The Voice

SPRING 2010

A peek into the window

The struggle of a local, local band

What’s wrong with the media?

How you really feel

A Second Chance How work release changed a woman’s life

’m a firm believer in the idea that true journalism gives a voice to the voiceless.

I know, I know. It sounds like some ideological bull shit that professors throw around in journalism school. And in a world where journalism is more about pleasing stockholders than readers, the idea that it is just a load of crap makes more and more sense.

This magazine is a way to prove that journalism is still looking out for readers, and not greedy corporations. It still gives voice to the forgotten and ignored.

The Voice is a magazine dedicated to the people and stories that may be overlooked or considered outside the mainstream.

One thing I also hope this magazine encourages is citizen journalism. I want people to tell me what they want to read, what they care about, what they dislike from mainstream news organizations. Hell, if you have a story, tell me about that too! This magazine will only be successful if there is a relationship between reader and writer.

So enjoy! And thank you for reading.

SPRING 2010

A peek into the window Inside a local bands music, show and struggle, 5

Released into life

A work release program helps a woman rejoin society, 11

Faces and places

A nostalgic hangout, an artist’s inspiration and more, 9

What’s wrong with the media?

How well are they doing their job?

You decide, 17

Editor-In-Chief Sybil Crocetti

Publisher

Con Crocetti

Senior Correspondent Sybil Crocetti

Photography

Richard Bauder

Creative Advisor Xiaopeng Wang

Contact Us

P.O. Box 123 St. Petersburg, FL 33702 (727)123-4567 www.thevoicemag.com

720 Central Avenue (727)456-7890

BY SYBIL CROCETTI PHOTOS BY RICHARD BAUDER

t’s 8:00 on a Wednesday night.

One by one they arrive at the little studio on Ninth Avenue North near 16th Street in St. Petersburg.

It’s attached to a small apartment complex. Hand-drawn posters promoting past gigs cover the front entrance. The studio is scattered with equipment. A guitar here. An amp there. They smoke cigarettes outside while they wait for the band’s leader.

Marvin Mosher soon arrives dressed in his usual: hat, vintage shirt, worn jeans and boots.

Once everyone is there, the band begins to practice. A look emerges on Marvin’s face when he plays the guitar. It’s one of comfort, serenity.

He smiles at his band mates. They share a laugh.

Dream Window might never sell out arenas. They probably won’t make the Billboard Top 100. But they don’t care. It’s the love of music, the thrill of performing and the drive to keep playing that keeps them going, despite the struggles.

Marvin Mosher was born in St. Petersburg in 1960. He grew up with music. He joined his high school’s marching band, and was in and out of many local bands throughout his teenage years. In 1981, Dream Window was formed.

Marvin recalls the time he created the band’s name.

“We were on our way in the car, driving to this gig. I knew I wanted something with the word dream… and here we are getting closer, and we’re almost turning into the gig.

Then it came. What about Dream Window?”

It’s 7:00 on a Saturday night and Marvin sits in the studio with his 14-year-old son, Justin. They are having a discussion about their music and what it’s all about. The words science, history and nostalgia pop up.

But the genre of Dream Window is difficult to pinpoint. Progressive rock is too simple an answer. They also mix blues, jazz and metal into their music. They might play an occasional Moody Blues Tune, but they’re no cover band.

“We try to have songs that deal with non-typical things,” Marvin says. “Things that have a message.”

Marvin reaches out to the past in his songwriting. The band sings of the St. Petersburg that once was. The old roller rink on Ninth Avenue called “Gay Blades.” Downtown’s Mirror Lake Library before it’s renovation.

In “Don’t Tear it Down,” Marvin bitterly questions the decisions of municipal government and their current trend of condo building.

“We like to be different.” Marvin says. “It’s the feeling that we’re trying to preserve things in our society that are diminishing.”

Dream Window also delves into history and politics in their songs.

