The News of
OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE SUN CITY CENTER COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION
Sun City Center
March 2019
...an official publication of the Sun City Center Community Association
COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION SCHEDULE
Thank You Volunteers By Diane M. Loeffler On February 14 Community Association staff members grilled up hotdogs and served a lunch to thank everyone who donates their time and effort to our community. The dedication of our volunteers is what sets us apart from other senior communities.
March
5 Shredding Day North Course Lane – 9 a.m. to Noon 11 Board Workshop to discuss Agenda Board Room - CA Office - 9 a.m. 13 Board Meeting Rollins Theater - 9 a.m. 16 FunFest Central Campus – 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. 19 Community Leaders Meeting Florida Room – 9 a.m. 20 Membership Meeting Community Hall – 4 p.m. Note Time Change 25 CO-AP Meeting Caper Room – 2 p.m.
APRIL
8 Board Workshop to discuss Agenda Board Room – CA Office - 9 a.m. 10 Board Meeting Rollins Theater - 9 a.m. 16 Community Leaders Meeting Florida Room – 9 a.m. 22 Coffee & Conversation Caper Room – 4 to 6 p.m. Agendas for the monthly Board Meetings will be posted on Official Bulletin Board in the Atrium the Monday before and on the CA website (www.suncitycenter.org – under “Association”). They will also be sent via “What’s New in the CA” email. Every Wednesday: Orientation for new members in the Board Room in the CA office starting at 1 p.m. sharp.
CA Contact Information Phone: 633-3500 sccboard@suncitycenter.org Website: suncitycenter.org Information Center 813-633-4670
Check out the Café for their coffee spotlight event. To secure a spot, reservations are recommended.
Café Celebrates Coffee
By Kai Rambow Everyone loves coffee – well, almost everyone. Our café will be celebrating coffee this month. There will be a sampling of several different coffees focusing on their strength and taste profiles. This will be combined with food pairings, coffee and cheese (who knew), followed by coffee and pie. This spotlight event will be held on Friday, March 22 from 2 to 5 p.m. Reservations are recommended and the cost is $10 per person.
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The Lakes in Sun City Center Part 1 of 3: History revisited By Ilona Merritt Retirement was on the horizon and thoughts of Florida were discussed. We wanted a home on the water but ... could we afford it? Meet Del Webb. He successfully supplied miles of new and affordable waterfront homes in a new community called Sun City Center. We got our dream house on the water. To find out more about our lakes, I recently visited the History Society in the SCC Visitor’s Center, and was welcomed by a gracious lady, Rusty Seiden, who showed me how to find a wealth of information. When Del Webb first looked at this land it had only one natural watering hole, which was used by the cattle grazing here. It eventually became Swan Lake, the first lake in SCC. In the beginning, it was much smaller and was dug into its present shape in 1961. Creating lakes where none had been was an extremely important part of the landscaping of SCC. Except for the cypress islands in the lakes, every square yard of land surface in SCC was bulldozed into its present form, The lakes served multiple purposes: lakefront property, efficient drainage system against flooding and mosquito-hatching wet spots, sand to elevate the homes and streets to heights where the heaviest rainfall could not endanger them, fishing, and reservoirs for water for the golf courses and their sprinklers. Fishing was a big sales pitch for Del Webb. Every lake and pond was stocked immediately. Swan Lake was originally called Blanton Lake and then Bass Lake, because it was heavily stocked with bass. At one end was a sandy beach for sunbathing and swimming. When South Lake was dug, it was also
Looking south from Middle Lake to South Lake 1975.
1966 Lakes digging of North Lake view from back of 1410 Battleboro home of LeVine.
heavily stocked. Fishing contests were held regularly and one of the rooms in the Town Hall’s activities complex was devoted to “maintenance and construction of fishing equipment.” Fishing was so popular that as many as 20 cars of outsiders would come day and night and be parked around the bridge and small dam at Pebble Beach and Cherry Hills. Bass Lake lost its name before it lost its bass. When two swans named Del and Nell were put onto the Island in that lake, everyone soon accepted the new name: Swan Lake.
Now, all of the lakes and ponds are part of the storm drainage system. All those located north of SR-674, and including those in the Villages at Cypress Creek, drain into the narrow Cypress Creek and then go under SR-674 just west of the hospital. Cypress Creek meanders south through Kings Point, going under Kings Boulevard’s small bridge and eventually emptying into the Little Manatee River. When Del Webb sold out the roads, the lake bottoms were given to the county; but “the exclusive right to utilize said ponds and lakes for the purposes of swimming, boating, and fishing” were retained and reserved for the owner of lands abutting upon said ponds and lakes. In those years when a new pond or lake was dug, residents would stock the lakes on their own. Next month, in part 2 of SCC’s Lakes, learn how residents cared for their lakes and how they got rid of the buzzards.