We would like to acknowledge one of our own Crescent Lakers, Lola Ward, who is a mentor with Friends of Woodlawn Elementary. She surprised the 5th Grade graduating class of Woodlawn Elementary with a special delivery of ice cream from the Clara Rose Ice Cream Truck. She came up with the idea and made arrangements for the truck to come to the school to provide each of the 5th Grade scholars ice cream. This act of kindness and generosity is illustrative of the heart of our community. It does not take much to make an impact – care, desire, and commitment. Thank you Lola for the impact you are making on your mentee, Woodlawn Elementary, and Crescent Lake.
Fabulous weather and a beautiful location made for another great Easter Egg Hunt at Crescent Lake Park. Of course, the children had no difficulty finding every Easter egg hidden. Two resourceful kiddos found the special 2 golden eggs for special prizes.
We would like to thank CLNA resident and member, Steven Meyer, with Smith & Associates, Pineapple Espresso, Mana Bakery, and St. Pete Bagel. Smith & Associates made possible the arrival of the Easter Bunny and Pineapple Espresso, Mana Bakery, and St. Pete Bagel provided delicious treats and coffee.
Our neighborhood answered the call of the City of St. Petersburg to help our USCG families in need that had been reporting to duty without pay due to the recent government shutdown. Within 24 hours of an e-mail to members we received a generous amount of donations totaling over $1,000 in food and gift cards.
The City of St. Petersburg is home to the US Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg, one of the USCG largest commands. The USCG is America’s maritime first responders and are unique because they are not part of the Department of Defense, but are under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security. The donations were personally delivered to the USCG. The USCG Chief Petty Officer’s Association, a non-partisan, non-profit organization ensures these donations will go to families in need. The Sun Coast branch of the USCG covers approximately 670 active duty members north to Yankeetown, FL and south to Ft. Myers.
We would like to thank the following members who made the donations:
Melissa & John Matelich, Andrew & Debbie Bundschuh, Brett Buchert, Kenneth & Lisa McKenzie, Hollie & Sam Schmidt, and Lisset & Wayne Hanewicz.
We had an eventful 2018 at Crescent Lake! One of Crescent Lake Neighborhood Association’s most important goals was achieved: we obtained Local Landmark Designation for our historic Huggins-Stengel Field. It was a lot more work than expected, but on October 18, 2018 City Council unanimously approved our request for local landmark designation. The work was well worth it as Huggins-Stengel Field is protected as a local landmark. We now have two official local landmarks in our neighborhood: the Crescent Lake Water Tower and Huggins-Stengel Field.
Another important goal achieved was that we have a new logo! Poll results from a poll sent out to our members and the recommendation of the logo committee of the same logo made the decision easy for our Board of Directors. The results were unanimous for the logo below which captures some of the essential elements of our neighborhood in a modern yet retro design.
We also unexpectedly won a few awards from the Mayor this year: President of the Year, Honorable Mention for Neighborhood of the Year, and Runner-Up for our Neighborhood Partnership: Friends of Woodlawn. It is great to be recognized for all the hard work that has been put into our neighborhood. We have accomplished so much recently and will continue the momentum into 2019.
We collaborated with surrounding neighborhoods to begin a Friends of Woodlawn Elementary to support our zoned elementary school. The first step was to get mentors to the school. At the first mentor training we had a room full of community members ready to become mentors. We recently had a paper and expo pens drive for the teachers at Woodlawn Elementary. We will continue to find ways to support our zoned elementary. If you are interested in our efforts and participating, please contact us at info@clnastpete.org.
We also had a lot of events this year! Two new events were the Shuffleboard Tournament and the Fall Festival. The Shuffleboard Tournament was held between eight neighborhoods. It was very popular and, as a result, it appears we will have another chance next year to bring home the trophy. We also had a Fall Festival this year for the first time in a long time. It was a hit as you can see from the photos. The Holiday Movie in the Park wrapped up our events this year with Merry Madagascar and Elf. We will start 2019 with our Potluck Picnic in the Park in February.
It will be hard to top 2018. However, there are more goals that need to be accomplished. Plus, the work of strengthening and bringing our community together is always in progress. Looking forward to another productive year!
How many people in the City of St. Petersburg know that there is a historic ball field hidden in the Crescent Lake neighborhood? The historic baseball field is Huggins-Stengel Field. How many people have walked by this historic ball field without knowing that some of baseball’s greats once trained here? Baseball greats such as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Bill Dickey, Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Mickey Mantle, Cal Ripken Jr., Roger Maris, Tom Seaver, Daryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden, Nolan Ryan, and Willie Mays played at Huggins-Stengel Field. The time has come for this historic ball field to be recognized.
