The News of June 2011 - ISSUE #35
...an official publication of the Community Association
June 6: D-Day Remembrance 11: Tour of Homes 13: Lawn Bowling 26: Ken McBride show
Check out the CA website: suncitycenter.org
50th Anniversary Kick-off Parade and Picnic a Huge Success!
PHOTO BY PHYLLIS HODGES
June Dates to Put on Your Calendar
CA Board Meeting
8th
9 a.m. Rollins Theater Watch videos of the Board meetings on your computer. Go to suncitycenter.org, click on Association, then on Meeting Videos.
19th
SCC Community Association Postal Patron
NON PROFIT ORG US POSTAGE PAID PERMIT 157 MANASOTA FL
On the Inside CA Schedule................. 3 CARE......................... 22 Club Happenings...... 12+ Consumer Affairs.......... 9 Crossword.................. 17 CryptoQuote............... 19 Entertainment Corner... 3 Expand Horizons........ 10 Golf............................. 24 Military Affairs........ 20-21 Movies........................ 27 Newcomers.................. 2 Plants Happen.............. 9 President’s Report........ 3 Sports.................... 23-25 Sudoku........................11 We Want to Know......... 5
The SCC Woman’s Club was just one of 56 entries representing overwhelming support of SCC clubs, service organizations, politicians, churches and businesses. More parade pictures are included on page 7.
Sun City Center 50th Anniversary June Events
By Phyllis Hodges June 6—D-Day Observance to Feature Surviving Veterans At 10 a.m. on June 6, 67 years to the day since D-Day, Sun City Center is honoring WWII veterans at the SCC Community Hall as part of the community’s 50th Anniversary Celebration. Korean War veteran Bob Black, who organized the event, will moderate the panel of five speakers. Four survivors who fought by land, sea and air will tell what it was like when our troops stormed the shores of Fortress Europe on June 6, 1944. Bill Boyd, an infantryman and member of a Ranger Battalion went ashore on Omaha Beach; Harry Powers, a Navy officer and frogman (now known as SEALs) crept onto land the day before D-Day on the threatening Pont du Hoc; Bill Eisenhart, a B-17 pilot was flying over Europe keeping German reinforcements from moving around; and Arch Bush, a Navy Hospital Corpsman on an LST, was on a team that cared for wounded being taken from the beaches to hospitals in England. Eisenhart lives in St. Petersburg; the others are Sun City Center residents. The fifth member of the panel is Dr. Nick Steneck, chair of the history department at Florida Southern College
in Lakeland, whose major area of study and research has been World War II and Europe after the war. He will outline what the invasion of Europe—D-Day—meant then and means to this very day. Me m b e r s o f “ T h e Greatest Generation,” as Tom Brokaw named them, are fast taking their last salutes as most are in their high 80s or low 90s today. Sun City Center is proud to honor these brave men who fought for our country. Contact: Bob Black 633-1101. June 11—SCC Home Tour Spans Five Decades For Sun City Center’s year-long 50th Anniversary Celebration, a special fivehome tour is planned on Saturday, June 11 (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.). A $5 ticket admits you to the homes. After the tour, all participants are invited to the SCC Information Center at 1002 Cherry Hills Drive for refreshments and to enter the Home Tour ticket in a drawing for a 50th Anniversary prize. (You do not have to be present for the drawing to win.) Del Webb built SCC as a “retirement community for people of modest means.” Over the past 50 years, architectural changes o cc ur re d to ref le c t an expanded view of life for June Events cont’d on page 6.
A MATTER AT REST By John Bowker
Life travels at an average speed of 15 MPH for many of us in Sun City Center. David Floyd
The issue of connecting South Pebble Beach Blvd. t o U. S . 3 0 1 h a s b e e n controversial for a number of years. Last fall, our developer, Minto Communities, submitted an application to the county requesting a minor modification to our General Development Site Plan that would change the extension of South Pebble Beach to an emergency ingress/egress with a locked gate. On May 10, the Hillsborough Board of County Commissioners conducted a hearing and approved the application. We should all be proud of how we presented our case at that meeting. CA President Ed Barnes opened the matter explaining the importance of keeping the connection only available in special or emergency situations. Corporate Secretary David Floyd then reminded the commissioners of the unique residential lifestyle of Sun City Center, with community leaders Mike Albanese, David Brown, Ron Iannazzi, Donald Schings, Paul Wheat, Janet Wilson and Director Sam Sudman detailing other reasons for not opening the connection to unrestricted
traffic. Major Ron Hartley of the Hillsborough County Sheriff ’s Office spoke against an unrestricted opening for safety reasons and to the potential for increase in the crime rate. Barnes pointed out that, even with all the discussion over the years, our research indicated that there had ne ver b e en an of f ici a l vote by the Community Association membership on this issue. We held a Town Hall Meeting on January 20, to discuss this issue. The meeting was attended by about 600 members as well as the Sheriff ’s Office and two county Development Services staff members. This Town Hall Meeting was followed by two days of community-wide balloting on February 22 and 23, resulting in a 310-2,669 vote against allowing unrestricted traffic flowing to or from US 301. Floyd pointed out that our 11,000 residents travel throughout our community using golf carts for transportation. For many of our residents it is their only means of transportation. Many of our residents have given up their cars. Our residents are used to sharing the streets with our golf carts. Outsiders will not have the same cognizant perception. Throughout the period preceding the community 301 Matter cont’d on page 9.