Neighborhood News

A Publication of the Southeast Seminole Heights Civic Association March 2011

From the President Sherry Simons

2011 TOGETHER ~ Strength in Numbers
This first issue of our newsletter for 2011 is a celebration of a new mind-set in Seminole Heights.
Officers 2011 is all about working as a team to get things done!
When the Associations were formed SESH was cut off from their sister neighborhoods and their
President organizations by the interstate. The division became far more than just a physical divide and over
Sherry Genovar-Simons the years SESH has struggled to be recognized as a viable partner in Seminole Heights. For years
president@seshca.com the motto of SESHCA has been “Working Together to Make Things Better.” While we work to
continue that spirit in SESH, we are also attempting to carry that same attitude outside of our neigh-
Vice President borhood boundaries.
Frank Roder Over the past few years inroads have been made in working together but most of the com-
vice_president@seshca.com bined efforts have been limited to land use and Neighborhood Watch issues. The Vehicle Patrol
Treasurer which was instrumental in helping to deter prostitution along our corridors only became successful
when the neighborhoods to the north and to the south of Hillsborough started working together.
Randi Raaen Form Based Zoning was a gem of an idea which came originally from a collaboration of all three
treasurer@seshca.com SH Associations.
Secretary The Boards of OSHNA and SSHCA have been invited to SESHCA’s porch parties, brunches
Tiffany Horstman and Holiday Social in the hopes that getting to know each other better would foster a better work-
secretary@seshca.com ing relationship and in January, the three Association Presidents met with the intent of fusing a new
partnership dedicated to a working together attitude which would embrace all aspects of neighbor-
Directors/Trustees hood life. The first joint project was the well attended Political Forum, held in the Garden Center in
Rich Guagliardo January. The Forum was a kind of test to see how we could make it work. The success of the forum
trustee2@seshca.com has opened the doors to all kinds of joint efforts.
Suzan Martin Look through this newsletter to see where the working together spirit is starting to root and
trustee3@seshca.com grow. We hope you will join in and help to make Seminole Heights an even better place to live in
Beverly Morrow 2011 and the years that follow!
trustee4@seshca.com
Sylvia Vanacore
General Membership Meeting
trustee5@seshca.com Tuesday, March 15 • 7pm
CONTACT SESHCA
Kathryn Malone Center at Giddens Park
813.423.0671 n Corner 12th Street and Giddens Avenue n
Committee Chairs
info@seshca.com GUEST SPEAKERS FROM TECO
For everyone who has asked about the power outages and who has right of way
tree trimming issues, then attendance this meeting is a must. This guest will be at
Our Neighborhood
our meeting because YOU asked, so please have your questions ready and attend!
Boundaries
Hillsborough Ave South to In addition some new information on current neighborhood projects
Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd will be announced.
& I-275 East to 15th St Join us at 6:30 for refreshments & door prizes!
 2011 New Era in Seminole Heights
Important Numbers
TPD Non-Emergency............................ 231-6130 For some time the motto
TPD Dist 1 (W of Nebraska).................. 354-6600 of SESHCA has been Work-
TPD Dist 2 (E of Nebraska)................... 931-6500 ing Together to Make Things
Better. And many times over
TPD Dist 3........................................... 276-3700
the past few years the three
QUAD Squad . ....................... 276-3443 or 3444 SH Associations have worked
(Investigates street level drugs) together on a project or two
Police Chief Jane Castor........................ 276-3727 and tried whenever possible
City Council......................................... 274-8131 to support each other.
Mayor Pam Iorio.................................. 274-8251 But 2011 has brought a
Animal Services................................... 744-5660 commitment from the lead-
ers of SESHCA, OSHNA,
Code Enforcement................................ 274-5545
and SSHCA to work together to make things better
City Clerk............................................ 274-8396 for Greater Seminole Heights. This commitment included a letter of congratu-
Garbage Pick-Up................................. 348-1146 lation to the new Hampton Terrace Neighborhood Association and an invita-
tion to join in on the combined effort.
Committees The first project of this new
E-mail: Committee@seshca.com teamwork was the Greater Sem-
inole Heights Forum which was
To contact any of the committee members
an enormous success in both
listed below, simply leave them a message
candidate and guest participa-
at 813.423.0671 or email them at the tion. But the biggest success
address above. was the work together spirit of
Membership/Welcome Neighbor the three Associations. Each of
Rich Guagliardo the Associations brings a dif-
Rue MacKenzie ferent outlook and skill set to
Neighborhood Watch l Vehicle Patrol the table which when chan-
Sherry Simons neled together makes for
Newsletter some creative, productive energy
Maria Garcia-Gutierrez, Editor which can only benefit all of Seminole Heights.
Paint Your Heart Out - Tampa
Frank Roder
Social
Susan Ladika Friends of
B’GoSH - Business Guild of Seminole Heights Seminole Heights Library
Rich Guagliardo, Rep
Land Beautification/Greenways Folk Artist: Ruby C. Williams
Ryan Horstman Visits Seminole Heights Library
Kiosk at Giddens Park From her humble beginning in
Randi Raaen Bealsville, Florida to places untold,
Neighbor Helping Neighbor Ruby C. Williams is well known for her
Frank Roder brightly painted Folk Art. She shared
Jeff Glumb stories about her faith, family and food
Animal Control produce and how they all played a part
Rebecca Fishel in helping her to follow her dream of
VOZO - Variance, Overlay, Zoning Oversight painting. This self taught Folk Artist is still astounded by the fact that her work
Beverly Morrow has been seen in several galleries around the world and ultimately at the Smith-
Historian sonian Institute in Washington, D.C. She talked, shared pictures, articles and a
book about her life and work. She takes great pride in her work and has a story
Irene Matthews
about each piece. With her calm demeanor and quick wit, she was delightful,
Pat Benjamin
entertaining and inspirational.