“A History Lesson” criticizes those who believe the Holocaust was just a conspiracy. The song “People Need Something to do with Their Hands” highlights the troubles of the American worker, whose job is sometimes lost due to corporate outsourcing and overseas factories.

Marvin feels the music of Dream Window also serves a purpose.

“Sometimes peace can be achieved if people have an artistic outlook on life and spend more time on being creative…and less time will be spent on being violent and belligerent.”

It’s 10:00 on a Friday night, and Dream Window is playing in a smoky bar. But something is different. People dance freely. Others cheer. A man jumps on the stage and begins reciting poetry. It’s like a scene from the Rocky Horror Picture Show—a real cult gathering for weirdos. But it’s this interaction with the audience that transforms a typical bar show. Marvin points out friends in the crowd in between songs. Female vocalist Corey

LEFT: Tampa Bay Jay is Dream Window’s unofficial dancer.

RIGHT: Marvin and his 14-yearold son, Justin, take a break from practicing.

Robinson smiles at the audience.

Friends and strangers mingle on the dance floor, led by an eccentric fan nick-named Tampa Bay Jay. Jay “Tampa Bay Jay” Worley has followed the band for 20 years and has choreographed routines to many Dream Window songs.

“I had been out and seen some shows and was very amazed with watching other bands and choreographic dancers,” Jay says. “I decided that Dream Window would be the perfect band to have some kind of dancers.”

Tampa Bay Jay is the visual interpretation of Marvin’s music. He dances with eyes closed, ignoring the laughs of the audience.

“We try to make it more interesting to watch,” he says. “We try to add that theatrical look.”

It’s 9:00 on a Saturday night. Dream Window is playing in a boutique on Central Avenue. Next to the stage is

an oversized photo of a woman with dark curly hair and a child’s smile.

Gretchen.

Marvin met Gretchen in 1985 at a bus stop. They married a year later.

They had two sons.

“Gretchen was a good sport. She liked the band.” Marvin recalls.

Gretchen was never jealous. She enjoyed hanging out with the band.

She would dance during the drum solo of a song called “The Spanish Song.”

But in 2009, Gretchen died after a long struggle with brain cancer.

“There was something honest about her.” Marvin says. “She didn’t have anything up her sleeve.” When wives and girlfriends distracted other band members, Marvin knew he could rely on his wife to respect his music. But financially, Marvin has always struggled to support his family. He has worked at a shoe store for thirty years.

“When I was younger, I would buy expensive gadgets that we needed for the band, instead of maybe getting a water pipe fixed,” Marvin admits.

Luke Mosher, Marvin’s oldest son who studies art in New York City, looks back at his relationship with his father and how Dream Window has impacted his home-life.

“I think overall Dream Window has improved my relationship with

my dad. We’ve learned to communicate and get along, as a result of the band.”

Younger son Justin enjoys playing with his father. “It’s like a fatherson team,” he says.

Other band members have also seen their share of struggles. Jobs, health problems and family ties continue to challenge them. But somehow they get through it.

Bassist John Cavallaro believes there is something that keeps them together.

“We all grew together. We always had some kind of core that kept us alive,” he says. “No matter what, we’ll persevere.”

It seems like Dream Window is destined to stay in St. Petersburg.

But staying local doesn’t seem to be a problem for Marvin. He’s not playing for money or publicity. Perhaps staying local has kept the band grounded. Maybe it’s given them a dose of reality.

Dream Window is a dying breed.

Too many bands sing about the same old things and copy the same old acts, just to fit in with the mainstream crowd. Too many bands are afraid to be different. Bands like Dream Window, bands with morality, face extinction. But this makes them work harder. This makes them go beyond the norm. This makes them real.

LEFT: Carrie at St. Pete’s Saturday Morning Market BELOW: Carrie’s portrayal of the St. Petersburg Yacht Club. Courtesy of Carries Jadus.

