Why we go to the Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park…
Plenty of Photo Ops,
Can you get any closer to a manatee than this without getting wet?
Cute otters,
Fish, up close and personal
Big cats
Birds
and alligators.
Old Homosassa
Faces and places in Old Homosassa, Florida
OHHC takes the Show on the Road
The Old Homosassa Heritage Council (OHHC) has been busy getting the message out about preserving and enhancing the heritage of our unique community.
Last week DeeDee Wilcox and Marianne MacRae, Co-chairs of OHHC, and I went to the Homosassa Elementary School and put on a presentation for the fourth grade classes.
Gotta say, those kids were adorable!
We asked the teacher, Mr. Barlow (whose classroom we were invading) for three volunteers. One from each class.
And here they are:
The classes learned all about Homosassa History and Heritage.
And we had a rapt audience!
And they had a lot of comments and questions. And they hardly wiggled at all!
Seriously, these were some GREAT kids!
So what exactly were we doing there?
Besides telling the students about the history and heritage of Old Homosassa, DeeDee also told them about Wyland, the artist.
And how we REALLY WANT WYLAND TO PAINT THE WATERTOWER!
So the kids are writing letters to Wyland asking him to do just that.
Isn’t that the coolest thing ever?
Mr. Barlow told his class that they only had two essays to write before the end of the year. And one of them was the letter to WYLAND!
It is so fun being part of the OHHC. Lots of work. But FUN! Because everyone is so enthusiastic and all they want is EVERYTHING and WHY CAN’T WE HAVE THAT!
Wyland, you will be painting our water tower.
As soon as we raise the gazillion we need to repair and restore it. Which means we have a sell a lot of t-shirts or we need to find a wealthy benefactor!
And I want to give a shout out to the teachers:
Mr. Barlow, Ms. Crosswhite, and Ms. Crispino!
Thank you!
Halls River Development Public Hearing
A whole lot of Homosassa residents made the effort to attend the Halls River Development Public Hearing last night.
Starting at 5:06 with Clark A. Stillwell, attorney for the Halls River Development, Inc, presenting the case as to why Homosassa needed a four story, 101 room, 50 foot high structure on wet lands plus a 2,500 sq. ft. restaurant and how their project would fit in.
Then it was time for the public to speak up.
Only one person in the audience, Bud Allen, spoke in support of the developer. Twenty-five spoke against.
Starting with Rodney MacRae who stated that “There is a time and a place for everything and this is not the time. Not the place.” He used one of his father’s quotes and said that anyone that wanted this project “Got rocks in their head”. Rodney further said that the project was “Not Compatible with Anything”.
One of my other favorite presenters was Iris Rose who stated her case against the motel and turned to the commission and said that we have no mayor nor city council. “We only have you”.
Very strong words.
There were attorney’s, residents, concerned citizens from other parts of the county, speakers representing groups. All with impassioned pleas to stop this project.
Two retired professional firefighters from Orlando that had settled in Homosassa said that neither our fire department nor the water system was adequate to protect the building. Others pointed out that there was no parking provided for the trucks and boat trailers that would come with the motel guests nor enough parking for the employees.
At 7:35 the public portion was closed and then the board made their comments. Each commissioner gave many reasons for their vote.
Starting with Scott Carnahan. No.
Scott Adams. No.
Ron Kitchen. No.
Dennis Damato. No.
Joe Meek. No.
Unanimous.
The application was denied at 7:51.
And then there was a standing ovation.
Sometimes having a lot of concerned citizens stepping up against something that they see is just wrong actually does work.
It’s not over. There will probably be lawsuits.
But Homosassa and the environment won this round!