A recommendation of the 1994 Crescent Lake Neighborhood Plan was to pursue city landmark designation for Huggins-Stengel Field and Crescent Lake Water Tower. In 2008, the Crescent Lake Water Tower was designated a local historic landmark. The City of St. Petersburg filed the application to designate the Water Tower as a local historic landmark. Yet, as of today, Huggins-Stengel Field is not on the City of St. Petersburg’s Register of Historic Places.
In April 2018, the Crescent Lake Neighborhood Association filed a Local Landmark Designation Application to obtain local landmark designation for Huggins-Stengel Field. We want to ensure the preservation of this important part of our City’s and neighborhood’s history. What happens when you don’t preserve important places or buildings. They disappear. They are forgotten. They are torn down as the original clubhouse of the Yankees at Crescent Lake Park was torn down. We want to preserve what is left of the history of major league baseball spring training in Crescent Lake Park.
A hearing will be held before the City’s Community Planning and Preservation Committee (CPPC) on September 11, 2018 at 2 p.m. The hearing is open to the public. After the hearing, the Commission will vote on a recommendation for or against designation, which will be forwarded to City Council. The City Council hearing is October 18, 2018 at 6 p.m.
To read the Local Landmark Designation Application for Huggins-Stengel Field, click the below link. It has a detailed history section along with many historical photographs:
https://clnastpete.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Huggins-Stengel-Field-LLDA-final.pdf
If you want to see videos of the New York Yankees holding spring training practice at Huggins-Stengel Field and photographs of Marilyn Monroe visiting with Joe DiMaggio go to our Home Page Menu at the top. They can be located under Neighborhood > Landmarks > Huggins-Stengel Field.
There are so many ways to give back to our local community. As a neighborhood association, we do what we can to help improve our neighborhood and give back to our community. One way to give back to the community is to help our public schools. Today, more than ever, public schools need the help of their communities. There are members of our St. Petersburg community rallying for their public school, such as Friends of North Shore Elementary: http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/k12/The-comeback-at-North-Shore-Elementary-is-real-as-families-rediscover-their-neighborhood-school_162522638. The neighborhoods surrounding Woodlawn Elementary School want to do the same for their zoned school.
As a result, we have joined with surrounding neighborhoods to start a Friends of Woodlawn Elementary group. As a neighborhood association, we want to do what we can to ensure the success of Woodlawn Elementary. Providing community support for Woodlawn Elementary is good for our neighborhood and the City of St. Petersburg. It is a great way to give back to our community and make our neighborhood stronger. It gives families in our neighborhood the option to consider their zoned public school as an alternative to private, magnet, or fundamental schools further from their home.
An easy way to support Woodlawn Elementary is through mentoring or volunteering. It just takes 30 minutes out of your week. This is the first step we are taking in ensuring the success of our zoned elementary. To become a mentor, you need to take a one-hour workshop, which has been scheduled at Woodlawn Elementary School’s Media Center for Wednesday, August 22nd from 7-8 p.m. The training will qualify attendees to be Lunch Pal Mentors, although it is recommended that all potential volunteers attend the training. The training includes a background check. You will need to bring photo identification to the training session.
You can receive updates if you like the Friends of Woodlawn Elementary Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/FriendsOfWoodlawn/
More information on LunchPals is available at https://www.pcsb.org/lunchpals.
If interested in participating, please fill out this Google form so you can be added to our volunteer list and select your volunteer preferences:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScwtvUanp2Yx0q3hlMEq-oDpyJ_7Xr3Q_plxj6JHjnlb05WmA/viewform?usp=sf_link
Woodlawn Elementary web page: https://www.pcsb.org/woodlawn-es
We had an eggcellent time at our Easter egg hunt in Crescent Lake Park! Every year Crescent Lake and Crescent Heights Neighborhoods join together for this popular event. Thanks to Smith & Associates for sponsoring the Easter Bunny, Ann Schieser for performing Easter Bunny duties, and Vice & Virtue for their donation of coffee and juice. Vice & Virtue is planning to open a coffee shop not far from our neighborhood!