Love of city inspires local artist You might find Carrie Jadus near the Renaissance Vinoy Hotel in St. Petersburg, just as the sun begins to set. Or you might see her at a downtown street corner, watching people enjoy lunch. With her easel and paints, Carrie is capturing scenes of her city.

Born in the Tampa Bay area in 1976, Carrie’s love of painting began at an early age. But she took a different path when she earned an engineering degree.

“I think I was just always taught to be practical, that art isn’t necessarily a way to make a living.”

But after working as an engineer for six years, Carrie realized that it was not what she was meant to be.

She is now a full-time artist, specializing in portraits and landscapes. She also creates work for different volunteer organizations.

For Carrie, St. Petersburg is her ultimate inspiration.

“So many times I see great representation of this area, and I look at the painting and I know exactly where it’s at. You just know it’s your home.”

Faith, hope and vacuums

LEFT: Roland works on a 1960s Electrolux vacuum.

ABOVE: He is proud to celebrate 30 years of business.

PHOTOS BY THE VOICE STAFF

Roland Duchesneau has two words for those who wonder how he's managed to stay in business.

Divine Intervention.

It's his credo, his philosophy of life, his answer to all of life's nagging problems.

For 30 years, he has owned and operated 4-D Vacuum, a little store at the end of a shopping plaza on 62nd Avenue North near 12th Street in St. Petersburg.

For Duchesneau, Divine Intervention is what led him to Florida in 1960. It's what led him to Mary, his wife of 45 years. It's what has kept him in business in a world where Target and Wal-Mart rule.

He doesn't worry about the economy or the recession.

He would rather concentrate on his customers.

"When you deal with people, you got to show them that you care. That's why they come back," he says.

With a secure business, home and family, Duchesneau feels he is exactly where he needs to be in life.

And he owes it all to Divine Intervention.

A hippie’s hangout It's nestled in a little neighborhood in Gulfport, across the street from a Wachovia bank. Beyond the gate is an old hippie’s backyard. It’s like a flashback of Woodstock. Christmas lights and beads cover the trees. People roam the grounds dressed in hippie-chic clothes. A dog mingles with a group of chickens. A crowd sits on old car seats, watching a band perform.

It's a place where people can just unwind. A place where they can be themselves.

This is the Blueberry Patch.

The Patch was the dream of forever-flower child Dallas Bohrer. On the 1st, 7th, 11th and 22nd of every month, he invites people into his backyard at 4923 20th Ave. S. On these days, visitors can enjoy music, poetry performances, and art displays.

There's no charge to come in, although donations are appreciated.

For more information on this eccentric hang-out, visit their Web site at www.blueberrypatch.org/.

What some consider trash is art at the Blueberry Patch. This hippie’s backyard is filled with art and vintage memorabilia.

A street of history On a Saturday afternoon the street is quiet: almost too quiet. But residents of the 22nd Street South community in Midtown St. Petersburg know that this street was the center of African American life in St. Pete during the days of segregation.

But 22nd Street is far from a ghost town. Many volunteer organizations have worked together to revive the historic area. Take a stroll down 22nd Street and you will find treasures. There's the Manhattan Casino, where legendary entertainers, such as Louis Armstrong and James Brown, once performed. Check out the Royal Theatre, now a Boys & Girls Club, but once one of the only movie theaters for African Americans.

"This was St. Petersburg's African American main street," Steve Graves of 22nd Street Redevelopment says.

The non-profit organization works with the community to preserve 22nd Street. Check out their Web site for more information and upcoming events at www.discover22ndst.com/.

ABOVE: Midtown tours stop at historical landmarks like the Royal Theatre.

RIGHT: Locals like Sam Jones, one of the first African American police officers, share their stories.

Released Into Life A woman’s experience in a work release program gives her a chance to rejoin society.

BY SYBIL CROCETTI

“Everything happened so fast. The next thing I know, I’m on the ground with a gun in my back.”

