As a neighborhood organization, our events are mostly social gatherings and it has been recommended that social distancing is the only way to stop coronavirus from spreading. As a result, the CLNA Board has decided that we should cancel all upcoming events until further notice as a precautionary measure. In the meantime, the CLNA Board will conduct its business as required by our Bylaws via means of remote communication. We will continue to communicate with members on important issues affecting our neighborhood.
If you know someone who may need assistance or are able to help out a neighbor who may need assistance, please let us know. There may be neighbors with health issues that may need medications picked up or have other needs. Below is a list of resources we have gathered, which you may find helpful. We will continue to update this post with additional information as it becomes available.
Public Health Agencies & Government Updates
More than ever, it is important to be up-to-date on the latest information. We would advise frequently checking international, national, state, and local public health agencies and government updates. These health and government agencies provide different important information that affects all of us:
World Health Organization:
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/summary.html
The State of Florida:
Florida’s COVID-19 Data & Surveillance Dashboard:
https://fdoh.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/8d0de33f260d444c852a615dc7837c86
Florida Department of Health:
http://www.floridahealth.gov/index.html
COVID-19 Governor Executive Orders:
https://www.flgov.com/covid-19/
Pinellas County:
http://pinellascounty.org/emergency/covid19/default.htm
City of St. Petersburg:
https://www.stpete.org/emergency/covid-19.php
Resources for Small Businesses, Self-Employed, and Gig Workers
Below is information for small businesses, the self-employed, and gig workers. The US Treasury and Small Business Administration have launched the “Paycheck Protection Program” (PPP) and CARES Act webpages where eligible small businesses and sole proprietorships can now apply for loans. Starting on April 10th, independent contractors and self-employed individuals can apply. Given there are funding caps, you should apply as soon as possible. Please note that technical problems have been reported with processing applications under the CARES Act, but this should not dissuade you from applying if you qualify and need these loans. You should contact your bank for additional information.
CARES Act
U.S. Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program:
U.S. Treasury Dept. CARES Act:
https://home.treasury.gov/cares
Practical insights as to SBA Loans under the CARES Act:
https://www.foley.com/en/insights/publications/2020/04/sba-loans-under-the-cares-act-updated
CARES Act Summary:
https://www.foley.com/en/insights/blogs/~/link.aspx?_id=2F157EFF3D074053ABE22AD88D48E973&_z=z
Summary of CARES Act Tax Provisions:
https://www.foley.com/en/insights/blogs/~/link.aspx?_id=F7B96F434EE04263A9B404ADF3A1CD8D&_z=z
City of St. Petersburg Fighting Chance Fund
The City of St. Petersburg has created the Fighting Chance Fund – an emergency grant for St. Pete’s negatively impacted locally owned and independently operated small businesses to provide relief to small businesses impacted by local COVID-19 orders. Please note these are grants being offered and not loans.
The fund is expected to provide critical support to about 1,000 restaurant, bar, retail, and service-based businesses and their more than 3,000 eligible employees. The City’s goal is to help offset the significant, temporary loss of revenue during this global pandemic. Applications for eligible businesses and individuals will be available April 9th. Please refer to the video below and the City’s webpage for additional information:http://www.stpete.org/assistance/fighting_chance_fund.php
Florida Department of Economic Opportunity
In coordination with state and federal partners, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity lists resources available to assist employers and individuals impacted by the state’s efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19:
https://www.floridajobresources.com
Resources for parents with children staying home from school
We also understand that children do not have school while parents may be working from home. There are many resources available for children to continue their education at home. Below are some resources you might want to consider in addition to any provided school resources. There are also many educational apps that can be downloaded. Commonsensemedia.org is a good resource in selecting quality, age-appropriate material for children.
Talking to Children regarding COVID-19
CDC:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/talking-with-children.html
PBS:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/10-tips-for-talking-about-covid-19-with-your-kids
Educational
Scholastic Free Virtual Learning Resources for PreK-9+:
https://classroommagazines.scholastic.com
PBS Free Distance Learning:
Khan Academy:
Khan Academy is a non-profit whose mission is to provide free world-class education to anyone, anywhere. Created by experts, Khan Academy’s library of practice and lessons covers math K-12 through early college, grammar, science, history, AP®, SAT®, and more.
Khan Academy also provides schedules for children 2-18:
Starfall, PreK-3 ($35 annual membership):
Also, it is a good time for stay-at-home activities such as arts and crafts projects, science projects, video exercise classes (i.e. yoga), gardening, cooking, board games (i.e. scrabble), puzzles, and reading.
