Green Bench Monthly Vol. 8, Issue 8, August 2023

From the Bench

A note from the Publishers

As swampy as Florida weather is this time of year, it could always be worse. We could have heaps of trash on every corner, but thanks to our city sanitation department that's not the case. Read about the Summer of our Discontent: the 1968 Sanitation Workers' Strike (pg. 7). Get to know St. Pete Bike Coop's founder and director, Carrie Waite (pg. 11), discover the "Art of Eye Care" at First Sight (pg. 12), learn how Brick Street Farms is bringing the farm to your fork (pg. 16), check out the Big Art Show (pg. 18), take a peak at what's on the horizon in Downtown Developments (pg. 20), and more in this edition. Stay cool, St. Pete (pg. 18).

Till next time, Ashley & Tony

All are welcome on this bench.

The history of the green benches is layered. For some, it is a reminder of a painful period of racism and segregation. To others, it is a symbol of welcomeness and hospitality. We carry this name to shine a light on our city’s history and in celebration of those who work tirelessly towards a more inclusive St. Pete. To read more about our story and the history of the green benches visit greenbenchmonthly.com/about.

View of downtown from Boyd Hill Nature Preserve; Trail Run Aug. 12 (see details on pg. 22). Photo by Brian Brakebill

Tony and Ashley Sica Publishers / Owners

The Summer of Our Discontent: The 1968 Sanitation Workers’ Strike

By Monica Kile, Historian and Tour Guide with I Love the Burg Tours

Many of us watched the news of garbage strikes in Paris this past spring with something akin to horror. Inconvenience and unsightliness aside, can you imagine the stench that piles of uncollected trash would create if such a strike happened in sweltering Florida? During the summer of 1968, St. Petersburg residents didn’t have to imagine it. They lived it.

It happened just a month after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. during a sanitation workers strike in Memphis, Tenn. Neither strike took place in a vacuum, erupting during one of the most tumultuous years in American history, one rocked with Vietnam war protests, civil rights activism, and enormous social flux.

On its face, St. Petersburg’s sanitation strike was a protest of wages and working conditions, but underlying these factors was the city’s long history of segregation and racism. For decades, the city was governed by official rules and social customs that dictated where and how black citizens could live, attend school, vote, and even where they could swim or sit (not on the green benches, for one). Largely restricted by both law and custom to low-wage jobs, substandard housing, and underfunded schools and medical facilities, African-American citizens nevertheless created a thriving and productive community that made up about 15% of the city’s population.

Origins of the strike

Long-simmering discontent finally came to a head among the city’s sanitation workers, who were almost exclusively African-American. In

early 1968, a new garbage route system was implemented, meant to reduce the work-week from six days to five. With fewer hours, crews would make less money, roughly $75 dollars a week compared to the $100 a week they’d made on the old schedule. The sanitation workers, many of whom had been at the job for decades, knew the new schedule was unfeasible; there simply wouldn’t be enough time to pick up all the garbage. Their complaints fell on deaf ears, but workers were told that if they went along with the new system, the city would review its savings after 30 days and pass along some of the money to the workers in the form of a pay raise. The 30-day deadline came and went with no action from the city.

On May 6, 1968, after weeks of delay tactics from the city, workers began what City Manager Lynn Andrews would call a “wildcat strike.” He gave them a day to reconsider their actions, and when they still didn’t show up for work he summarily fired 211 men, all but one of them African-American. He promptly hired new workers, mostly young white men, and paid them higher wages.

It was not the first time Andrews was at odds with the city’s sanitation workers. Hired in 1961, he had presided over two previous strikes in 1964 and 1966, during which he referred to sanitation workers as ignorant and illiterate, accusing them of “goofing off” in order to collect overtime pay. Still, those early strikes resulted in marginal wage increases for workers and the creation of an unofficial union, the Young Men’s Progressive Club, led by sanitation crew chief Joe Savage.

Sanitation strike, 1968. Photo courtesy of the St. Petersburg Museum of History

When the club was formed in 1964, Savage had been working for the city sanitation department for 17 years. He was a respected member of the community: a deacon and head of the male chorus at his church, and the father of seven children. He became the spokesperson for the striking men, while attorney James Sanderlin represented their interests to the city.