T

oni Dolch sits at her desk in the maintenance office at the Homewood Suites Hilton hotel in Clearwater. The room is like a closet. The desk is cluttered with papers. Shelves are stacked with various tools. But to her, it’s a place to hide. Solace.

She writes up an order for some light bulbs, grabs a ladder and strolls down one of the halls of the 112-room hotel.

She reaches one of the suites, and uses her key to knock on the door.

“Maintenance,” she says.

No one answers. She lets herself in and changes out the bulb.

It’s a slow Saturday afternoon, and she knows no one will tell on her for bringing Marcella, her 11-year-old daughter, and Lariah, one of Marcella’s friends, into work.

She goes downstairs to where breakfast is served. The room is empty and dark. She grabs some packets of hot chocolate for the kids. She lets Marcella have a little

coffee in hers. A “mochachocolaté,” she calls it. Heavy emphasis on the laté. She lets the girls pour on their own whipped cream while she cooks up a pizza in the kitchen.

It may not sound exciting, but Toni has already lived that life. And the only place that excitement took her was prison.

I

n 1997, Toni discovered she was pregnant. The father was a drug dealer whom she later caught with another woman. Her parents refused to help. For her, there seemed to be only one way out, and that was selling drugs.

“I wasn’t doing it for nobody but myself,” she says. “I wasn’t selling for anybody. I was getting my own stuff, doing my own thing.”

Toni was in charge. She wasn’t afraid to go out at night and sell on the streets. She made sure someone watched Marcella while she made crack in her kitchen. And business was good.

“I would say I probably brought in about three grand a week easily.

Nice car. Nice place. Materialistic.

I was very materialistic.”

But in 2002, Toni was busted.

She had just finished making crack when the police arrived. She was ready to go back on the streets.

“I was finishing cleaning up, and that’s when I heard ‘Largo Police.’

They batter rammed the door.”

Marcella was hit with the door. But out of panic, Toni ran to the bathroom to flush down the evidence.

“Everything happened so fast.

The next thing I know, I’m on the ground, with a gun in my back.”

She looks back on what happened and knows her daughter remembers the incident.

“She remembers me running away from her, instead of running toward her,” she says.

Marcella ended up with Toni’s mother. But her mom couldn’t handle watching a child, and attempted to overdose on prescription

Toni with 11-year-old daughter Marcella.

THE VOICE STAFF

medication. Child Services tried to step in, but Toni begged Marcella’s father to take her in.

“He wasn’t living the best life, but from my knowledge, he was out of what we call ‘the game,’” she says.

Meanwhile, Toni waited for her trial date to arrive. She began using cocaine.

“I was scared,” she says. “I was scared of being away from the environment I was in. I don’t think I was scared of prison. It was just the change in life.”

In 2003, Toni pleaded no contest and was sentenced to three years in prison for trafficking cocaine.

She remembers the group trips the inmates took once a week to WalMart to buy clothes and hygiene products.

“That was a major perk for us,” she says.

But she also remembers the negatives of work release.

“The women are more scandalous.

They steal more. I got robbed like three times there. It’s more like every man for himself. As soon as you get to work release, you struggle.

You really got to step it up because you’re more into reality.”

Paul Norris, director of comfter two years, Toni was eli- munity corgible for work release, a pro- rections at the gram that allows inmates to Goodwill Indusfind work and save money before try Suncoast Protheir sentence is complete. gram, oversees She was sent to Pinellas County the day-to-day Work Release, a facility on Ulmer- operations of the ton Road in Clearwater.

Suncoast Work Release Center on Toni recalls the transition from Gandy Boulevard in St. Petersburg. prison to the work release center.

He feels that the work release pro“All of a sudden you take on more grams are very effective, despite the chores in your life. You’re doing few who deviate. your own laundry. You can buy your “The average individual will leave own clothes.” here with an average of $2,500 in

A

savings,” he says. “Now compare that to an individual who leaves directly from…a prison in the middle of the Everglades. All they’re given is $100, the clothes they came in with, and they’re told to have a good life. So what do you think are the chances of that guy making it into society?”

