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APRIL 2017 941.349.0194 | ISLAND VISITOR PUBLISHING, LLC
NEWCOMERS
Upcoming Special Fund Raiser for the Wallenda Family
Photos from The Landings newcomer event
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KID’S CORNER
Meet Connor D’Silva, 10, 4th grader at Phillippi Shores IB World School
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TROLLEYS ON SIESTA KEY
Siesta Key Breeze, an open-air trolley, began service on March 20
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PAID PARKING ON SIESTA KEY Davidson Plaza now offers paid parking to Siesta Key visitors
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www.THELANDINGSOFSARASOTA.com
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On April 6th at 2:30 p.m., Delilah Wallenda, a member of the first family of the circus, will be speaking at a special session of the Landings Free College about her life growing up as a child in the circus and watching her family risk their lives daily. She herself was at the very pinnacle of the human pyramid for decades. Delilah will talk about the tragic accident recently experienced in Sarasota when the pyramid collapsed causing three members of the troupe, Delilah Wallenda with daughter including her daughter, to receive serious injuries on the high wire, and astronomical medical expenses. Ladies hosting refreshments Include: A Meet-and-Greet will be hosted by Dee Ricapito, Dawn Nelson, Judy Greene many residents, including: Henry Rhodes, and Tara Lamb, to mention a few. Karl Maggard, Norm Olshansky, Jack A tax deductible contribution to help Jost, Larry Lawrence, and Dick Bayles. cover the costs can be made to: “The Nik
Through the Eyes of a Veteran Calvin Pence Owen was born in 1922 in Columbus, Ohio. He entered the Army in 1943, at the age of 21, where he served as Technician, 4th Grade (T-4). He remained in the Army for three years. His experiences in the wartime military served to focus his purpose in life. Cal grew up on his grandmother’s farm north of Granville, Ohio—about thirty miles from Columbus. The fifth generation to live on this farm, he learned as a boy to raise chickens, maintain a sizable vegetable garden, and milk a cow. When electricity came to the farm, he embarked upon his first of a lifetime of construction jobs: installing their first indoor bathroom complete with shower stall, lavatory and toilet. Cal graduated from Granville High School in 1940. He attended DePauw University for one year, then enrolled at Ohio State, where his studies were interrupted by the war. He recently
Lijana Wallenda Family Foundation, Inc.” If you cannot attend but want to contribute to this worthy cause, please drop off your check at the Racquet Club on or before the session on Thursday, April 6th.
By Diana Colson
Calvin Pence Owen wrote a booklet telling the story of his life. Several pages are devoted to his military experiences, which he eloquently
describes. “On December 7, 1942, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and we were at war. My draft board gave me a student deferment since I was studying engineering. “My draft board decided to cancel my deferment before they began drafting married men with children, so I volunteered for service in the Corps of Engineers and in August 1943 I went into the army. I was sent to a camp in Louisiana for my five weeks of basic training and then assigned to the 533d Engineer Boat and Shore Regiment at Fort Ord, California. This regiment consisted of a Boat Battalion and a Shore Battalion—the Boat Battalion had one hundred LCM’s (Landing Craft) and the Shore Battalion had several DUKW’s heavy equipment, bulldozers, cranes, etc. Continued on page 31