Reading free books online
St. Petersburg Library:
http://splibraries.org/index.html
Library of Congress:
Openlibrary.org:
Free Google eBooks:
https://books.google.com/books?uid=117522004192189783614&as_coll=1018&source=gbs_lp_bookshelf_list
You know you live in a great neighborhood, but its pretty cool that we were acknowledged as the Neighborhood of the Year for 2019 at the Mayor’s Annual Neighborhood Awards held in early March. The winners of various awards were decided by independent judges who reviewed nominations that detailed the work City of St. Petersburg neighborhood associations accomplished in 2019.
The Mayor’s Annual Neighborhood Awards had taken a hiatus and was resumed back in October, 2018. In 2018, Crescent Lake Neighborhood’s President, Lisset Hanewicz, won President of the Year, we received Runner-Up for Neighborhood Partnerships (Multiple Neighborhoods) for Friends of Woodlawn Elementary, and Honorable Mention for Neighborhood of the Year.
Thank you all for supporting Crescent Lake Neighborhood Association and contributing to maintaining our quality of life in our neighborhood!
We would like to thank the sixty (60) volunteers below that made it possible for us to meet our contractual requirements with the City of St. Petersburg through the Matching Grant Program! We recently submitted the Final Report to the City of St. Petersburg. In total, we contributed 607.8 volunteer hours (above our required 594.2) and $5,740 in CLNA funds to match the City’s $20,000 match. These volunteer hours were gained through various projects including alley cleanups, lake cleanups, Friends of Woodlawn Elementary mentoring and volunteering, Friends of Woodlawn Elementary Learning Garden Project, volunteering for CLNA events, and distribution of CLNA door hangers. The majority of the monies contributed by CLNA had been in our account for many years and finally went back into the community through a project that benefits our entire neighborhood. All these efforts have improved our neighborhood and community, forged new relationships, and have resulted in twenty-three (23) street signs installed on the boundaries of our neighborhood, which increases neighborhood identity and pride. Thank you all!
Jim Anderson
Kristi Aussner
Gia Blackshear
Jalessa Blackshear
Richard Bruce
Andrew Bundschuh
Andrea Carvill
Danny Carvill
Leslie Craig
April Currie
Chris Dalyander
Theresa Darlington
Peter Fritsche
Jeannine Gonyon
Carla Gregory
Kaitlin Hammersley
Bart Hanchey
Tracy Hanchey
Ana Sofia Hanewicz
Lisset Hanewicz
Bill Holden
Meghan Irmler
Sonia King
Deborah Lane
Carol Marks
Julie Meyer
Steven Meyer
Jim Montante
Sheila Montante
Bill Motter
Kristi Aussner
Gia Blackshear
Jalessa Blackshear
Richard Bruce
Andrew Bundschuh
Andrea Carvill
Danny Carvill
Leslie Craig
April Currie
Chris Dalyander
Theresa Darlington
Peter Fritsche
Jeannine Gonyon
Carla Gregory
Kaitlin Hammersley
Bart Hanchey
Tracy Hanchey
Ana Sofia Hanewicz
Lisset Hanewicz
Bill Holden
Meghan Irmler
Sonia King
Deborah Lane
Carol Marks
Julie Meyer
Steven Meyer
Jim Montante
Sheila Montante
Bill Motter
Kimberly Naff
Alex Neely
Antonio Neely
Jack Neely
John Neely
Max Neely
Pam Neely
Sam Neely
Samantha Neely
Amanda Ocker
Cory Ocker
Shelly Painter
Dale Parker
Fanny Rovira
Devan Ryan
Laura Ryan
Slade Ryan
Cindy Seletos
Ellyn Shriber
Chris Sorenson
Warner Sudderth
James Trimarco
Lucy Trimarco
Maureen Twombly
Bill Venezia
Evelyn Vo
John Vo
Bill Vrooman
Lola Ward
Chuck Williams
Crescent Lake Neighborhood Association had a very busy end of the year. We finished 2019 with events such as our Holiday Movie in the Park (Merry Madagascar and The Grinch) with a special appearance by The Grinch, a porch party at The Ocker Residence, our new book/movie club, and friendly competition at the Neighborhood Shuffleboard Showdown! Our biggest accomplishment in 2019 was obtaining designation for Huggins-Stengel Field on the National Register of Historic Places! Our street signs project is well underway and we expect the new street signs with our logo (replacing the current signs on the perimeter of our neighborhood) to be in place by February 2020. By end of November, we had almost 380 hours of volunteer hours entered by Crescent Lakers in support of the street signs project. The street signs project was made possible by a City of St. Petersburg Matching Grant, a contribution from Crescent Lake Neighborhood Association, and Crescent Lakers’ volunteer hours. Crescent Lakers volunteered by participating in projects such as Crescent Lake cleanups, adopt-an-alley cleanups, mentoring at Woodlawn Elementary, and participating in the establishment of a learning garden at Woodlawn Elementary.