“Working together to make things better.” • page 2 www.seshca.com March 2011

It’s Time to Get HIT! HIT - Curb Appeal Coming Soon to Seminole Heights!

The Home Improvement Team, or “HIT” as it has become better known, was the
brainchild of resident, Maria Garcia, and started with a group of neighbors (about 12
of them) back in 2002.
HIT’s premise is this ... a group of neighbors get together one Saturday a month to
work on one neighbor’s home improvement project. The HIT team has done many types
of projects, from installing wood privacy and picket fences, interior painting, landscaping,
pavers, to rebuilding porch decks and garage floors! Neighbors provide the FREE labor,
and bring whatever tools they have that will help complete the job, and the homeowner
provides the necessary materials for their project, plus breakfast, lunch and water/sodas.
We take turns working on each others’ projects, but the catch is, you must work on at least
2 projects before being able to have a project done at your house. It’s hard work, but it’s
very rewarding, you get to meet new people, and most of all, have FUN in the process. No
special skills or talents are required, it’s total on-the-job training.
HIT became an award-winning project, and put Southeast Seminole Heights on
the map when it was named the “2003 Neighborhoods USA
National Neighborhood of the Year.” The HIT Team
continued on for several years, but due to the declining
economy, and so many neighbors shifting their priorities
from home improvement to economic survival, we decided
to put HIT on hiatus until things got a bit better.
So here goes! Even though times are still tough we
think it’s time to get HIT rolling again. But this time we are
going to mix things up a bit. Let’s call this newly revived HIT
... Home Improvement Team - CURB APPEAL.
Since many projects require the homeowner to spend a
good chunk of money on materials, we thought that maybe
we could start off by concentrating on sprucing up the front
yards of our homes. Projects that won’t cost a fortune and can be
easily accomplished in one day. Things like pressure washing the
front of the house, repairing/repainting picket fences, sprucing
up front porches, hey even a fresh coat of paint on the front door
can work wonders for
the appearance of our
house! How about gen-
eral landscape mainte-
nance, weed pulling,
tree and shrub trim-
ming? Splurge on new sod! Heck, you’ll have
New Home a hand full of volunteers there to help lay it
down. These are just some ideas.
Improvement There are lots of empty houses in our
Team forming neighborhood, and potential buyers driving
through. If we can make our homes look
now! great from the street, maybe it will attract
more people to want to buy in our neighbor-
If you are interested hood and call it “home”. But more impor-
in joining HIT, tantly, we do it for ourselves, because we’ve
tackled that project that has been sitting on
please email
a shelf forever, we did it with the help of
Maria Garcia-Gutierrez
our neighbors, and in the process have built
at 2dgdesignstudio@ some awesome friendships along the way.
tampabay.rr.com
“Working together to make things better.” • page 3 www.seshca.com March 2011
 A Word from Old Seminole Heights
Achieving Goals
In March of 2010, Tampa Parks and Recreation
went in search of sponsors to purchase new soccer goal
posts for the Henry and Ola sports complex in Seminole
Heights. Every child that plays on a City of Tampa soccer
team plays their games at this park, as do a large number
of adult teams and soccer enthusiasts. The existing goal
posts were fashioned by the City using scrap metal that
had jagged edges, multiple weld repairs, and rust. In one
instance, an old city sign post had been welded in to re-
place a broken portion.
Two organizations agreed to help acquire new equip-
ment, the Old Seminole Heights Neighborhood Associa-
tion (OSHNA), and the Old Seminole Heights Preserva-
tion Consortium (OSHPC). The two organizations host
the Old Seminole Heights home tour each year and
chose to dedicate $3000 of the
proceeds to help fund
the new equipment.
The neighborhood
association cre-
ated a temporary
soccer committee
to handle the de-
tails and named Matt
Welch as chairperson. guided excursion. Maps will be provided.
On August 28th, the OSHNA soccer committee and the
OSHPC kicked off a free children's soccer clinic and BBQ.
The event was intended to raise awareness of the need
for new equipment, to raise the remaining funds required,
and to broaden the community's involvement. Over 40