Inmates in the program must find a job within a certain number of days.

And once they secure one, supervisors at the centers monitor them to make sure they are showing up for work as scheduled.

Toni picked a housekeeping job at Homewood Suites.

Fannye Hill, the executive housekeeper at the hotel, encourages hiring from the work release centers.

For her, the centers help provide extra employees.

“It’s kind of hard to hire people,” she says. “People are not really breaking down our doors for suite keeping jobs.”

Employers at the hotel treat people from the centers no differently than other employees. They are paid the same amount that someone off the street would earn, Hill says.

But because they are considered temporary workers, the inmates do not get benefits or vacation times.

Hill provides incentives for the inmates in her housekeeping staff.

“It’s kind of sad,” she says. “But they do get to keep their tips cause I don’t even report their tips. I recognize people every month and we give them a $5 gift card from the gift shop.”

When payday arrives, inmates must report their checks to the

“ I saw this all happening all over again. And I just woke up.”

Part of Toni’s job involves driving the courtesy van. During her downtime she makes what she calls a “mochachocolaté” for her daughter.

THE VOICE STAFF

centers. A percentage is taken out to pay for food and room and board. Part of the check also goes into a savings account.

Toni was released from work release in 2006, but held on to her job at the hotel, taking various positions as they became available.

But outside of work, she still struggled. Marcella’s father ended up in prison on drug charges similar to Toni’s, and Marcella was left in the care of a stepmom.

Unable to get her child back, Toni started down the same old path.

“I saw myself getting back to that lifestyle. I saw this all happening all over again. And I just woke up.”

She convinced Child Services to re-open her case. She took six months of parenting and drug-abuse classes. She had to take random urinalysis tests.

By 2007, she got her daughter back.

Toni looks back at her time in work release and realizes its importance.

“ They save themselves. If they want to get in trouble again, they’re going to go back and get in trouble.”

“I think it’s a good transition. It was a very good transition for me.

It helped get me back into life and civilization.”

She thanks Homewood Suites’ general manager Ron Bitz for giving her a chance.

“This job saved me. Ron saved me. Ron lets a lot of people get away with a lot of stuff here, but thank God he does, cause he saved me.”

For Bitz, the program helps inmates re-enter society.

“For the individual, it gives them a sense of a new belonging. It gives them an opportunity to start their lives over again.”

But he also believes the success has more to do with the person.

“They save themselves. If they want to get in trouble again, they’re

going to go back and get in trouble.”

Today, Homewood Suites employs eight women from the Suncoast center.

“We’ve had really positive outcomes,” executive housekeeper Hill says. “We have a lot of people that once they go home, they go into the hotel business.”

Toni and Marcella with friend Lariah.

T

THE VOICE STAFF

oni walks up the main staircase with Marcella and Lariah. The girls carry their “mochachocolatés.” Toni has the pizza on a tray.

They head back to the maintenance office to watch some cartoons. Toni knows she doesn’t want to work maintenance forever. She’s concentrating on her other job: condo and house cleaning. She has her own business cards. But what she really wants to do is be an executive housekeeper at a hotel. She also wants to go back to school.

But in the meantime, she finds comfort in her position at the hotel.

She is grateful to have the job.

She is grateful to have her daughter.

She is grateful to have a second chance at life.

About the Center

• The St. Petersburg Suncoast Work Release program serves both male and female nonviolent offenders.

• Participants live at the center for three to nine months while working at least 35 hours a week.

• The center provides help finding a job.

They also provide counseling sessions and life skills classes.

The Suncoast Work Release Center on Gandy Boulevard, St. Petersburg.

Courtesy Goodwill Ind.

For more information, call (727)535-2578.

MAINSTREAM MEDIA IS OFTEN criticized for covering subjects that people could care less about, and ignoring the things that people really want to know.

This magazine wants to change that.

And the best way to do that is by communicating with our readers.