A long hot summer

The 1968 strike stretched on for months, although Andrews refused to acknowledge it as such, stating that the workers had been fired and therefore could not engage in negotiations. Replacement workers were hired, and residents still were asked to haul their own garbage to various collection sites. (Striking workers voted to use their own personal trucks to haul garbage for invalids.) Weeks of nonviolent protests were sporadically marred by the firebombing of strikebreakers’ cars and incidents of arson.

As the strike entered its fourth month it gained national attention when the Rev. A.D. King, brother of slain activist Martin Luther King Jr., and the Rev. Ralph Abernathy, head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, came to St. Petersburg to bolster protesters’ spirits. They drew an interracial audience of more than 1,000 people to the Gibbs High School auditorium for rousing speeches. A few days later, on Aug. 3, some 650 marchers strode down Central Avenue, arms linked 20 abreast, to protest at City Hall. It was one of more than 40 protest marches conducted during the strike.

As the summer and the strike dragged on, the heat, and tempers, flared. In mid-August, tensions boiled over into three days of rioting, mostly in historically black neighborhoods. There were dozens of arrests. (cont. pg. 8)

Joe Savage, shown here being arrested, participated in over 40 non-violent marches and sit-ins during the summer of 1968.

Photo courtesy of the St. Petersburg Museum of History

(cont. from pg. 7) Public opinion was decidedly mixed. Most citizens quoted in the St. Petersburg Times seemed to agree that the strikers had a valid complaint: a promised raise that wasn’t delivered. But everyone wanted to see an end to the violence and the long days of stalemate.

Pressure mounted. Mayor Don Jones broke with Andrews, backing the workers’ claims of undelivered commitments and poor communication from the city. The newspaper ran an editorial titled “End it Now.” Displaced workers suffered after four months on the picket line.

An uneasy compromise

By late August, talk of a settlement began to circulate. On Aug. 31, Andrews announced in a press conference that an agreement had

been reached. The Times noted that both Sanderlin and Savage were “conspicuously absent” from the announcement. Instead, local accountant David Welch (father of current Mayor Ken Welch) was present as a representative of the recently formed Community Alliance, an arm of the Chamber of Commerce designed to facilitate communication between black and white residents of the city. (The Community Alliance remained a major force in the city for decades afterward.)

The settlement delivered marginal victories to the workers. They would get their jobs back, but only as positions became vacant. They would return to their original six-day work schedule with a slight increase in pay equivalent to what replacement workers received, but they would lose any accrued sick pay, vacation time, and even seniority. The immediate “wins” were hollow, but the long-term benefits proved to be substantial.

The strike proved that the voices of African-American workers in the

Lynn Andrews, City Mgr, 1968, and sanitation workers negotiate. Photo courtesy of the St. Petersburg Museum of History

Sanitation strike, 1968. Photo courtesy of the St. Petersburg Museum of History city carried weight: They had agency. Soon after the strike, and almost certainly as a direct result of it, the city’s first African-American council member, C. Bette Wimbish, was elected. Sanderlin, the sanitation workers’ lawyer, would go on to become Pinellas County’s first black judge. Within two years, the sanitation workers organized their first official union. No longer could they be silently taken advantage of.

A city moves forward

Of the two major figureheads in St. Petersburg’s 1968 Sanitation Workers’ Strike, Andrews and Savage, one would remain working for the city until his retirement in 1987 and have a city building named after him. The other would be gone from the city payroll by 1969.

In 2006, the City of St. Petersburg unveiled the new name of its Sanitation Department headquarters: the Joe Savage Complex. (The city named its first African-American Sanitation Department director that same year.) Andrews resigned in 1969, leaving Florida to take a city manager position in Texas. He later returned to St. Petersburg to work in the private sector. In 2003, city residents voted to change from a city manager form of government, to a strong mayor format; never again would an unelected official hold as much power as Andrews once did.

The 1968 Sanitation Workers’ Strike would prove to be one of the most pivotal civil rights actions in St. Petersburg’s history. It forced inequalities into the open, and required ordinary citizens to face the city’s problems in a visceral way. The summer of our discontent helped pave the way for a more equitable St. Petersburg.

People of St. Pete: Carrie Waite

By Lynn Waddell

St. Pete is celebrated for its fabulous weather, beautiful vistas, world-class food scene, and thriving cultural atmosphere but the people of St. Pete truly make this city something special. In appreciation, each month Green Bench shines a light on one of the many people that make St. Pete unique.