kids, their parents, and other enthusiasts came together to
support their park. Former professional footballer Eddie
Oyakhilome of the EJJE Foundation and the University of
Tampa Women's soccer team provided free instruction to
the children.
With the parents, adult soccer teams, and even the
kids chipping in donations, the OSHPC raised $400 that
afternoon, bringing the fund to $3600 out of the $4000
required.
OSHNA and OSHPC volunteers spent the next few
months approaching private donors to reach the final
goal and order the equipment. The final donation ar-
rived in January and the equipment was ordered shortly
after, arriving in Tampa in mid-February in time for chil-
dren's soccer to start on Saturday March 5th. When the
teams lined up that Saturday morning, they saw three sets
of new, aluminum goal posts with new nets that correctly
fit each one. These posts won’t rust, do not represent a
health hazard, but more importantly, they make it easier
to tell if a young sports star achieved their goal.
“Working together to make things better.” • page 4
OSHNA PRESENTS
THE 13TH ANNUAL HOME TOUR
by Cathy Simon & Evan St. Ives
After two years of nervous anticipation, while the Garden
Center has been undergoing its’ $1.4 million renovation, we
are now celebrating its reopening in time for the OSHNA 2011
Home Tour. We are FINALLY returning to the Garden Center
for the starting point of the Home Tour. The renovations made
included opening up blocked windows, installing doors in their
original locations, removing wood paneling from the walls and
stripping linoleum off the floors. It feels like it belongs in Seminole
Heights once again.
This year’s Tour is being presented by both the Old Seminole
Heights Neighborhood Association and Old Seminole Heights
Preservation Consortium, Inc. Please mark your calendars
for April 3rd, when the Tour will begin at 11:30AM. Al-
though it has rained only once on Home Tour day in the many
years of the Tour’s history, we want to assure our attendees that
the Tour will continue, come rain or come shine!
The Jolley Trolley from St. Petersburg will be transporting visi-
tors on the beautiful tree-lined streets through our neighborhood
to allow you to tour many wonderful homes. As in years past,
we will have a bicycle route provided by the Seminole Heights
Bicycle Club. You may also choose to see the homes on a self-
To purchase tickets, visit oldseminoleheights.org where you
may pay with a credit card. Also, we are making tickets available
at several locations within the neighborhood. Come to a Sunday
Morning Market (held on the front lawn of Hillsborough High
School) where we accept cash or checks only or visit one of the
local businesses: Cleanse Apothecary (5127 North Florida Ave)
or 3 Coins Restaurant (7410 North Nebraska Ave) where they
will accept cash or checks. If you wish to pay in cash, please
make sure you have the exact amount, $10 per ticket. Checks
should be made payable to OSHNA.
Every year the Home Tour donates a portion of the proceeds
to a local charity. This year’s Home Tour charity donation will
help fund a project to restore a spring in Seminole Heights and
one other local charitable organization.
We are currently looking for sponsors, both at the business
and family levels. Prices are available on the OSHNA website:
www.oldseminoleheights.org. Sponsorship payments may be
made through the Old Seminole Heights Preservation Consor-
tium to provide the tax benefit of a 501(C)3 organization. If you
are interested in becoming a sponsor or advertiser in the Home
Tour Brochure, please contact Cathy Simon, Home Tour Com-
mittee Chair, at hometour@oldseminoleheights.org or at 813-
231-2553. Also, please contact Cathy Simon if you need more
information or if you would like to volunteer to be part of this
great Home Tour.
www.seshca.com March 2011
 Joining Together at the Sunday Morning Market
When you visit the Sunday Morning Market look for
the SH Associations Welcome Center. SESHCA, SSHCA
& OSHNA are joining their individual tents together to of-
fer a combined welcome area. Local resident are invited
to come “sit a spell” and while there find out the very lat-
est that is happening in SH. This month OSHNA Home
Tour info and Tickets will be featured..
Large maps showing the boundaries of each Associa-
tion will help new residents get in touch with the Association
that serves their area. Representatives of each Association
will be available to chat and answer questions. All kinds of
info will be available at each market, including Association
newsletters, meeting schedules, event calendars, etc.

