It took a master falconer from Georgia to open my eyes to the natural gem just four miles from my home in the Old Northeast. It was one of those glorious winter days that makes you realize why everyone moves to Florida; a deep freeze had struck much of the nation, while St. Pete enjoyed blue skies and low 70-degree temperatures. Our family decided to go to Raptor Fest at the Boyd Hill Nature Preserve, an event we’d heard rave reviews of over the years, but never attended. After strolling past volunteers holding all manner of curious birds, we hurried to a set of grandstands set up for a “free flight” demonstration.… Read More

If you build it, they will come. No, not baseball-playing ghosts. Pollinators! Bees, butterflies, birds…the list goes on, and includes mosquitoes (they don’t all bite!), bats (who suffer from seriously bad PR), and countless other four-footed and two-winged creatures that can fight climate change. That’s right: If you want to fight climate change, find a way to attract pollinators to your garden. 

Healthy soil traps carbon, which helps moderate climate change. Worried about sea level rise? Every native pollinator plant in your landscape provides a metaphorical sandbag against the rising waters. Of course, it will take plenty of pollinators to reverse things, but every purple coneflower helps. … Read More

The story of the preservation of our city’s historic 1920s-era Vinoy Park Hotel is well documented. Not so well known is how preservation of the Vinoy led to the preservation of many other historic places throughout the city and continues to do so.

In 1945 the Vinoy Hotel was acquired from its founder Amyer Vinoy Laughner by hotelier Charles Alberding of Chicago. Maintenance of the hotel had deteriorated over the years, and Alberding tried to bring it back to its former glory without success. Beginning in 1972, Alberding began leasing the hotel to interested investors. In 1984 a partnership composed of B.… Read More