We learned from previous Easter egg hunts that we had to arrive earlier to spread and hide so many Easter eggs (check), that more volunteers were needed (check), and that a bullhorn was necessary for announcements (check). The one thing we have not been able to control or manage are the squirrels stealing easter eggs when we start spreading them out in the morning. We caught one bold squirrel on this video:
No matter how long it takes up to spread the Easter eggs, they get picked up faster than you can say Jack Robinson! Thus, the only way you can truly capture the Easter egg hunt is in slow motion:
We would like to thank all our members this holiday season. Your membership and participation in your neighborhood association is crucial to continuing our mission to improve our neighborhood and bring neighbors together. We are so grateful that there has been such an outpouring of support from our neighborhood. We have seen so many new faces! Hopefully, you have met at least one new neighbor through being a part of the neighborhood association. If you have not, please join us at a future meeting or event. Besides home holiday parties, below are some of the ways we celebrated the holidays here in Crescent Lake:
Holiday Movie in the Park
On a beautiful cool Saturday evening in December we held our Holiday Movie in the Park: Polar Express. The event was in our historic baseball field, Huggins-Stengel Field, under the Crescent Lake Water Tower. You could not ask for a more idyllic setting for a movie. Concessions were sold by TASCO, our partner, to benefit their teen programs. Children were handed bells with tags reminders that the bell still rings for those who truly…Believe. Our council member, Darden Rice, gave opening remarks. In the opening remarks she shared a little bit of history on the event location. Below are some highlights from her remarks on our field of dreams and how you should never stop believing:
This land here, along with the lake, and 56 acres surrounding it was owned by C. Perry Snell in the early 1900s. He envisioned turning the property into a city park and in 1919 sold it to the city of St. Petersburg to turn it into a public park for $30,000, below what the land was valued at the time. Mr. Snell’s vision and generosity left its mark on our great city by ensuring the preservation to public uses of this great park. Soaring above us is a local landmark, the 175-feet high Crescent Lake Water Tower built in 1923. Its mural was painted in 1992 by Artist Tom Stovall and restored in 2017 to its original glory. In 1924, Mayor Lang convinced the New York Yankees to bring the Yankees to St. Petersburg. This baseball field was built for them and “made to measure” for Babe Ruth who was the home run king at the time. The New York Yankees trained here from 1925-1961, followed by the New York Mets (1962-1987), and the Baltimore Orioles (1992-1995). Baseball greats such as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Cal Ripken Jr., Roger Maris, Tom Seaver, Daryl Strawberry, Dwight Golden, Nolan Ryan, and Willie Mays played right here at Huggins-Stengel Field. Even Marilyn Monroe once visited the field. You can see some of the original lockers and photographs inside the building here. I share a little bit of history because this movie tonight is about believing. So never stop believing – believing that you can make a difference, leave your mark in this world such as the visionary who gave us Crescent Lake Park, or the artist that paints a mural, or the baseball greats who make baseball history.
We are so happy that we could bring this event to you this year. This event was one of our original goals back in 2016 for 2017. This event was made possible by Crescent Lake Neighborhood Association, TASCO, and the City of St. Petersburg. We look forward to having you join us for next year’s Holiday Movie in the Park.
Deck the Lake with Christmas Cheer
A few years ago, some neighbors got together to spread “Christmas cheer for all to hear” by caroling in the neighborhood. A year may have been taken off to rest the vocal cords and fine tune the melodies. This year we are happy to announce that the song sheets were dusted off for a memorable night of Decking the Lake with some Christmas Cheer on December 22nd. We could not make every house, but you may have heard us in the neighborhood last night. As you may know, the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear. We found that the Christmas spirit is definitely alive in the Crescent Lake Neighborhood! Our member, Linda Giandiletti, was the caroling leader. We met at Linda’s beautifully decorated home to prepare for our evening out with some light hors d’oeuvres and our libations. A big thank you to Linda for coordinating this most fun event!
Crescent Lake Neighborhood Association recently worked with the City of St. Petersburg and St. Pete TV on their neighborhood series, Living Local. Their latest installment focused on the Crescent Lake Neighborhood. Residents provide a glimpse of what it is like living in the Crescent Lake Neighborhood. There are two videos. The first is a short version and the second is a longer version with a little more detail. The production team at St. Pete TV did a great job of capturing the essence and character of our neighborhood.
It is clear from the video that the main attraction to the Crescent Lake neighborhood was location, location, location. Crescent Lake neighborhood has its own 52-acre park and is situated just 1 mile from downtown. If you live in the Crescent Lake neighborhood you are at most about two blocks away from Crescent Lake Park without having to cross any major intersections. No wonder residents consider this their little oasis!
The 2017 Easter Egg Hunt is a wrap! This is a joint event with our wonderful neighbor, Crescent Heights, whom we always have fun with. A special guest appearance from the Easter Bunny was a nice surprise this year. Another wonderful surprise was the cool weather we had that morning. The Easter Bunny was especially appreciative.
We lost count of the eggs, but estimated between 600-800 eggs were spread throughout the lawn at Crescent Lake Park for the little ones and hidden more carefully for the bigger kids. This was no small task. It took approximately 30 minutes to hide eggs and a blink of an eye for the kiddos to pick them up. We had approximately 7 volunteers and after debriefing from their completed mission believe we need more volunteers for next year. This year’s turnout was the largest we can remember. As a result, we will need a megaphone for announcements next year if the turnout is as large.
A BIG thanks to Smith & Associates for the Easter Bunny; Ann Schieser, our Treasurer, for bunny duties; and Kristi Aussner our Vice-President and Sara Suits from Crescent Heights for coordinating this event.
