This edition’s plant oddity is another airborne fern – only this one is hard to miss. A staghorn fern in your yard guarantees compliments and conversation. These epiphytes (air plants that don’t require soil to grow) can be found growing on the sides of trees, but more ambitious gardeners hang them aloft from great oak branches like floating plant planets. 

First, we dispel a common misconception. Astonish (or admonish) your friends by correcting them with this bit of trivia: Most of the staghorn ferns we see hanging around St. Petersburg are actually elkhorn ferns. Staghorn ferns are bigger, usually singular plants with a large, shield-like frond at the front that collects water.… Read More

Were charcuterie boards a “thing” 37 years ago? If so, they certainly weren’t served when American Stage first started producing outdoor theatre shows at Demen’s Landing Park in 1986. Back then, American Stage park shows were much smaller-scale productions, but this April, organizers expect an estimated 17,000 people – and yes, charcuterie boards. 

On April 12, Demen’s Landing will come alive for opening night of Ragtime – the Musical. It’s the St. Pete theatre company’s largest park show yet, featuring 24 actors and a nine-piece live band for a two-and-a-half-hour musical that famously tells the story of three ethnic groups surviving (and sometimes thriving, though mostly not) in New York City during the turn of the century. … Read More

An impulse changed Carol Poulson’s life and she’s ready to do the same for others. In 2014, while teaching school, she had a sudden realization, “I need to get on an airplane and go somewhere.” And it wasn’t because her class was driving her crazy. Poulson realized something was missing. As a stay-at-home mom, she loved taking care of her sons, planning birthday parties, volunteering at their school, and driving the carpool. But carving time out of her busy day for a little self-care or “fun” made her feel guilty. 

“As moms, we really do need to put our oxygen mask on first,” Poulson says. … Read More

Williams Park has long been at the heart of downtown St. Petersburg, with a unique history that dates to the very planning of the city. The block-sized piece of land was donated by city founder John Williams, and it shows up on the first city plat in 1888.  

The area opened under the name “City Park” but was, like much of Florida at the time, overrun with palmettos and scrub brush. According to Making of St. Petersburg, by Will Michaels, though John Williams died in 1892, his widow, Sarah, continued to work with volunteers to get the park underway. In 1893, the Park Improvement Association formed and, with the aid of women from the local churches, sponsored a Park Day.… Read More

Deris and Gabriel Fernandez came to America from Venezuela about four years ago. I was volunteering at the Tomlinson Adult Learning Center and first heard about the couple after they began taking English as a Second Language (ESOL) classes at the center. When the pandemic hit, the school couldn’t hold classes and we connected to practice English via weekly Zoom calls. I wrote a story about my experience helping them with conversational English in January of 2021 for the Northeast Journal. Two years later, I was curious about how they were progressing and reconnected with them. We met for coffee at The Blend Old Northeast and again at my home a few weeks later.… Read More

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

Now we come upon the months of love and luck – of the Irish! We’ve got a sampling of some of the new and original art to discover in St. Pete in the new year.  

Galleries

ArtLofts: Valentwe’en 2023: Kiss of Death. 10 5th Street South, second floor. Opening reception February 11, 5-9 pm; 12-4 pm Saturdays and by appointment through February 28. Brandybstark132@gmail.com.

This marks the 8th annual holiday combining concepts of second Halloween with gothic romance. This year, the show features those sexy, powerful, and predatory paranormal creatures: vampires! The opening reception is during Second Saturday Artwalk.… Read More

The Northeast Journal’s longtime contributor and resident historian, Will Michaels, was honored by the Tony Jannus Society at their annual banquet, Saturday, November 12 at the Vinoy Hotel.

The Special Award was presented to Will, president of the nonprofit Flight 2014, Inc, in recognition of his instrumental efforts to bring the Benoist Airboat back to St. Petersburg through a life-size monument at the St. Pete Pier, near the exact spot of Tony Jannus’ famous flight in 1914. Will is one of five people to receive this prestigious award since the society was founded.

In addition to preserving the legacy of Tony Jannus, the Tony Jannus Society also offers financial assistance to college students pursuing studies in aviation and conducts an annual essay contest for high school students to encourage careers in aviation.… Read More