NEWS

4THE SUN ISLAND NEWS

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SEPTEMBER 15, 2021

IN BRIEF

Plug fails in second Piney Point pond

A pond containing treated wastewater at the closed Piney Point phosphate plant developed a leak last week when a plug failed, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

The treated water discharged from the north pond was captured in the south pond. The south pond failed last spring when the gypsum stack that supports it became compromised, resulting in 215 million gallons of untreated contaminated water being discharged into Tampa Bay. The south pond was later patched.

The faulty plug in the north pond has been replaced and other repairs are in progress. When repairs are complete, the water will be moved from the south pond back to the north pond, according to FDEP.

The plant is in receivership and is in the process of being closed permanently.

Tee off for a good cause

Keep Manatee Beautiful’s golf tournament returns for its 26th year Oct. 8 and the organization is seeking sponsors and golfers to join in the fun. This year’s festivities start with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start at Rosedale Golf & Country Club. Golfers can join with an individual fee of $150 or a foursome fee of $500, which includes entry into the best ball scramble, greens fees, cart, range balls, a team photograph, gift bag, continental breakfast, lunch buffet and awards ceremony. The awards handed out at the end of the day will include closest to the pin, longest drive men’s and women’s competitions and a putting contest. There also will be raffle prizes given out and a silent auction. Keep Manatee Beautiful is also seeking sponsors for the event and donations for gift bags, raffle prizes and silent auction items. For more information, please visit www.manateebeautiful.com or call Chris Ralston at 941747-3011 ext. 2588.

Art classes coming up

The Artists Guild of Anna Maria Island is offering three online classes in September and October.

The first is “Bird of Paradise” with watercolor artist Anne Abgott on Sept. 27 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

This class will focus on greens, so bring all your blues, turquoises, and yellows. And yes, your tube greens as well. Even if you cannot attend the class, you will still receive the recording and class materials. Register at https://www.amiartistsguildgallery.com/book-online.

Next is “Beach Birds” with watercolor artist Gwen Kodad on Oct. 11 from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. In this class, you’ll work with a limited palette to create the shadows and contrasts on the white birds. Also work with the water and sand, using several techniques to create the “sparkle” on the water and add textural interest to the sand. The recording is available for 30 days after the class. Register at https://www.amiartistsguildgallery.com/book-online.

Next is “Paddling Through Nature” with Anne Abgott on Oct. 18 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. This class will take to the great outdoors as you focus on sky, water, trees, and water reflections. The recording is available for 30 days after the class. Register at https://www.amiartistsguildgallery.com/ book-online.

David Marshall: The man, the legend, the hat …

David Marshall was known to many on Anna Maria Island and loved by those who knew him.

BY JOE HENDRICKS

SUN CORRESPONDENT | jhendricks@amisun.com

BRADENTON BEACH – A celebration of life for longtime Bradenton Beach resident and employee David Marshall will be held Saturday, Sept. 25 at 2 p.m. at the Drift In, 120 Bridge St.

Attendees are encouraged to bring a covered dish and their David stories to share with others.

David was struck by a car while crossing the street near his Bradenton home on Aug. 24. On Sunday, Sept. 5 he passed away while hospitalized with the injuries he suffered. As of last week, the accident remained under investigation by the Bradenton Police Department.

LIFE LIVED TO THE FULLEST

David was born in Dover, New Hampshire in 1947. He graduated from Dover High School in 1966 and enlisted in the Navy the next day. He celebrated his 74th birthday in August.

He’s survived by his wife, Martha Kelley Marshall, whom he married in June, his sister Nancy, brothers Roland and Bob, his stepdaughters Roberta Perella and Martha Michael and several grandchildren, nieces, nephews and other family and friends who loved him dearly.

Martha has known David for most of her life.

“The first time I met him I was seven and a half. The second time I met him I was eight and a half. Then, when I was 13, I saw him playing with his band, The Mad Hatters, at the clubs along the seaside in New Hampshire. The doorman would let me and my girlfriends peek in when the manager wasn’t around. He was rhythm guitarist and lead singer. They’d start out wearing hats, with a big antique trunk full of more antique hats on the stage. Throughout the show, they’d throw their hats out into the audience and put on another. At the end of the night, everybody had a hat on – and when they left, they’d put the hats back in the trunk,” Martha said.

“I used to rip his psychedelic, handprinted, mimeographed Mad Hatter posters off the telephone poles because I was an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ freak,” she added.

Martha said The Mad Hatters opened for The Kingsmen, who had the hit song “Louie Louie.”

And while in Los Angeles in 1967, David auditioned for The Monkees television show.

“He was first runner up under Peter Tork,” Martha said.

Martha said David came to Anna Maria Island for the first time in 1978 when he helped refurbish the concrete and steel patios and balconies at the Martinique condominium complex in Holmes Beach.

Martha later moved to Anna Maria Island as well.

“I worked with him at The Dancing Bear on Cortez Road. He worked in the dish room and I was the closing bartender. Then I worked with him again at the Drift In in 1994. I was a bartender and he worked there all night cleaning the bar. He was also doing the Pier Walk late-night breakfast so everybody could sober up and get home from all the bars on Bridge Street. He also had his own antique shop on Bridge Street called Redbeard’s Treasure Chest,” Martha said.

“We became friends and then we started going out on Jan. 23, 1998. We got married on June 28th, 2021.

David Marshall and his hat were Anna Maria Island icons.

This is a reprint of a story that was first published in The Sun in October, 2001.

BY LOUISE BOLGER

SUN CORRESPONDENT

We look at the photos my husband took when the World Trade Center was under construction, towers of steel not yet encased by the skin that would protect them for 30 years … an eerily familiar image duplicated in today’s newspapers, only the skeletons of the great buildings are now impaled on the streets of New York, rather than floating above it.

I feel like I just returned from the funeral of a relative, going through the ritual of family photo albums and sepia snapshots resting in a shoebox. “Here, look at this one, how young she looks, how beautiful, I can’t believe she’s gone.”

Memories of the World Trade Center circle through my brain. A Christmas dinner with business associates at Windows On The World, the statue of Liberty celebration with the World Trade Center looming over New York Harbor, and several tours of the observation deck. Once an overnight stay at what then was the Vista Hotel on the plaza at the foot of the towers.

Shortly before my husband retired, we attended a seminar held in one of the offices of the Port Authority for their employees. I clearly remember being mesmerized by the view from the tall, arched windows, windows tall enough to accommodate the height of an adult man.

But the memory that keeps resonating is a hole the size of a canyon, a canyon within the canyons of New York City. I was privileged to visit the construction site during the initial excavation for the buildings. There, lying at the bottom of the most enormous hole I had ever seen, was what appeared to be a pipe dissecting the excavation. My then-fiancé explained it was the outer structure of the PATH tubes, the transportation system between New York and New Jersey. The trains ran uninterrupted throughout construction, a colossal engineering undertaking, defeated in one unimaginable morning.

The images on my TV screen remind me of that Sunday excursion more than 30 years ago, cranes, bulldozers and mounds of dirt. The mighty Twin Towers have been turned back into a construction site, only this time the excavation will reveal the casualties of war.

I stare mesmerized, now as then, at the rubble and destruction I see on TV. I know the PATH tube is gone, but I keep looking anyway.

9/11 remembered