – A full-grown male gorilla escapes from his cage in North Sulphur Springs and severely injures his handler before being shot to death by County Traffic Officer Lloyd Simmons. King Kong, a 230-pound gorilla known to be vicious, escaped from his cage and leaped upon Alva B. Dexter as he and Leo Carroll, the owner, neared the cage to feed him. Dexter suffered severe lacerations of the face and arms as the gorilla bit and clawed him. Officer Simmons approached within eight feet of King Kong before firing a single shot from his 9mm pistol into the gorilla’s chest, killing him instantly.

Courtesy of the Tampa Bay History Center.