As a child in Elmira, N.Y., Carrie Waite loved riding her bicycle and watching her grandfather repair it. Today, she is a leading advocate of St. Petersburg cycling. She founded and heads the St. Pete Bike Co-Op, which helps more than 300 riders a month repair and keep their bikes on the road.

The nonprofit runs on annual memberships and a pay-what-you-can system. It provides cyclists with tools and repair advice from volunteer and staff mechanics on Monday, Tuesday (members only) and Thursday nights. It also sells and sometimes gives away used bicycles.

Waite champions the benefits of cycling: “It’s good for you physically; it’s good for the environment because it’s a sustainable mode of transportation; it’s inexpensive and reduces traffic congestion; and it’s fun!”

DIY Runs Deep

Waite credits her late grandfather with helping instill the can-do spirit that has led to many of her achievements, not the least of which is her job as a senior systems engineer at Raymond James Financial. “He was always fixing things, old bikes and anything that needed fixing,” she says.

The only girl among seven children in a blended family, Waite constantly had to prove herself. Hers was a close-knit family with grandparents and other relatives living within a short bike ride from her home. The post-industrial town of about 25,000 didn’t offer much for a young woman who then wanted to work in the hospitality industry. The major employers were two super-maximum security prisons. “I figured if I stayed, I’d end up in prison on one side of the bars or the other,” she says with a laugh.

Sunshine Bound

She visited friends who had moved to St. Petersburg and fell in love with “a secret paradise” filled with sandy beaches, arts, music, and sunny weather. In 1995, she made a heart-wrenching decision to leave her family in New York and move to St. Petersburg. She worked in hotels. She got into photography and eventually worked part time shooting bands for Creative Loafing. She also bought a computer which invariably needed repairs.

“I got tired of paying big bucks to have my computer fixed and feeling like I was being ripped off,” she says. She learned how to fix it herself. She started taking technology and information-security courses at St. Petersburg College and later at the University of South Florida. Eventually, she began her career at Raymond James.

One Hour A Week

The same can-do spirit also led her to found the St Pete Bike Co-Op at 559 Mirror Lake Drive N in January 2013. Still a cyclist, Waite struggled to afford repairs at local bike shops and learned how to do the work herself. When she learned about Tampa’s bike co-op, she saw an opportunity to help others do the same.

At the time, she was also the event coordinator of the St Petersburg Shuffleboard Club and had helped establish it as a venue for arts and live music. A bike co-op had been discussed for the adjoining city-owned building but had never gotten off the ground. Waite founded the St. Pete Bike Co-Op, negotiating with the city to rent its current location. The volunteer organization added its first paid staffer in 2020. It recently celebrated its 10-year-anniversary and added a third day of operation on Tuesday evenings for members only.

In addition to her day job and running the bike co-op, Waite has served as president of the St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club, a member of Healthy St. Pete’s leadership board and the Bike/Walk Tampa Bay advisory board. She also has spoken at a local school, encouraging students to volunteer. “If everyone just spent an hour a week volunteering for something” Waite says, “we could change the world.”

Photos by Keith Kenney

First Sight Eye Care “The Art of Eye Care”

By Suzanne Driscoll

If you are looking for a thorough eye exam curated to your specific needs, a large selection of high-quality eyeglasses and treatment for eye diseases and infections, be sure to check out First Sight Eye Care in St. Pete.

Founded by Dr. Amanda Geary in December 2022, First Sight offers comprehensive eye care for all ages. Geary has called St. Pete home since 2015. “I originally came here for a job, but quickly fell in love with all St. Pete has to offer,” she says. “One of the most rewarding

parts of opening this practice has been the opportunity to be even more involved in the community and its people. From participating in Pride on Central, working with local artists to outfit the practice, and joining the Chamber of Commerce and St. Pete Girl Bosses, the sense of community here is amazing.”

Geary is a graduate of the University of Central Florida and the Southern College of Optometry in Memphis, Tenn. “I knew early on that I wanted to be an eye doctor, and that this was a way I could help other people,” she recalls.

She worked in a medical eye care setting for eight years before opening her own private practice. She knew she didn’t want her patients to feel like a number, and wanted the eye exam to be a fun experience, not a chore you hated doing every year.

