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Soon after getting my BSBA from the University of Florida in 1956, I really had no desire to go out and conquer the world of business and finance. I decided that Sarasota was the place to be. Our business, Sarasota Cycle & Key Shop had a local franchise from Schwinn Bicycles.

There were no Schwinn dealers in Arcadia, Venice or Englewood. Usually we sold about a dozen Schwinns at Christmas time to people from those areas. Some parents wanted their kids to have something better than a Montgomery-Ward or a Sears-Roebuck bike.

One day in the late 50s a middle-aged man and wife came in and bought a "his" and a matching "hers" shiny new Schwinns.  During the course of the transaction the man told me they selected Englewood as their retirement city because it was small, laid back, friendly, no one in a big city rush-rush, and people stop and visit. He allowed as how Sarasota had more stores, 2 train stations, 12 doctors, 4 dentists, 2 movie theaters, but he liked living in Englewood.

I told him I could appreciate how he felt because I was born and raised in a town about the size of Englewood. "Oh? Where was that?" he asked. "Sarasota", I replied.  Life was/is good.

Lately we've been reminiscing about the foyer of the old SHS building and wondering whatever happened to the statues that graced the alcoves on either side of the main foyer.  The foyer was a jewel architecturally with gothic arches over the alcove areas. 

The foyer was pictured in the 1937 Sailor's Log annual as pictured here along with the statues and the graduating classes that presented them as their class gift/legacy. The two native American Indians are reminiscent of Frederic Remington. The Mercury, Victory and Discus Thrower are interpretations of classic Greek sculptures. The bust is of Howard Mann who was considered the Father of American Public Education.

I do know that at some point the alcoves were dry-walled in to create storage until around 2005-2006 when a renovation was completed to restore the foyer to its former glory. I remember attending that ‘Grand Re-opening’ but the statues have never been returned and I don't know if anyone knows where they might be. So this is a call to our community. If anyone has any clue as to the whereabouts, or the fate of these statues, please contact Larry Kelleher or Lee Gaines here at Sarasota History Alive!  Life was/is good.

In most cases, M.Y.F. stands for Methodist Youth Fellowship. But this past month, one of my childhood playmates, Walter Delbert Ammons, better known as "Bert", passed away.

Now, Bert was an adventurous soul who was always ready to attack a challenge; Boy Scout leader, licensed marine captain, licensed multi-engine airplane pilot, successful Bahamian entrepreneur. You name it; he would give it a try.

Bert's passing gently prodded my cobwebs into recollecting one of our early misadventures. One evening back when we were about fourteen years old, our MYF group scheduled a sundown hay ride sing-along with hot dogs and toasted marshmallows. A local feed & seed store gave us a couple hay bales but the guy with the truck never showed up at the church.

Bert's dad had a roofing business so Bert and I volunteered to go get a big old roofing truck. Back then people left keys in ignitions and the chain-link fence gate was no obstacle for a pair of fourteen year-olds.

In spite of threatening clouds the group hopped into the truck bed and we headed for Siesta Beach. Tar mops, wheel barrows, shovels and brooms not withstanding to the contrary the kids in the back seemed to be having a good time. That is until it started to rain. That was also when the truck engine cut off, came back on, cut off and came back on. So, Bert made a U-turn and we asked the Man upstairs for a couple of favors. Arriving safely back at the church we made a fire in the parsonage fireplace and had "the best tasting dawgs and mallows ever you seen in the whole wide world ".

The next day Bert's dad told us that truck had a rusty gas tank and hadn't been driven in several months, it wouldn't even run. But first he made sure that Bert would be eating his meals off their fireplace mantel for a couple days.  Life was/is good

I'm sure many of you readers remember when Howard Johnson’s orange roof was on the South Trail near Sarasota High School. I think there's a Taco Bell there now.

One day, when our son was about 6 or 7 years old we went into Ho Jo for a "treat" on a hot summer day, kinda like we're dealing with these days. When the waitress asked Ken what flavor ice cream he'd like, he asked what flavors they had. The waitress patiently reeled off all 28 flavors: Banana, Black Raspberry, Burgundy Cherry, Butter Pecan, Buttercrunch, Butterscotch, Caramel Fudge, Chocolate, Chocolate Chip, Coconut, Coffee, Frozen Pudding, Fruit Salad, Fudge Ripple, Lemon Stick, Macaroon, Maple Walnut, Mocha Chip, Orange-Pineapple, Peach, Peanut Brittle, Pecan Brittle, Peppermint Stick, Pineapple, Pistachio, Strawberry, Strawberry Ripple and Vanilla.

When she finished, he innocently looked at her and said:  "I'll have vanilla."  Life was/is good.

Ya know what? The older I get, the more I realize what a privileged life I have been able to enjoy; not lots of money or material things, just THINGS. A unique aspect of my youth was brought to mind one day at our bicycle/lock and key shop, Diane and I operated for 42 years.

A customer brought into the shop four steamer or wardrobe trunks (like large foot lockers) needing new locks or keys. After giving the trunks the eyeball I told the customer we could do the job if he would leave them a couple days. He did and we did.  When he came to pick them up he told me he was from Tampa and he had taken the trunks to shops in Tampa, St. Pete and Bradenton. They all referred him to our shop.

Back in 1928-1940 my Dad operated Esthus Transfer Co. while learning to be a locksmith.  He became familiar with trunks brought in by winter travelers on the Seaboard Railroad and the Atlantic Coastline Railroad.

During those years, and later, another exposure to trunks was when the Ringling Circus would return to winter quarters. Headline and star performers traveled with trunks. While on the road keys got lost, and locks broken. I used to ride with my Dad out to the winter quarters to pick up trunks to repair. And a special treat was to repair unicycles and bicycles that would be ridden on the high wire.

WOW!  DID I HAVE BRAGGIN' RIGHTS!   Life was/is good.