The News of
OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE SUN CITY CENTER COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION
Sun City Center
September 2021
CA SCHEDULE
AUGUST 30 Board Workshop Caper Room - 9 a.m. Also, via Zoom ID: 813 2278 0336 Passcode: 543835 SEPTEMBER 8 Board Meeting Rollins Theater – 9 a.m. Also, via Zoom ID: 815 0890 8032 Passcode: 610593 21 Club Leaders Meeting Florida Room – 10 a.m. Also, via Zoom ID: 829 5405 3122 Passcode: 844719 23 2022 Budget Review Meeting Florida Room – 9 a.m. 27 CO-AP Meeting w/Attorney Steve Mezer Caper Room – 2 p.m. Agendas for the monthly Board Meetings will be posted on the Official Bulletin Board in the Atrium the Friday before and on the CA website (www.suncitycenter.org – under “Residents” – Upcoming Meeting Agendas). They will also be sent via “What’s New in the CA” email.
CA Contact Information
Administration Office 1009 N. Pebble Beach Blvd, SCC Phone: 813.633.3500 Hours – 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., M-F sccboard@suncitycenter.org Website: suncitycenter.org Information Center: 813.633.4670
Touring Ybor City’s Last Cigar Factory
By Bob Sanchez In July, a small group from the Sun City Center Photo Club toured the J. C. Newman Cigar Company to see first-hand how cigars are still made in Ybor City. For the senior rate of $12 per person, company historian Holden Rasmussen served as our tour guide for about an hour to show the entire process, both for hand-made and machine-made cigars. The building is called El Reloj, a threestory, block-long building that dates back to 1895 and is the only remaining cigar factory in Ybor City. There’s nothing modern about the process as workers either hand-roll cigars or operate antique machines that seem to operate as well today as they did a century ago. The main difference is in the workforce – an old photo from the 1920s shows a vast room filled with white men, elbow to elbow at work. What a difference a century makes! The Newman Company promises that “this historic cigar factory will please cigar enthusiasts, history buffs, and those with interests in manufacturing and technology,” and the tour doesn’t disappoint. Photo Club member Christina Brittain said it was “amazing to witness every facet of production in this
J. C. Newman’s company historian Holden Rasmussen talks tobacco with, from left to right, Nick Fader, Barbara Klimczak, Fran Beeson, and Christina Brittain.
living, thriving factory/museum,” adding that the tour is “a truly memorable experience.” The family-owned company clearly takes pride in its premium cigars and its employees. Rasmussen told us that every worker we saw on the floor has been employed there for around 20 years. Newman also has factories in Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. Their Cigar Family Charitable Foundation “supports low-income families in the
Dominican Republic with education, health care, vocational training, and clean water.” The cost for the tour is $15 for adults, and $12 for seniors, students, and veterans. All ages are welcome. The guide is knowledgeable, and the old factory is fascinating. By the way, there are elevators for those not inclined to climb stairs. Visit “jcnewman.com” for their schedule and to book a guided tour.
May the Bluebirds of Happiness Nest in Your Yard By Andrea L.T. Peterson It’s been about five years that the Audubon Club of Sun City Center has been aggressively monitoring the area’s bluebird population, which had been steadily declining. Master Naturalist and 12-year Sun City Center resident, Melanie Higgins, explained to me how and why the bluebird population matters and how and why the local Audubon club became involved. Bluebirds, she explained, “are secondary cavity nesters—unlike woodpeckers, for example, they don’t make or find holes in which to build their nests. Over the years, the National Audubon Society approved the bluebird box design and recommended they be placed at least 300 feet apart with a view to an open field
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with some trees for cover when the babies fledged. Bluebirds,” she added, “have adapted to using boxes.” “The club,” she explained, was looking for a way to become more involved in the local community, so they scouted around (pardon the pun) and found a local Eagle Scout group willing to take on the project. The scouts, she told me, “built the boxes. Then the Audubon club put out a call for 20 people who wanted the boxes in their yards. There was a small fee for the boxes (considered a donation to the club).” The hope was that p e opl e w ho sp e nt money on the boxes would be invested in them, that they would help monitor the activity in the boxes, and help the club keep track of the population. It didn’t work out that way. “While the people were enjoying the birds in their yards, they weren’t monitoring the boxes,” Higgins explained, “so for the first year there was no good data.” The second year, Higgins decided she would monitor the boxes every week herself, tracking nesting, hatching, and fledging numbers. That year, she said, “70 babies fledged.” It seems the primary goals of the Bluebird Box Project to increase awareness of the birds, garner interest in birding, and help increase the bluebird population were being achieved. My own yard, not an approved space, according to the recommendations, has had success two seasons with bluebirds nesting and sending little ones out into the world! More and more people are seeing bluebirds in their yards or around
town for the first time EVER!! It’s pretty exciting to see the spectacular males with their vibrant colors and the no nonsense females protecting and feeding their young. There are 25 boxes in town now, producing, quite literally, 100-110 fledglings a year. A team of ten monitors the boxes through the summer, keeping track of and recording the numbers of nests, eggs, hatchlings, and presumed fledglings. According to Higgins, about 30% of the fledglings will survive their first year. One of the greatest hazards, aside from hatchlings too young to fledge, falling out of the nest and becoming “fox food,”
Higgins says, is sparrows. An invasive species, not native to the United States, “sparrows literally murder the bluebirds by pecking holes in their heads.” “‘The great thing about birding,’” says Higgins, quoting longtime friend and retired National Audubon Ornithologist, Ann Paul, “‘is you can do it any time, any place.’” Our Sun City lakes and ponds and the small islands within some of them provide hours of entertainment and an incredible number of species (ducks and birds) for our viewing pleasure. If you’re housebound you can watch the activity out your windows and enjoy the “sport” without even leaving your bed or your chair! Take a lesson from the bluebird, whose lifespan is somewhere between six to 10 years: fly when you can, be free, and, says Higgins, “live in the moment!”
Let Me Tell Ya ‘Bout The Birds And The Bees
By Andrea L. T. Peterson The lion’s share of pollination around the globe is done by domestic and wild honey bees. An incredible number of flowers are pollinated every day by a single colony. That’s millions of flowers every day! While grains are pollinated by the wind, fruits, nuts, and vegetables are pollinated by bees. According to one internet source more than 100 food crops grown and harvested by humans are pollinated by bees providing 90% of the world’s nutrition. Logic tells me that if we save the bees we save the planet! BEE wise! Photo by Andrea L. T. Peterson A bee being a bee!