So if you visit the Sunday Morning Market, and you defi-

nitely should, please stop by the SH Associations Welcome
Center. Find out about where you live. See what is hap-
pening, what’s important that you need to know and share
your thoughts so we know what matters to you. Everyone is
welcome, residents and could be residents and visitors from
anywhere!

Sunday Morning Market

Second Sunday of the Month from October to May.
Located on the grounds of Hillsborough HS.

2011 2011 Porch Parties

Upcoming Porch Parties are open to ALL residents of Seminole Heights and their
Events guests. They begin at 7pm and last until ???! All we ask is that you bring
an appetizer, snack, salad, dish, side or dessert to share and your choice
of beverage. Get to know your neighbors and just unwind on a Friday or
Saturday night!
March 22, 2011
RUN OFF ELECTIONS April 2nd • Saturday
Manny Gutierrez & Maria Garcia-Gutierrez 910 E North Bay
“You Kill It We Grill It”
April 9, 2011 May 7th• Saturday
PAINT YOUR HEART Bob Simon 1014 E Chelsea “The International Café”
OUT - TAMPA June & July • TBA Interested in hosting? Email us info@seshca.com
August 5th • Friday
SWEEP SCHEDULE Yappy Hour in the Dog Park • Giddens Park
2011
OSH (WEST) - April 11-15
SSH - April 18-22
OSH (EAST) - May 9-13 www.SESHCA.com
SESH - July 18-22 events & information relating to Southeast Seminole Heights
http://seminoleheightstypepad.com/HOTTOPICS

“Working together to make things better.” • page 5 www.seshca.com March 2011

Triple D Comes to the Big T
The first Wednesday in March SH, had a well known
visitor, Food Network Star, Guy Fieri! For those of you who
watch FN, and a lot of SH does, then you know who Guy
is. For the few of you who don’t he is an extremely colorful
chef who came to the FN when he was selected to compete
in the The Next Food Network Star - 2006 and won.
From the first moment he appeared on Network Star
it was obvious that Guy was an out of box kind of guy.
Bleached spiked hair, a goatee and lots of tattoos are not
the usual look for a chef, but Guy is not a usual chef! He
has made dives cool with his extremely popular Diners,
Drive-Inns, and Dives, or as the regular viewers call it Triple D.
In addition Guy cooks on two different shows, Guy’s Big Bite
and Off The Hook.
Guy Fieri spent Wednesday at the Taco Bus, filming. No
one will say, but the guess is it is definitely for Triple D. We
all know it, we have a great “Dive” right here in SH, and how
exciting that the TV world will know also!
No one knows when the show will be on, but we are sure
Taco Bus owner Rene Valenzuela will let us know before it airs
and we will get the word out to everyone. Soon as we know it
will be posted on www.seshca.com and sent out in the SESH
email.
Congrats to Rene and the Taco Bus.
A true Seminole Heights treasure!