Our hard-work is paying off as we expect to have the Crescent Lake street signs with our logo proudly displayed on the perimeter of our neighborhood and have a learning garden established at Woodlawn Elementary in early 2020. We will also continue to find ways to strengthen and bring our community together. Here’s to 2020!
Crescent Lake Neighborhood Association held their Fall Festival serendipitously on the first day of cool weather this year! Our Board Member, Theresa Darlington, coordinated this spectacular event. So much work goes into getting an event like this off the ground. We cannot thank Theresa enough for all the thought and hard work that went into making this event so successful! We had ponies, bounce houses, face painting, food trucks, photo booth, craft beer, and so much fun! Bart Hanchey was our DJ again this year and set the mood perfectly throughout the event. Crescent Lake’s Fall Festival was made possible by the sponsorship of Steve Meyer, your neighborhood realtor with Smith and Associates. Also, we could not have done it without significant member donations. We would like to thank all those that donated, volunteered, and participated in this wonderful neighborhood event.
A Crescent Lake neighborhood family has commissioned a mural by artist, Cecilia Lueza, an Argentine American artist and sculptor, who has worked on a variety of public art projects here in St. Petersburg and throughout the United States. The mural is a celebration of the variety of birds you can find in the neighborhood. We are fortunate to have Crescent Lake in our neighborhood since the lake attracts many birds into the area. Many residents and organizations work with Friends of Crescent Lake to keep the lake healthy and ensure there is a healthy habitat for wildlife. The mural can be found on 19th Ave N between 7th and 8th St N. Although you can see birds throughout the year at Crescent Lake Park, the winter months provide the best opportunity for birdwatching since many birds make their way down here from up north. So, pack up a picnic, blanket, and find out if you can you identify and find all the birds in the mural at Crescent Lake Park!
Secretary Lee Announces the Designation of Huggins-Stengel Field on the National Register of Historic Places
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Secretary of State Laurel M. Lee announced today that Huggins-Stengel Field in St. Petersburg has been listed on the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places.
“I am pleased that Huggins Stengel Field has been designated on the National Register of Historic Places,” said Secretary Lee. “Major League Baseball spring training has long been an indelible part of Florida’s culture and few sites are as intricately linked to spring training as Huggins-Stengel Field.”
Huggins-Stengel Field, located in St. Petersburg, served as the Major League Baseball spring training grounds for the New York Yankees (1925-1941, 1946-1950, 1952-1961), New York Giants (1951), New York Mets (1962-1987) and the Baltimore Orioles (1992-1995). A total of 17 New York Yankees World Series winning teams played at Huggins-Stengel Field in addition to the 1969 and 1986 New York Mets championship teams. Initially named Crescent Park Field, the name was changed to Huggins-Stengel Field in 1962 in honor of renowned Yankees team managers Miller Huggins and Casey Stengel.
Custom built for Babe Ruth, the field hosted the Yankees at the height of what many consider to be the greatest dynasty in major professional sports. Starting with the St. Louis Browns in 1914, Major League Baseball spring training was a significant tourist draw for the city of St. Petersburg. It was the arrival of the Yankees at what is now Huggins-Stengel Field in 1925 that made the city renowned as a spring training site. Some of the greatest baseball teams, including the 1927, 1939, 1953 and 1961 Yankees and the 1969 Mets, played at Huggins-Stengel Field.
The field has also seen some major moments in baseball history, including the 1936 debut of Joe DiMaggio as a Yankee. During spring training in 1939, Lou Gehrig first started showing signs of ALS, the disease that ended his career and took his life. During its long history, the field hosted legendary baseball players such as Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan and Cal Ripken, Jr. among many others. The New York Mets formed in 1962 and held their first spring training at Huggins-Stengel Field under the guidance of former Yankees manager Casey Stengel. After the Orioles left in 1995, it marked the end of an era for the field.
Huggins-Stengel Field is now part of Crescent Lake Park and is still used by local baseball leagues. The park is managed by the City of St. Petersburg and was designated as a local historic landmark by the city in 2018.