Yearly Exams Crucial for Long-Term Eye Health

“There are many eye diseases that can go undetected,” Geary says, “and without annual exams you risk potential loss of vision. With glaucoma, for example, damage can progress without any symptoms, but when it is found, it is irreversible. The sooner any disease is diagnosed, the better it can be treated.”

First Sight accepts most major insurance plans, including those offered by Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans.

Matthew Pennel, LDO - Optician, Ieasha Larracuente - Ophthalmic Technician, Dr. Amanda Geary, O.D. - Optometrist. Photos by Chris Ryan

A Unique Selection of Eyeglasses

“Eyeglasses become an important accessory almost like a statement piece of jewelry or a fine watch,” Geary says. “Our frame and eyewear lines are unique and fashion-forward and offer an eclectic mix with something for everyone.” Currently she has a special offer: With a purchase of eyeglasses or a year’s supply of contact lenses, you get 20% off a second pair of glasses or sunglasses.

Medical Optometry Services

If you prefer one-stop shopping when it comes to eye care, Geary is able to diagnose and treat many ocular diseases such as red eye, conjunctivitis, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy and more. She keeps open times to care for ocular emergencies.

Geary has been on the executive board of the Pinellas Optometric Association for six years, most recently serving as president. “I facilitated conferences and continuing education,” she says, “to keep our local optometrists up to date on the latest technology and standard of care, as well as represented our county at the state level.”

As one happy patient reports, “First Sight Eye Care and Dr. Geary are the newest gem of St. Pete! I had been experiencing some eye irritation and Dr. Geary called me directly to get me into her office early. The office is clean, comfortable, and adorably decorated. My eye exam was thorough and Dr. Geary was friendly, engaging, and extremely knowledgeable. An added bonus to this location is that they have a ton of cute options for frames and the optician was

great to work with!”

For more information or to book an appointment online, please visit www.firstsightstp.com or call (727) 592-2000. Look for the ‘Eye’ Love St. Pete mural at 2126 First Ave S across from Tombolo Books. There is plenty of free parking.

Building Beds and Bonds

By Emily Harris

With love in their hearts and power tools in their hands, the volunteers at Building Beds have made a difference for 3,670 children in need throughout Pinellas County. Since its inception in 2014 by BridgePoint Church’s founding pastor, Tim Whipple, and his wife, Donna, Building Beds is a volunteer-led initiative that has served our community by providing beds for local families in need.

The Need

Approximately 7,000 children in Pinellas County don’t have beds. The organization’s goal is to one day see that every child in the county has their own bed. Many of the families being served are transient, having lived in hotels or group homes and recently secured housing. They may be financially needy or sharing spaces with no beds of their own. Some are foster families, families struggling to keep their children out of the foster system to stay together, or those who otherwise do not have access to much-needed resources. Building Beds partners with local case workers, schools, and social work agencies that help identify and refer families in need.

Building Community

Throughout the year, around 100 volunteers gather for about three hours on a Saturday afternoon at the workshop for “Build Days” to construct up to 200 beds at a time. They are put together with the help of premade templates for each piece of southern yellow pine to result in a perfectly fitting, sturdy bed frame. These volunteers do much more than build, as many of them go on the deliveries with an experienced team leader who has met the families and received permission to enter their homes. Missions coordinator Melanie Benner said: “Building Beds volunteers meet each family exactly where they’re at, and we want to make sure we are respectful of their space during deliveries, take the time to hear their stories and offer words of encouragement or prayers. It’s a really special opportunity to get to step into their homes and see the kids help with making their new beds.

“We’ve had multiple volunteers who have met with these families and after hearing their stories, stayed in touch going forward and were able to help them using their own resources and connections.”

In the truest sense of uplifting the community, “these families get care from our volunteers in any capacity they can, and we do our best to fulfill their emotional, spiritual, and tangible needs.”

An Uplifting Delivery

Deliveries happen every other Saturday to accomplish Building Beds’ goal of serving as many families in Pinellas

Volunteers build beds for Pinellas County kids in need. Photos by Chris Ryan

County as possible. The hope is to further grow the program by adding more resources for family outreach, gaining more volunteers for extra hands on deck, and educating the community by adding exposure to the cause. With such an important focus, involvement is always welcome.

