Davis Islands Today

Bayshore Gardens Neighborhood Association president Vicki Pollyea wants to be able to see beautiful Davis Islands when driving along Bayshore Boulevard. Read her guest column in the St. Pete Times - Treasured Bayshore deserves extra protection:

With the sweeping beauty of the bay now healthy and full of wildlife, the vistas of downtown and Davis Islands, the long sidewalk for a variety of sports enthusiasts, its role as a major link in the greenway trail, the historical mansions that grace this tree-lined linear park, Bayshore is a unique treasure that no other city in the world can match.

In the column she argues for a development overlay to restrict how nearby land can be developed. She also suggests that “Everyone agrees that we do not want to see this treasure become a canyon of high-rises, where only the elite can enjoy its many pleasures.”

Do you think Bayshore needs this overlay protection?

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will spend $3.2-million to fortify Tampa General Hospital.

The FEMA grant will pay for 75 percent of improvements to protect the hospital from a destructive hurricane. TGH will use the money to fortify against wind and water damage, providing watertight doors, tougher rooftops and shutters capable of withstanding Category 5 storms.

Read more about it from the St. Pete Times.

From our friends at Wag Pet Boutique:

Second Annual Wellness Expo and Spaw Day
Wag Pet Boutique-304 E. Davis Blvd, Davis Islands
June 30, 11am-3pm
Treat your four legged pooch to a Dog Yoga session, massage, pawicure or Oxyfresh teeth cleaning demo. Meet a few South Tampa dog walkers, learn about pet health and nutrition and take home a doggie bag filled with treat and food samples! St. Francis Society Animal Rescue will be on site with their adorable adoptable dogs and if your fido isn’t Micro-chipped they will provide low cost chipping for $25! Contact Jennifer @ 813-258-9181 with questions!

If you have any events or news, LET US KNOW!

Did you see our very own Josh Albert spent some quality time with Mayor Pam Iorio:

June 12, 2007

Serving as Jr. Mayor, Josh Albert attended several functions and a staff meeting with Mayor Iorio. Josh is a graduate of Plant High School and will be attending the University of Florida in the fall. The Jr. Mayor program offers school-aged children an opportunity to learn about city government and personally experience some of the mayor’s duties.

If you have news to share, don’t forget to tell us - send an email to tommy@davisislandscommunitynews.com

Lee Medart tells us that the Davis Islands Neighbohood Plan passed easily.

There were 145 yes votes, 7 votes for no, and 5 blank votes.

More details to come.

Go vote for the DINP! Results will be here later!

Due to a mix-up, the June letter from the Davis Islands Civic Association did not appear in your printed editions. Here is the entire letter from Charner Reese, President of Davis Islands Civic Association:

Dear Fellow Islanders,

“Now is the time for all Davis Islands residents and other stakeholders to come to the aid of their community” by voting on the recently completed “Davis Islands Community Plan… A Shared Vision of Our Future.”

The DI Neighborhood Planning Task Force has labored for a number of years to bring us a comprehensive and cohesive vision for the future of our community, based on many meetings, forums, interviews and study circles, conducted to understand the issues and reflect our input.

It’s now time to vote. Please turn out Wednesday, June 6th at the HCC Training Center, 39 Columbia Drive, Room 125, anytime between 6:00 pm and 8:00 pm to view the plan and mark your ballot.

On another note, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the volunteers and sponsors of the 2nd annual Ice Cream Social hosted by the Davis Islands Civic Association May 6th at Marjorie Park Yacht Basin. Hundreds of Islanders turned out for music, magic, face painting and, of course, ice cream. So many children were there, I started feeling like a kid again myself!

Kudos and many thanks to Social Committee Chair Rhoda Franklin and her helpers, Karen Abberger and Stephanie Rogers of the Young Islands, DICA Board members Denise Cassedy, Walter Hill, Pam Tayon Colker, Dottie Womble, Phyllis Paycna Fleming, Lisa Devitto, Pat Wolfe, Janice Davis, Greg Rix and Jeffrey Siewert, and volunteer ice cream servers Angela Stalikas, Justin Ott, Blossom Leibowitz, Matt Capoli and John Wolfe. Recognition and much appreciation go to Sweetbay Super Market for the donation of ice cream, toppings, cones and pastries, La Casa Dolce for the donation of Italian gelato, and Publix Super Market and Palm Bank for monetary contributions. Also, a special Thank You to the following individuals: City Council Member Linda Saul-Sena who assisted us with securing the site for the event and helped serve ice cream, City of Tampa employees Richard Russo, Nina Hodges and Barbara Heineken for making the social a “green” event by giving out gift bags filled with water conservation and recycling products and tips and by providing recycling bins, and Parks and Recreation Department employees Dan Carter and Mike Casey for the many ways they helped make the social a success, including providing plenty of ice cold bottles of water.

It was a beautiful and fun-filled day on our waterfront, made possible by a community coming together; and, as Rhoda Franklin described, was truly “from the heart.”

Yours Sincerely,

Charner Reese, President
Davis Islands Civic Association

We here at the Davis Islands Community News enjoyed the Ice Cream Social, and we echo Charner’s appeal to you to please vote on your neighborhood plan by tomorrow. Go vote!

Barefeet Billy told us Pastor Jeff was leaving Davis Islands. Now the St. Pete Times tells us that Senior Pastor of Davis Islands Baptist Church Jeff Parish is headed to Pinellas County.

Jim Johnson of Sticks of Fire says someone brought up Davis Islands at the recent downtown Tampa vision meeting. Audience members suggested DI be included in a couple transportation plans:

• One suggestion was to expand the Intown Trolley to include Davis Islands.
• Another was to make a greater effort to use Peter O Knight Airport as an Executive Airport.

Of course, these are only suggestions, and we’ll see if they get included in the overall vision for downtown Tampa.

Tampa Bay’s 10 covered the 6th Annual School’s out Regatta on Davis Islands:

Some students celebrated the end of school with a friendly sailing competition.

The students participated in the 6th Annual School’s out Regatta on Davis Islands. They raced around a course and each race was recorded. At the end of the two day event, the sailor who won the most races gets a trophy.

The money raised at Saturday’s event will help the Davis Islands Youth Sailing Foundation which strives to teach children ages 8 - 18 the sport of sailing.

There’s also a bit of video of the races.