We asked people what stories or topics were ignored by mainstream media. We also asked what they thought would help make journalism better.

I think mainstream media is missing all the important little stories that make everyday life worth living. Things like neighborhood news and more importantly, school events, and other articles on youth and young business professionals in the local area. I wish that it covered more local events and stuff to do.

Journalism could be better if there were two sides to every story. Sort of like the pro and the con sides to each article. Say the article is about the new power plant that is being built in the area. Well, one reporter could write about the benefits of new jobs and revenue, and the other could point out issues like safety and waste dumping and so forth. That way the reader has a clear view of all sides to an issue. I think that it would also help eliminate some of the political side-taking that seems to happen for various papers. Even though a news paper is supposed to be independent of all political views, sometimes the writers' natural influences show through into their articles.

The media, for the most part, focuses on sensationalism. The stories featured are usually sad or tragic. Who can look away from a traffic accident or horrible crime scene? Is that really "human nature" or just media conditioning to pay more attention to the down side of the human condition? We need more positive reporting of stories that address or showcase good things: how things can be changed or are changing due to more involvement of everyday people (not movie stars).

Sarah Thurston Cameron Park, CA

Pam Gundling Yager St. Petersburg, FL

Deb Arthurs Valrico, FL More on what is happening with younger families with children: job losses, how to deal with earning a living for you and your family. That seems to be the big thing around right now, just never any indepth coverage about singular families. Profiles of families maybe?

What I find most lacking in journalism is depth, clarity of writing and "headlines" that accurately reflect the content of the story. I find this to be true for both written and broadcast journalism.

An example that springs immediately to mind is a story in the St. Pete Times that involved BB&T Bank. From the headline and sub-headline, I had the impression of mean old BB&T foreclosing on an upstanding citizens' commercial property. But the story was about the owner's financial problems, which then led to BB&T foreclosing. However, readers who scan the paper would not know that, but might have been left with a negative impression of BB&T. What I wish journalism did better is to cover news from the rest of the world more frequently and more thoroughly.

The 24-hour TV news cycle has created a disaster in my lowly opinion.

They are filling space with opinion that is driving the vitriol that is bringing us all down.

Will Engleby St. Petersburg, FL

I feel the current issue regarding the new public health care bill needs to be addressed. The majority of America's public opinion is being ignored and therefore we aren't being properly represented.

Ariane Swick Sacramento, CA

Lucy Bishop St. Petersburg, FL

I believe that the media tends to ignore many of the smaller stories in the local communities in order to report more heavily on the larger or national news.

If there is a story about a well known personality, the media will report on this over and over. The local stories are really of more importance to the local communities than the others.

I think that if the stories are real and truthful then the American public will be more apt to read and understand what is really happening in the world.

If journalism is not factual, people will not listen and will more than likely miss out on important information that they should have. If you can't trust the news reports, who are you to believe?

The mainstream media is usually pretty negative, and for as long as I've really watched the news, it has mostly been about what's going on (or not going on) at the White House, not about what could actually be done to make it better. There may be vague ideas, but no solid, well thought-out plans for a solution. No matter who is in power, the majority of the news is looking for ways to expose how incompetent everyone in Washington is. I'm not necessarily saying the media should be coming up with all the solutions... I think the average person needs to be better included in the whole political process, and maybe out of the millions of people in this country we could pick out a better batch of them.

I don't know a whole lot about journalism in general, but who you turn to for sources is always enormously important. I put a lot of importance on academic research because it's what I know best.... there are studies done on absolutely everything and you just don't see it much in the news, being tied into current events. These studies are not making a profit by answering a question one way over another and are often funded by taxpayer dollars... they would be great for making stories solid and credible.

Shari Bauder St. Petersburg, FL

Patricia Hamilton Tallahassee, FL

Most of what is out there being reported on is the bad, not the good in the world. Journalism would be better if there was more truthful reporting of both sides of a story.

Diane DeVore St. Petersburg, FL

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