“You receive so much joy from the families,” Benner said, “and it’s a great reminder that we are all human and are all here to lift each other up when we can.”

You can contribute to empowering these families and

find Building Beds at BuildingBeds.org. There you’ll find a contact form to be used for getting in touch regarding volunteer opportunities, sponsorships or fundraising, as well as an online application for caseworkers to send in referrals, and for families to fill out requests to receive a bed. Donations are received in the form of items such as bedding supplies, pillows, paint, wood, or construction supplies, or as a financial contribution through the “Donate to Building Beds” button that leads directly to a PayPal portal.

Brick Street Farms: Bringing Farm to Fork in Urban Communities

By Suzanne Driscoll

Brick Street Farms wants to enable people to gain access to healthy, nutritional food by placing farms directly in urban communities. It also prioritizes sustainability by limiting water use, energy consumption and agricultural runoff. “We believe now is the time to rethink food access, supply chains and climate impact while contributing to healthier lives,” says CEO and co-founder Shannon O’Malley.

The story begins when O’Malley moves to Siesta Key from Pittsburgh in 2006. When she and her husband, Brad Doyle, bought a house in St. Pete eight years later, she wanted to use her skills as a Master Gardener to start a vegetable garden. “I tip my hat to avid home gardeners in Florida as there are so many challenges – pests, sandy soil and extreme heat, just to name a few,” O’Malley says. Trained as an engineer and working at Duke Energy, she decided to convert their two-car garage into a grow room using hydroponics, a technique of growing plants using a water-based nutrient solution rather than soil. “I produced an extraordinary amount of produce and in 2016 decided this would be a great way to grow food for an urban market.”

Since they couldn’t afford a warehouse, the couple scraped together funds to buy a shipping container and purchased a piece of land that was a former garbage dump in St. Pete. “It was a dirt lot with six feet of trash and no utilities, and it took us six months to clean it up and make it usable,” O’Malley recalls. Eventually they were able to attract investment partners in order to expand the business.

Today, 20 farm containers are at their hub on 20th Street S; another, at Publix in Lakeland. This equals what 65-70 acres of farmland could produce per month. A retail store at the St. Pete location offers local meat, eggs and milk in addition to the lettuce, herbs and microgreens Brick Street grows. New this year are strawberries that will be ready in about two months in limited quantities. A large part of the business is supplying leafy greens to restaurants across the entire Tampa Bay area, including those along Central Avenue and Beach Drive.

You can shop online through the website, and next-day delivery is available seven days a week within St. Pete.

Brick Street Farms CEO and co-founder Shannon O’Malley.

Photos by Keith Kenney

Membership Has Its Privileges

The Farm Store is open to everyone, but it certainly pays to become a member of Brick Street Farms. For $9 a month you will receive 10% off all purchases, unlimited access to chemicalfree water, weekly specials, a monthly 25 percent off other local products, a “Double Discount Day,” and an annual Farm Members event. A weekly newsletter lists all the current specials plus upcoming events and recipes.

In addition, membership is considered to be a charitable donation to Brick Street’s Desert Farms Foundation. It uses the money to donate fresh local produce through organizations such as Feeding Tampa Bay, the YMCA, the Boys & Girls Club and other local food pantries.

“Our produce is chemical-free and non-GMO, and no pesticides are used,” O’Malley promises. “We like to say we go from ‘farm to fork’ in less than 36 hours, and you don’t even need to wash it first since nothing touches the leaves.”

Plans for the future might include selling the couple’s patented technology to other growers through franchises, but the goals of sustainability and reaching urban markets will always remain the same.

Brick Street Farms is at 199 20th St. S in St. Pete. It is open Wednesdays through Sundays, closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Visit www.BrickStreetFarms.com or call (727) 329-6608 to become a member or to place an online order. Follow on Instagram @brickstreetfarms.

Brick Street Farms is located at 199 20th St. S in St. Pete

The Big Art Show at Eckerd College

Bright, bold colors and large-format canvases created by member artists at Creative Clay are standouts at the Big Art Show at Eckerd College’s Lewis House. The longtime partnership between the Academy of Senior Professionals at Eckerd College (ASPEC) and Creative Clay is on exhibition for the first time since the COVID-19 shutdown that began in 2020.

