If you think 50 years ago was a long time, what about 90, when Winnie was born?

We were amused the other week by two stories in The Weekly Challenger, not so much by the stories themselves, which were appropriate celebrations of two separate and unrelated occasions. It was probably more by the juxtaposition of the two articles within the scope of our reading at that particular moment.

One article was the account of the apparently quite wonderful celebration by the Gibbs High School Class of 1967, celebrating its graduation half a century ago. The article and accompanying video are worth taking the time to read. Fifty years is, indeed, a long time and the classmates deserve to gather and remember, and wonderful memories they do have.

Then we read the article about community activist Winnie Foster's 90th birthday celebration and her memories, and it occurred to us that those of us who concur with the Class of 1967 that much has happened in the intervening years, that we experienced so little compared with the likes of Winnie Foster. Ninety years. Indeed.

Congratulations to both the Gibbs Class of 1967 and to the legendary Winnie Foster.

Eckerd students participation in Shark Week may rival the one on Discovery Channel

We noted interest an article by Jayne Gardiner in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune the other day that made the point that Sarasota's local Shark Week, which included Eckerd College students, was far more exciting, not to mention real, than the much ballyhooed Shark Week on the Discovery Channel that just concluded.

Olympic champion Michael Phelps' swim against a great white shark was, of course, a ratings record-breaker with more than five million viewers even though some viewers apparently felt somehow cheated when they discovered that Phelps wasn't actually in the water with the shark and that it was animated anyway. Careful viewers understood the details but some apparently missed the disclaimers.

In any case, Jayne Gardiner's article calls attention to a state-funded program in April based at Sarasota's New College in which some 40 marine science students from various colleges, included Eckerd, helped tag and release various varieties of sharks aboard the research vessel R/V Bellows in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Sarasota. The objective was to aid the study of sharks as a species. Bravo to all those adventurous students.

A visit to France draws a local writer to a little French restaurant in Tierra Verde

Writer Tyler Gillespie's study trip to Strasbourg, France, through USF St. Petersburg, led him to learn of a little French restaurant right back here in our own neighborhood. He wrote about his adventure in an article in Creative Loafing. It's about David Weiss and Jean Sebastien, who opened Cordon Bleu about a year ago. It's run the traditional French way: They're open in the morning, then close from 2 p.m to 5 p.m. They reopen at 5 for dinner. If you like dining out, this might be for you.

Gulfport from another perspective gives us another reason to appreciate our community

Sometimes you have to look at something from a different point of view to really see it. We came across this delightful little video on YouTube when we were looking for something else. (Isn't that always the way it goes on the Internet? Definitely a bane for the easily distracted.) Anyway, we found this and we decided to share it. Technology today makes so many amazing things possible. Here's video shot from a drone whirring high above on of our favorite places in our community – Gulfport. This is simple concept, a walk down by the water at sunset. It's something we all enjoy. And with technology like this, we can share it with the world.

If you think vinyl is dead, think again. These people will set you straight now.

The folks in this picture were celebrating the 40th anniversary of Bananas Music, the vinyl record store in St. Petersburg that has a Gulfport connection. You'll have to read Brian Hartz's story in The Gabber to get the full impact. Suffice it to say that Rolling Stone magazine included Bananas Music in it's roundup of top record stores in the country.

At Fort Desoto Park and over at Egmont Key, you can have a really great adventure

It's always great to see our favorite places getting their due in the news. Recent case in point: Cathy Salustri's feature in Creative Loafing about 10 things you can do at Fort DeSoto Park. Cathy, as we've seen in the past with her history courses for Eckerd's OLLI program, clearly loves Florida. Most of the pictures accompanying the article are Cathy's, so she spent some time researching the article. (Nice work, Cathy!) She ends with the sunset (the picture above) but there nine other items, including looking for horseshoe crabs and starfish. There's even a trip over to Egmont Key. You're in for an adventure. 

You've got to go see thise extraordinary art exhibit at the Gulfport Public Library

There are only a few more days to see the extraordinary art exhibit at the Frances Purdy Friends Room at the Gulfport Public Library. Before you go, read Lynn Taylor's article in The Gabber about Gulfport multimedia artist Cindy Heidel and her exploration of the relationships of her children with each other in small photographs that draw you into the intimacy of the scenes they depict.

If you can tell a kind community by the way it treats its strays, Gulfport is just the best

Did you see Debbie Wolfe's sweet story in The Gabber about Braveheart the rescue cat that was taken in by the kind-hearted people at Limbo Chihuahuas of Gulfport? Such wonderful people. It warms the heart. Poor Braveheart has been through quite a lot. You can give Braveheart a forever home. Check the details in the article. We have good people in our community.

