Tales of Sarasota with Pete & Diane

The lack of entertainment opportunities has been a complaint often voiced by youthful members of just about every community. Growing up in Sarasota, us young'ns, back in the '30s and '40s, had, oh let's see, Church activities, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, tennis, archery, sailing, swimming, baseball, softball, football.

High School football was number one spectator sport for kids and adults especially back in 1940. That year my sister, Marjorie was in the pep squad, brother Raymond and I were in the marching band.

How engrained that was; Friday night football and an after-game drive through SMACK.  How engrained? In 1965, after I joined the Rotary Club, I was talking to Marjorie and tried to sell her some tickets to the Rotary Charity Ball. As she was opening her purse, I mentioned to her that the Ball was next Friday night.  Her purse snapped shut as she told me "That was stupid! Pete, did they forget, that's the night of the football game??"

Life was/is good.

We've found out it really is a small world since we've been writing this blog. When we agreed to write a blog about growing up in Sarasota little did we know that tales of our personal experiences would be so far reaching.

After I wrote a blog about the Bee Line Ferry across Tampa Bay a friend of ours gave me an aerial photo of the opening day of the first Sunshine Skyway bridge so I decided to do a follow-up story and in order to verify the date of the Skyway opening I Googled "Sunshine Skyway" and to my utter surprise, there was my previous blog.

Recently our editor notified us that he had received an email from a man stating that he had read our blog about his aunt, Margaret Myrwang, "The Bicycle Lady" whom he remembered seeing many times in his youth when she came to visit his family. He requested a meeting with us when he was visiting here in Sarasota the following week.

Before their visit we went to the Sarasota County History Center to do some research in old City Directories to provide him with addresses and dates where Margaret had lived during her years in Sarasota.

He and his wife came to our house and we had a lovely 2 1/2 hour visit. They live in the DC area and he is a retired Lutheran Minister.  We were able to give them information on areas where Margaret used to paint, and he even found a retired minister in South Carolina who had one of Margaret's paintings and was willing to give it to them. It would be wonderful if this blog uncovered more of her art works they could obtain.

While they were in Sarasota they visited some of Margaret's old haunts and they went to McCown Towers where they found some folks who remembered her. And, the world seems to be getting smaller all the time.  Life was/is good.

Back in the late 1960s, I was in our shop (Sarasota Cycle & Key Shop) one day, by myself, when a trucker came in with a shipment for us. After he unloaded his goods he came into the shop to get a check for the shipping charges.

I asked him how much the charges were and he said $54.40 to which I replied: "Or Fight." He said, "No lady I don't want to fight, I just want a check for $54.40," to which I replied, "Don't you remember back in your history lessons in the mid 1800s there was a clash over the border between the US and Canada and the rallying cry was '54/40' or fight?" He looked at me like I had two heads and said: "No lady I just want a check for $54.40." I realized I shouldn't pursue this conversation any longer so I walked up to the front of the shop to get the check book and proceeded to write a check for him.

About that time a man walked into our shop with a wheel in hand for repairs. I looked up at him and told him I'd be right with him as soon as I finished writing a check and I turned to the trucker to verify the amount and when the trucker, who was getting a little perturbed with me by this time, said "It's $54.40" and with that the man with the wheel said: "Or fight."
 
I turned around and said to the man with the wheel: "I'm so glad you said that because I said the same thing to the trucker and he thinks I'm nuts". To which the wheel man replied: "Well I don't know about you but I am." I pointed to the front door and told the wheel man:  "Out, out and never darken my door again." 

The trucker grabbed the check and was scratching his head as he walked out and the wheel man and I stood there and roared. If this little scenario had been scripted it couldn't have been more perfect.  

Life’s good.

Summertime in Sarasota was made even more delightful for us teen-agers with the opening of our gorgeous Lido Beach Municipal Casino. One of its new modern gadgets was a coin operated binocular on the second floor balcony overlooking the snow-white sand being kissed by the Gulf of Mexico.

One July 1940 Sunday afternoon's peace and tranquility was suddenly interrupted by a lady's high pitched screaming voice summoning the nearby lifeguards.

"Hurry", she exclaimed. "There are three people out there about a mile.  I can see three heads but they aren't moving."  Two of the lifeguards ran to the water and swam out as fast as they could.

According to the front page article in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune the event transpired over a two-hour time frame. On Monday, the three "rescued" teen-aged boys were charged with disturbing the peace and endangering the lives of public servants.

According to my brother Ray, he and two buddies were out there, just floating and drifting with the tide. Fortunately, they weren't tired out, because the lifeguards had spent their energy and needed help getting back to shore. Life was/is good.

Name that Christmas Carol

1. Bleached Yule
2. Castaneous-colored seed vesicated in a conflagration
3. Singular yearning for the twin anterior incisors
4. Righteous Darkness
5. Arrival time 2400 hours – weather cloudless
6. Loyal followers advance
7. Far off in a feeder
8. Array the corridor
9. Bantam male percussionist
10. Monarchial triad
11. Nocturnal noiselessness
12. Jehovah deactivate blithe Chevaliers
13. Red man en route to borough
14. Frozen precipitation commence
15. Proceed and enlighten on the pinnacle
16. The quadruped with the vermillion proboscis
17. Query regarding identity of descendant
18. Delight for the planet
19. Give attention to the melodious celestial beings
20. The dozen festive 24 hour intervals

And the Answers:

1. White Christmas
2. Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire
3. All I Want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth
4. O Holy Night
5. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
6. O Come, All Ye Faithful
7. Away in a Manger
8. Deck the Halls
9. Little Drummer Boy
10. We Three Kings
11. Silent Night
12. God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen
13. Santa Claus is Coming to Town
14. Let it Snow.
15. Go Tell it On the Mountain
16. Rudolph, the Red-nosed Reindeer
17. What Child Is This?
18. Joy to the World
19. Hark, the Herald Angels Sing
20. The Twelve Days of Christmas