The diverse collection ranges from “Purple Moonlight” by Marquise R. to additional folk pieces by longtime and former member artists. Visitors to the gallery will see art popping out against a backdrop of redbrick walls. Lewis House is the gathering space for ASPEC.

“In August 2010, I curated an exhibit of 40 paintings by Creative Clay member artists for Lewis House,” said Jody Bikoff, Creative Clay’s director of exhibitions. “I enjoyed working with Ann Rascoe, artist and former ASPEC visual arts program chair, who was also a former Creative Clay board member and teaching artist.”

ASPEC’s community presence

ASPEC was founded on the principle that it is important for adults to remain involved and active. Its more than 300 members, as described in Eckerd materials, “whether in transition from one career to another or ‘retired,’ are most engaged when they participate in lifelong learning and share a community of interests with others who believe that every stage of life can be a time of rejuvenation, enrichment, accomplishment and meaningful productivity.”

“One of the four pillars of ASPEC is community involvement,” ASPEC volunteer Carolyn Meagher said. “I have been an ASPEC member for about five years and have really enjoyed being a part of the process of hanging the art and meeting the artists. The bright colors and enthusiasm of the artists is inspiring to me as I try to bring that to my own efforts in creating my artwork.”

Featured artists

Creative Clay artists represented in the Big Art Show include Shasta G., Lindsay J., Grace P., Ashton T., Ali V., and Aaron F. Work by former Creative Clay member artists Christopher J., Brittany M., and Eric Bristow is also featured.

If you go

The Big Art Show is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday through Sept. 30 at Lewis House, Eckerd College. All works are available for purchase; artists earn 50% of the sales price. For information about Creative Clay’s member artists, visit creativeclay.org

ASPEC Volunteers and artist, Marquise R.

ASPEC Front wall center, The Big Art Show at Eckerd College's Lewis House. Photos courtesy of Creative Clay

" Purple Moonlight" by Marquise R. (36 x 24) $350

Downtown Developments

By Brian Zucker,

Owner of St. Pete Rising

It seems like each time we take a stroll through downtown there are new restaurants and galleries opening and more apartment complexes and condo towers being built. We realize it’s difficult to keep track of everything. Luckily, we’ve done the research, so you don’t have to. Each month we will feature a few of the most exciting new downtown developments that are on the horizon for the Sunshine City.

Golfology, a virtual golf lounge, is coming soon to 2400 5th Avenue South in St. Pete. The new golf concept will be equipped with six golf simulators, a custom interactive putting green, and various practice stations in a sprawling, 5,800-square-foot space in the Warehouse Arts District. Golfers at Golfology will have access to over 240 courses from around the world, including Pebble Beach and St. Andrews, without having to endure the outdoor elements or wait for a tee time. As well as catering to the golf professionals, the golf simulators will have games that are perfect for family and friends, including Bullseye, Closest to the Pin, Hit it!, and Capture the Flag. Golfology is expected to open this fall.

Forbici Modern Italian is coming soon to 179 2nd Avenue North in

downtown St. Pete. One of Tampa’s most heralded Italian restaurants will bring its modern Italian charm to the Sundial shopping center by mid-2024 with plans for plenty of Roman-style pizza and house-made pasta. St. Pete residents and visitors can expect the new Forbici to have a similar vibe to the restaurant’s South Tampa location. The casual atmosphere will allow diners to feel like they are at home sharing a meal, enjoying good company, and making memories.

Tampa Bay Drinkery, a new upscale, late-night cocktail lounge,

Drinkery is coming soon to 2756 Central Ave

is coming soon to 2756 Central Avenue in the Grand Central District. The 2,000-square-foot bar will feature a well-rounded cocktail menu and a selection of French, Spanish, and Italian wines. The interior has been designed with royal red curtains, a grand piano, and an eclectic mix of lounge seating, area rugs, and tables. Despite appealing to a more sophisticated clientele, the owner will keep prices reasonable — probably $8 to $15 for a craft cocktail. Tampa Bay Drinkery is targeting a September opening.