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“Working together to make things better.” • page 6 www.seshca.com March 2011

 Relay for Life
April 1, 201, 6pm is the Seminole Heights Relay for
Life to be held on the track at Hillsborough High School
and SESHCA has a team.
Seminole Heights friends, neighbors, organizations,
schools and businesses will spend the night together to
raise money to help find a cure for cancer. Each team
has been raising money prior to the event and will each
set up a fund raiser at the event. Last year under the di-
rection of team Captain Claude Maggi, Team SESH left
it’s goal in the dust and raised $6000. Some of it was
raised the during the overnight relay by selling brats and
lasagna. Theme for this years relay is Show Me the Cure
or show and movie based themes. SESH has chosen the
movie Streetcar Named Desire, with the slogan Desire for
Cure. As the movie was written and filmed in New Orleans
the food this year is Crepes! Dinner crepes will be served
bistro style in the early evening and Desert Crepes will be
served for dessert and late night snacks. In the morning,
breakfast will be served! The more we serve, the more we
make and the hope is to sell it all!
Anyone who would like to help the cause and enjoy
some delicious crepes, come and have dinner with Team
SESH. And while your there, stroll around the track and see
what other goodies are available from other Teams.
All the money taken in will go directly to The American
Cancer Society to aid the search for a cure for cancer.

Date is Saturday April 9th

Contact: Frank Roder @ ROMERXVI@aol.com
Team SESH can always use more volunteers
Breakfast and Lunch provided!
Shirt @Bar-B-Que celebration
in the early evening for all painters!

“Working together to make things better.” • page 7 www.seshca.com March 2011

 Tampa Neighborhood Volunteers
Say Farewell!
A group of Tampa neighborhood volunteers have
come together to plan an event to say good bye and thank
you to Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio. The volunteers formed
an informal group, had a couple of meetings, and talked
Gary Ellsworth of SSH into taking the helm. After that one
by one each person, representing a cross section of Tampa
residents, volunteered to raise money, do the invitations,
food, beverages, decor, signage, set up, clean up, staffing
and gift. Nothing was hired. It was all grass roots and
typical of Tampa’s neighborhoods.
It amazing to watch how things can work when they
really work well. Everyone in this loosely formed group
from different neighborhoods pitched in and gave their
all to plan a warm, friendly, neighborly farewell and to
have an opportunity to individually express their feelings 4703 N Nebraska Ave in Seminole Heights
of gratitude for eight years of dedicated service. The dra-
matic change in TPD and our receding levels of crime,
We are now open Mon-Thurs 11:30AM to 7PM
and Fridays from 11:30AM to 6PM.
the 40th Street revamp, the Sulphur Springs clean up and
revival, and the partnership with East Tampa are just a few 813.231.6800 • www.Reservationsmenu.com
of the things for which the Tampa neighborhood leaders
and residents credit her awareness and leadership.
The theme of the event, “It’s a Wonderful 8 Years” was
patterned after It’s a Wonderful Life. Maria Garcia-Gutierrez
of 2dg designStudio, designed the logo based on the movie
logo, which was used on everything from the invitation to the
name tags. It is also rumored to be featured on something
special but no one will say exactly what. It is a big secret!
This farewell event is being held on Tuesday, March
15, 2011 at the David Barksdale Center on Lincoln Street
in Tampa. The group, who is working so hard to put on this
unique event only hopes that they can be doing this again
in another eight years ... celebrating another Mayor’s suc-
cessful contributions to our city.

“Working together to make things better.” • page 8 www.seshca.com March 2011