Eckerd College is in the news again because Eckerd folks do such interesting things

Guess this comes under the category of the fascinating things that folks at Eckerd College are always doing. In the photo, that's Beth Forys on the left. She teaches biology and environmental science at Eckerd. She's putting a band on the black skimmer that Marianne Korosy of Audubon of Florida is holding. There was an interesting feature in the Tampa Bay Times about the project Beth is leading to band juvenile black skimmers so that they can be studied. In January, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission upgraded the seabirds' status to "threatened," reflecting the concern about the skimmers' declining population because of loss of habitat. Always happy to see Eckerd College folks making news about the fascinating things they do.

Happy 60th birthday to St. Pete Beach!

We noted with interest the 60th birthday celebration for St. Pete Beach at the Don Cesar Hotel recently. It was a champagne brunch buffet affair in the beautiful King Charles Room, and attendees were regaled with amusing stories about the six decades of the city and a little bit about the time before.  Helen Simon had a nice story about it in The Gabber. You really should read it. When you see what the name of the area was before, you'll understand why they changed it to St. Pete Beach. How perfect to have it in the beautiful, pink Roaring Twenties-era hotel that pre-dates the whole thing.

Eckerd alumni usually make good. Here's a terrific story about one of the standouts.

It's always nice to hear about the successes of Eckerd College alums. Word comes that Laticia Rolle, who played guard for the Eckerd Tritons women's basketball team a few years ago, has a busy and exciting life. Laticia, who hails from a little town in Massachusetts, was written up recently in the Worchester Telegram. She lives in Atlanta these days, and her boyfriend is Shaquille O'Neal, the retired NBA Hall of Famer.  (There's a video about them at the top.)

She's a model, jetting off to exotic locales around the world for photo shoots. She's often on the road with Shaq, who keeps as busy schedule making celebrity appearances across the country.  She and her sister, D'Ana do a photo-filled lifestyle blog, BlueHazl.com, in which they celebrate sisterhood, makeup, and fashion. She was a Business Management and Communications major at Eckerd. Looks like she's putting her skills to good use.

One more thing. We hear Shaq might have asked her to marry him. We hear she said yes. No date yet as far as we know.

Three cheers for online classes that allow students to enroll and attend anytime

Our local schools are so innovative. We came across this video the other day. It makes the point well. Online classes have been around for quite awhile. They offer an advantage for both the school and the students. The school not only doesn't have to schedule space and time for the classes but it can reach so many more students online. The student may have a full time job and other obligations, and be unable to attend classes on a normal schedule. Online classes provide an opportunity for education for many students who otherwise might not be able to enroll. Glad to see it. Such opportunities make our community stronger.

It's still important to learn about the place where you live. What are you doing?

Those who read us regularly know that we never pass up a chance to tell a little bit about our community history. We believe that knowing what came before in the place where you live is essential. So when we spotted the latest in the series that The Gabber has been running about the history of the beaches, especially Pass-a-Grille, we couldn't resist. This is the first  Pass-a-Grille Yacht Club. It was built in 1934. Click over to the article to learn more. And do everything you can to learn about our area's history. If you're already doing that, share with us what you're doing.  You can write in the comments below.

Holiday wishes from our family to yours: Have a very happy and safe Fourth of July

We want to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very happy and safe Fourth of July. This is always a very special time of the year, made more so by the wonderful people who live in our community.

It gladdens our heart to see our friends and neighbors coming together celebrate our nation's humble beginnings. We love flags, and red, white, and blue bunting, and all the crazy get-ups people put on to help celebrate. Some of the are quite clever and quite stunning.

It's a time that families come together and enjoy each other and delicious food. Our wish for you is that you avail yourself of the opportunity to look around and reflect, if only for a moment, on the great gifts this country offers us all, and the special gifts our our friends and family. Accompanying this post is a photo from last year's festivities from The Gabber. That reminds us about the nice article detailing Gulfport's holiday plans. There's also a photograph of fireworks from a previous year's celebration. It's from the Tampa Bay Times, which also had a nice article highlighting all the fireworks displays in the Tampa Bay area.

We're sure they're going to be spectacular no matter where they are. We know a lot of people who are happy to stay right in Gulfport and enjoy the festivities close to home. From our family to yours, have a happy and safe Fourth of July.

Metro Tampa Bay magazine features an amazing restored 1925 Pass-a-Grille home

We've always had a special place in our heart for Pass-a-Grille, that quiet little beach community nestled comfortably between the Gulf of Mexico and Boca Ciega Bay at the far southern end of St. Pete Beach. And, of course, we just love anything having to do with the history of our area. So when you combine the two, it's impossible to ignore. That's why we just had to tell  you about the fascinating article by Mary Lou Janson in Metro Tampa Bay magazine. It's accompanied by stunning photographs by Amy Lamb. It's the story of a loving renovation of a 1925 house designed by the man who designed the Don Cesar resort hotel. You really need to click on the link and read the story and click through all the beautiful photographs. You'll have even more reason to love Pass-a-Grille, and you'll probably learn a little bit about the community we live in.