A new 21-story apartment tower has been proposed for the

Tampa Bay

Golfology is coming soon to 2400 5th Ave S

Forbici Modern Italian is coming soon to 179 2nd Ave N

northwest corner of 1123 1st Avenue North in the EDGE District. The new tower will be built adjacent to a three-story building, which contains Zubrick Magic Theatre, and a one-story building, which contains MÜV Dispensary. The development will feature 310 apartments above parking for 360 vehicles and will also include 6,766 square feet of commercial space. The Washington D.C.-based developer Kettler is expected to break ground on the project early next year.

EnnYe, a women's boutique specializing in African fashion, is now open at 300 Beach Drive NE, Suite 111 in downtown St. Pete. EnnYe carries clothing and accessories featuring prints from all parts of Africa, but the owner, Matipa Mutsemi, says most items feature designs from Zimbabwe and other nations in the southern part of the continent, because she is most familiar with those styles. She makes about half of the items that are sold in the store, and the rest are made by artisans in Zimbabwe who need the work. In addition to clothing, EnnYe also sells handmade jewelry crafted from wood imported from Zimbabwe, such as necklaces, earrings, and bangles.

St. Pete Rising is an urban development blog covering future retail, restaurants, and real estate in Downtown St. Petersburg, FL. Stay up-todate, visit StPeteRising.com.

21-story apartment tower proposed for 1123 1st Ave N

EnnYe is now open at 300 Beach Drive NE

AUGUST 2023 EVENTS

Trail Fun Run

When: Saturday, August 12 9am - 10am

Where: Boyd Hill Nature Preserve, 1101 Country Club Way S

Cost: Free

Boyd Hill Nature Preserve is a beautiful hidden area within the City of St. Petersburg. Join Healthy St. Pete and the St. Pete running company the second Saturday of every month from 9 - 10 AM. healthystpetefl.com

Art “Yard” Sale at the Morean Arts Center

When: Saturday, August 12 at 9am

Where: Morean Arts Center, 719 Central Ave

Cost: Free

Find great deals on art and miscellaneous items--you never know what you’re going to find! Prices start at $1 and max out at $100. Along with Moreanowned items, you’ll be able to meet fabulous local artists and pick up something from them as well! Moreanartscenter.org

Dog Swim Day

When: Saturday, August 12

9:30am - 1pm

Where: Fossil Park Pool, 6739 Dr

M.L.K. Jr St N

Cost: $5 /dog; humans are free Hosted by St. Petersburg Parks & Recreation. There are two sessions that will take place for Dog Swim Day: 9:30am11:00am, 11:30am - 1:00pm. Sorry humans, no swimming is permitted for you. Be aware that you must bring proof of vaccinations for your dog(s).

Stpeteparksrec.org

Sunset Market Imagine Museum

When: Friday, August 18 5pm - 10pm

Where: Imagine Museum, 1901 Central Ave

Cost: Free

Shop local artisans featuring glass blowing and other live art demonstrations. Artist inquiries are welcome. Imaginemuseum.com

10 Easy Steps to a Florida-Friendly Landscape

When: Saturday, August 19 11am - 12pm

Where: Sunken Gardens, large garden room, 1825 4th St N

Cost: Free with gardens admission or membership, no pre-registration required Doris Heitzmann, the Florida Friendly Landscaping™ Program Manager with UF/IFAS Extension, will discuss insights to innovative plant selection, use of versatile landscaping materials, ways to invite wildlife into your garden and how to make the best use of water in the landscape. Adopting these Florida-Friendly techniques can make the landscape less dependent on water and reduces pollution of our waterways. Stpete.org

St. Pete Sunday Market

When: Sunday, August 20 noon - 6pm

Where: Artsxchange, 515 22nd St S

Cost: Free Vendors, artists, and shopping. Live painting & music.

stpeteissupercool.com

The Kind Mouse Back to School Food Drive

When: August 21 - September 8

Where: Your office, home, or shop

Cost: Time & Donations

Participation is easy! Register online and the Kind Mouse will bring you a food collection bin to place at your office, shop, home, etc, and will pick it up from you when you are at the end of the collection period! Sought items are snack size/travel nonperishable foods such as crackers, granola bars, cereal, tuna, chicken, Vienna sausage, peanut butter, juice boxes, shelf-stable milk, etc. thekindmouse.org

For more events, or to submit event information, visit greenbenchmonthly.com/events

Dog Swim Day at Fossil Park. Photo by City of St. Petersburg